PSALM 130
At my children’s school, the kindergarten teachers use a “traffic light”
system. Green light means good behavior; yellow light means a warning,
and a red light means mom and dad need to follow up on a serious
behavior problem. Back when my rule-following daughter Abbie went
through, we thought they only used the green light. However, now that
my somewhat more active son Andrew is in the same teacher’s class,
we’ve learned the hard way that she really does have to give out yellow
and even the occasional red light!
The beauty of it all is that every child starts the next day back on green.
I think this is a little bit like how God deals with us. The psalmist says,
“If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” All of
us would stay on “red light” all the time if God was determined to hold
our sins against us. Of course, God does not turn a blind eye to sin: he
is righteous and just and holy. However, he has made a way to deal with
our sin through the cross of Jesus Christ. Because of the shed blood
of Jesus, our “red light” became his, and we have the opportunity to be
back on “green light” with God’s grace. Praise the Lord! –Ken Roach
At my children’s school, the kindergarten teachers use a “traffic light”
system. Green light means good behavior; yellow light means a warning,
and a red light means mom and dad need to follow up on a serious
behavior problem. Back when my rule-following daughter Abbie went
through, we thought they only used the green light. However, now that
my somewhat more active son Andrew is in the same teacher’s class,
we’ve learned the hard way that she really does have to give out yellow
and even the occasional red light!
The beauty of it all is that every child starts the next day back on green.
I think this is a little bit like how God deals with us. The psalmist says,
“If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” All of
us would stay on “red light” all the time if God was determined to hold
our sins against us. Of course, God does not turn a blind eye to sin: he
is righteous and just and holy. However, he has made a way to deal with
our sin through the cross of Jesus Christ. Because of the shed blood
of Jesus, our “red light” became his, and we have the opportunity to be
back on “green light” with God’s grace. Praise the Lord! –Ken Roach