When I was a young boy, my brother and I played and fought with each other all the time. One minute we threw a football TO each other, the next we threw rocks AT each other. One day, an errant throw of a cue ball smashed into a piece of southwestern pottery that was my mom's favorite, a gift from her favorite aunt.
My brother and I covered up our crime. We took the shards of pottery and placed them in the trash. Then we went to the incinerator outside and lit the trash on fire. The fire burned the rest of the trash, but not the pottery.
Next, we took some gasoline and poured it onto the pottery shards in the trash barrel. We took some more paper too, and household canisters labeled "flammable" and placed them in the barrel to make sure the evidence was indeed destroyed. My brother lit the match.
The fire started quickly. Then we heard a strange hissing sound. Then..."BOOM!!!"
After putting out the small grass fires we started, we checked the barrel and the evidence was indeed gone.
The guilt remained.
Our greatest fears were realized a few months later when Mother discovered that her pot was missing. To our surprise, she was merciful.
Since then, my sins have only gotten worse. Thankfully, God has an even greater capacity for mercy than my mother.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your limitless grace. Help us to show our thankfulness by expressing forgiveness to others.
Ken Jones
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