Read: Psalm 51:1-2; Romans 5:6-9

Leo watched his ball roll under the shed, then he dropped his bat and crawled in after it. As he scooted under the edge, he spotted a pair of glowing eyes. A cat, thought Leo. He crawled closer. “Here, kitty,” he called. The animal turned. Oh no! thought Leo. A skunk! Before he could scramble out of range, the skunk sprayed, and Leo was covered with an awful smell. “Mom!” he yelled. He hurried to the outdoor faucet, turned on the water, and tried to wash away the dreadful odor with the hose.

Mom came out of the house and put her hand up to her nose. “We need to get those clothes in the washer right away, and you need a shower with lots of strong soap,” she said. “And your hair! Wait here.” She hurried back into the house and returned with a can of tomato juice. “Put your head under the hose,” she said.

Leo looked at the can of tomato juice. “What are you going to do with that?”

“Tomato juice is supposed to help cover the smell,” Mom explained. “I’ll see what else I can find, but for now this is the best I can do.”

When Dad heard the story, the skunk smell still lingered. “I thought it was a cat,” said Leo. “I was going to pet it.” Dad laughed. “Not funny!” said Leo, but he grinned too.

“Skunks leave a bad odor, but do you know what smells even worse?” asked Dad. Leo shook his head. “Sin,” said Dad. “You could say sin stinks.”

Leo nodded. “I tried to wash off the skunk smell, but I needed help. We need help getting rid of the sin smell too, don’t we? Something better than tomato juice!”

“Yes, we do,” said Dad. “The Bible says only the blood of Jesus can get rid of our sin. He died for us and rose again so we could be forgiven and have a relationship with God. When we trust in Him, He removes the stench of our sin and makes us clean.”

“That’s right. Just like that,” Mom said, snapping her fingers. She sighed. “I wish we could do as good a job getting rid of that skunk smell,” she added, wrinkling her nose. “Let’s go wash your hair one more time!”

–Angela Jenkins

How about you?

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