Dan did what any logical six-year-old would do: He decided to run away from home.
Dan’s dad had brought his laptop home from work. He put it on the kitchen table and specifically told him and his brother to stay away from it. While the two boys were playing that afternoon, they started running around the table. Dan’s hand caught the cord. SMASH! The laptop was broken.
Dan will never forget the mixture of fear and shame he felt, thinking about having to face his father. He decided to run rather than face him. He packed his bags and went out the front door. He thought his relationship with his dad had been broken with the laptop.
Chances are, we can relate to this story. Whether on purpose or by accident, we all have done things that fill us with a gloomy mixture of fear and shame. We may wonder how anyone could ever fix what we have done wrong.
Sin has a bitter way of making us feel terrible.
When Dan’s dad got home and saw what he had done, he was let down. But when he saw Dan standing with his backpack in the front yard, he comforted him. He told him the laptop could be fixed, and that he loved Dan. He brought Dan back inside and helped him unpack his backpack.
Dan knew his dad loved him. That day he began to realize how much.
The Lord wants us to know the same applies to us, even when we do wrong. The sinful things we do that seem “unfixable” were dealt with on the cross by Jesus Christ. He really “fixes” sin. He paid for it with his life. He forgives it.
Be assured that your Father in heaven loves you. The Bible tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Bring your “backpacks of guilt” to the cross of Christ. Unpack them with the certain love of your Father in heaven. Never doubt that your Father loves you.
Pastor
