Robes of Righteousness

Bible Reading: Isaiah 64:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:15-21

“We’re freezing!” Cyrus announced as he and his brothers burst through the door.

“The three of you are covered in slush!” said Mom.

“Did you see the snowman we made?” Elim asked. “Ranny wanted to eat the carrot nose, but we wouldn’t let him. We had to come inside early because he’s hungry again.” Elim grinned at his two-year-old brother.

“Snack?” Ransom squeaked.

Mom handed the boys bowls of apple slices. “The bath is ready! I’ll wash Ranny first.”

After snacks and baths, Mom hauled a bag to the living room. “What’s in there?” Cyrus asked.

“Open it and see.” Mom winked.

“Robes!” Elim yelled. The boys wiggled into their cozy robes, then handed Mom hers and Ransom’s. “I love robe season,” said Elim.

“I was just reading about robes during Bible time!” Cyrus pulled his Bible off the couch and opened it to the bookmarked page. “It’s from Isaiah 61, verse 10: ‘I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness.'”

“What does righteousness mean again?” Elim asked.

“It means being right with God and free from guilt in His eyes,” Mom answered. “Remember what people had to do in the Old Testament to be righteous before God?”

“Make sacrifices,” Elim responded solemnly.

“But it wasn’t good enough! All the good things we do are like filthy rags compared to God’s goodness.” Cyrus picked up his soaked-through dirty sock with a wrinkled nose. “Then God sent Jesus to die for us! He sacrificed His own Son to save us. So, that verse in Isaiah I read was talking about God’s promise to be fulfilled in Jesus,” Cyrus mused.

“Exactly.” Mom nodded. “Since Jesus is perfect, He became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. When we put our trust in Him, He takes our sins away and covers us with His robe of righteousness. What do we become in Jesus?”

“A new creation.” Elim flapped his robe sleeves. “Ranny needs his robe, Mom!”

Mom laughed as Ransom started running around the living room in circles. “The first one who catches him gets to put his robe on him!”

–Savannah Coleman

How About You?
Has Jesus covered you in His robe of righteousness? The Bible says that all the things we do to try to make ourselves good in God’s eyes are like filthy rags. The only way we can become righteous is through Jesus. When we trust in Him, God no longer sees our sins when He looks at us, but the perfect sacrifice of His Son. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.)

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

Today’s Key Thought:
Jesus clothes us in robes of righteousness