Read: Psalm 51:1-10; Matthew 23:25-28

“Wow, Mom! Look at that huge caramel apple!” Zayne exclaimed when he and his mom walked into the grocery store. “Can I get it to take to school tomorrow?”

“Well, a regular apple would be better for you, but that one is a beauty,” Mom said. “Okay. You can have it this time.”

During class the next morning, Zayne thought about the caramel apple in his lunch bag. His mouth watered as he imagined biting into it. He was glad when lunchtime finally came. Sandwich first, Zayne told himself. Then the carrot sticks. At last he pulled out the apple. He held it up to show his friends, and one of them tried to grab it. Zayne laughed and quickly bit into it. To his great dismay, the inside of the apple was soft and brown, and it tasted horrible! He tried to just eat the caramel on the outside, but he kept getting some of the soft apple with it.

When Zayne got home, he opened the refrigerator to find a snack. There in the fruit bin were several shiny red apples. He looked at them, but chose a cheese stick instead. “I don’t trust apples anymore,” he told Mom when she took one out. “The one we bought yesterday was no good. I had to throw it away.”

“What a shame,” said Mom, shaking her head. “It was so pretty!” She grinned at Zayne. “But you know, it’s a good reminder of how we can be like that apple.”

“We can?” asked Zayne. “How?”

“People aren’t always what they appear to be,” Mom explained. “It’s pretty easy for us to hide thoughts and feelings from other people—it’s even possible for us to keep others from seeing sin we’re holding on to in our lives. But we can’t hide anything from God. He isn’t fooled by false outer appearances because He sees our hearts. Even if no one else knows about wrong things we’re doing or thinking about others, He does. And if we confess them to Jesus, He will forgive us and make us clean.”

Mom cut into her apple. “You can see the inside of this apple now, and it looks great,” she told Zayne as she handed him a slice. “Have a piece.”

–Karen R. Locklear

How about you?

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