Little lies and kittens

Just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead. — Romans 5:21 NLT

Mom noticed four-year-old Elias as he scurried away from the newborn kittens. She had told him not to touch them. “Did you touch the kitties, Elias?” she asked.

“No!” he said earnestly. So Mom had another question: “Were they soft?”

“Yes,” he volunteered, “and the black one mewed.”

With a toddler, we smile at such duplicity. But Elias’s disobedience underscores our human condition. No one has to teach a four-year-old to lie. “For I was born a sinner,” wrote David in his classic confession, “yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5 NLT). The apostle Paul said: “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Rom. 5:12 NLT). That depressing news applies equally to kings, four-year-olds, and you and me.

But there’s plenty of hope! “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were,” wrote Paul. “But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant” (Rom. 5:20 NLT).

God is not waiting for us to blow it so He can pounce on us. He is in the business of grace, forgiveness, and restoration. We need only recognize that our sin is neither cute nor excusable and come to Him in faith and repentance. — Tim Gustafson

Father, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Read: Romans 5:12-21

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. — Romans 8:1

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 17-18 and Matthew 27:27-50