Marked!

Colton leaned around a tree, his eyes darting. Splat! Splat! Bright-orange blotches of paint exploded on the trunk. He hit the ground, rolling behind a log. “Almost got you!” yelled his friend Riley.

Colton hollered, “You missed by a mile!” Adjusting his face mask, he checked his paintball gun. Almost empty. He listened. A twig snapped, and Colton jumped up, firing in that direction. Riley dodged behind a tree. Then he shot back, hitting Colton twice. Immediately Colton realized two things: he’d lost the game, and he’d gotten paint on his new coat. “I win!” said Riley.

Colton sighed. “Yeah, and I’m cooked. My mom’s gonna be mad.” He considered trying to clean the coat himself, but he didn’t know how to run the washer. So he went home and told his mom what he did. She was angry, but he apologized, and she forgave him. “Don’t worry,” she said, taking his coat. “I can get this stain out.”

There’s no use trying to hide your sins from God. He knows what you did, and only he can take away your guilt. Even though sin offends God, he loves you. He wants you to come to him and confess when you’ve done something wrong. God will forgive you, and he has the power to wash sins away.

Bible Verse: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” – Isaiah 1:18

Words to Treasure: Wash away all my iniquity, [God,] and cleanse me from my sin. – Psalm 51:2