~By Sharon Czerwien
I am sorry if this main picture is too gross to look at! =]
At a homeschool resource center, I was teaching a class that my children are in. This particular class was about monster trucks and the dirtiness that the trucks can experience. The kiddos were able to “paint” vehicles with chocolate pudding. The children definitely “dirtied up” the trucks! (There are some sweet pictures below!)
I wanted to make a point with the children. Though I was not about to release all the children to clean their vehicles in the hall sink, I had my daughter rinse one of the vehicles to bring back. There was a profound difference between the dirty vehicles—like what is shown in the above picture—and my daughter’s cleaned-up vehicle.
The point of the lesson was that we sometimes get “dirtied-up” with sin, but God is quick to forgive!
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
When I got home, I then cleaned up the rest of the mess.
Interesting Points about the Physical Cleaning
*Some of the “mess” was easy to clean! The pudding came right off the kiddie pool and much of the vehicles’ parts.
*Some of the pudding had become more “stuck” and “stubborn” in the back and inside of the plastic toy wheels than I had expected.
Interesting Points about Spiritual Cleaning
*1 John 1:9 makes it clear that God forgives the sins that we confess (no matter how dirty!).
*Sometimes we are more prone to wallow in our sin than we ought. We may hang on to it much too long at times before confessing it (like the pudding was hanging on in the interior of those plastic toy wheels I had to clean).
Psalm 51
Whether ready to seek forgiveness or to release the control of some sin in our lives, Psalm 51 is a very encouraging chapter!
King David had just committed adultery and ultimately caused the death of the woman’s husband, but God forgave David. David’s heart’s prayer was to be cleaned from his sinful choices….and he was!
We can be encouraged that forgiveness and change are available to us, and it’s all by the grace and strength of God.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…
-Psalm 51:10
~Rest in God’s peace,
Sharon
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For more monster truck Bible lessons, here is information about my children’s book: