Really White

Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-26

“Can I crack the eggs?” Sadie asked as her mom started blending the butter and sugar.

“Sure,” Mom said, and as each egg was added, she beat it into the cookie dough. “Now we need to add flour, baking soda, and salt.”

“I can do that,” said Sadie. She carefully measured the flour into a bowl, then added the baking soda and salt. She looked down at the bowl in surprise. “I thought flour was supposed to be white.”

“It looks white to me,” said Mom.

“But look,” said Sadie. “The baking soda and salt are on top of the flour, and they’re really white. They make the flour look almost gray.”

“That’s true,” Mom said as she stirred the ingredients together. “Sadie,” she said after a moment, “if I said the flour is like us and the baking soda is like the Bible, what do you think I’d mean?”

Sadie thought for a moment. “I’d think you weren’t making any sense,” she said with a shrug.

Mom smiled. “When I saw those ingredients together and saw the difference in color, it occurred to me that we often think we’re okay. But compared to what God says, we don’t look so good.”

“I think I get it,” said Sadie. “Compared to the baking soda, the flour isn’t very white. And compared to how the Bible says we should live, we’re not very good at all.”

Mom nodded as she dropped spoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheet. “The only person to ever live up to the Bible’s standards was Jesus, the Son of God. He lived a perfect life, then died to take the punishment for our sin. When we trust in Him, He replaces our sin with His righteousness—His goodness—and helps us become more and more like Him. If this baking soda could turn all the flour in this bowl pure white, that would be like what Jesus does for us.”

“These cookies will remind me of that,” said Sadie, putting a tray in the oven, “so I should eat lots of them, right?” Mom laughed and gave her a playful jab. – Pauline Youd

How About You?

How does your life compare to God’s standard as shown in the Bible? Do you feel like you measure up? Or do you know that your life is like the flour in this story—more gray than white? Only Jesus measures up to God’s standard. Trust Him to purify you from sin and give you the ability to obey God’s Word and become more like Him.

Today’s Key Verse:
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Today’s Key Thought:

Only Jesus measures up