The Cover-Up

Read: Psalms 51:7-10; 103:8-14

“Miles, look! It snowed last night!” Talia called to her brother as she looked out the window. “It’s so gorgeous—all clean and white and sparkly! I just love it, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes! It’s sooo beee-yew-tiful!” Miles clasped his hands in mock delight. “I just adore the snow. I think it’s simply marvelous, and I—” Miles’ teasing was cut short by the napkin his sister tried to stuff into his mouth.

“All right, you two,” Mom said with a smile. “Get ready for school. I don’t want you to miss your bus.”

By dinnertime, the snow had begun to melt. “I hope it snows again tonight,” said Talia as they finished eating. “It was so pretty this morning, but now everything is starting to look dirty again. I think we should have a little snow every night—just enough to cover up the old stuff and keep things looking clean.”

“I agree with you,” said Mom. “I think that would be nice.”

“Indeed! Oh, absolutely!” said Miles. “The snow is just gorg—auwk!” Talia had clapped her hand over his mouth.

Dad smirked. “Okay, you two, that’s enough.” He looked toward the window. “What Talia said actually reminds me of a conversation I had with Mr. Carlson today. I was telling him that when I was growing up, I thought I could cover up the bad things I did by doing good things—much like how new snow covers up old, dirty snow.”

“But the dirty snow doesn’t go away. It’s still there and shows up again when the snow starts to melt,” said Miles. “And bad things we’ve done don’t just go away either, even when we do something good.”

“That’s right,” Dad said, “and I told Mr. Carlson that every time I thought I was making progress, I’d do something wrong and have to start over again. I finally realized that the good things I did didn’t do anything to get rid of the sin I was trying to cover up and hide. The only way to remove it was to trust in Jesus.”

“Right,” said Talia. “Because only Jesus can wash away our sin and make us clean and sparkly like snow!”

–Hazel W. Marett

How about you? Do you do good things to try to make up for the bad things you’ve done? Trying to cover up sin by your own efforts doesn’t work—the sin is always hiding underneath. You need Jesus. He’s the only one who can wash your sin away. Put your faith in Him and He will remove your sin and make you as clean and pure as fresh snow. (To learn more, go to Have You Heard the Good News?)

Today's Key Verse: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7 (NKJV)

Today's Key Thought: Let Jesus wash your sin away