The Spoiled Jam

Read: 1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 3:23

Isabella’s tummy grumbled as she grabbed the peanut butter from the pantry and the new jar of strawberry jam from the refrigerator. Mom laid bread out on two plates and handed her a butter knife.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a rhinoceros!” said Isabella, unscrewing the lid from the jam jar. She started to stick her knife deep into the middle, then stopped. “Mom!” she cried. “Something’s wrong with this jam! It’s fuzzy and green in the middle.”

Mom took the jar and looked closer. “You’re right, honey. It’s bad.”

“But isn’t that the new jar you bought yesterday?” Isabella asked.

“Yes,” Mom said, looking the jar over carefully. “But I couldn’t tell from the outside that anything was wrong.”

Isabella looked at the jar too. From the outside, the jam looked fine.

“You know what this makes me think of?” asked Mom.

Isabella shook her head, disappointed she wasn’t going to get any jam on her peanut butter sandwich.

“This jar of jam is just like our hearts without Jesus.” Mom turned the jar slowly. “Everything looks fine on the outside, but when we look inside, the moldy decay of sin is eating away at us.” Mom peered at the moldy jam inside the jar. “God sees inside our hearts and knows about the sin that hides there. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us. When we trust in Him, His blood covers our sins and our hearts are made new.”

Mom replaced the lid and screwed it down tight. “I’ll have to take this moldy jar of jam back to the store and exchange it for a new one. And when we put our faith in Jesus, God exchanges our moldy, sinful heart for a new one.”

Isabella thought about how she’d shoved her toys under her bed that morning and then lied when mom asked if she’d put them away. She imagined that lie growing like the green fuzz in the jar and knew she had sin in her heart. “Mom, can I pray and ask Jesus to exchange my heart for a new one? I—I’ve never done that before.”

Mom smiled. “You bet! And we don’t even have to drive to the store to do it!”

–Kelly Hollman

How about you? Do you think you’re a good person? Do you try to do what’s right, like obey your parents and be loving and kind to others? Even if you try your hardest, without Jesus, your heart is like that moldy jar of jam. We all have sin in our hearts, and only Jesus can take it away. Put your faith in Him and He will give you a new, clean heart. (To learn more, go to Have You Heard the Good News?)

Today’s key verse: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

Today’s key thought: Jesus cleanses us from sin