Advent Day 21: Smelly Presents

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After playing for a while in the basement, little Penelope came upstairs and walked into the living room with an armful of bundles. “Look!” she cried. “I made presents!” She handed one to each member of her family.

Bryce wrinkled his nose. “Something stinks!” He sniffed the present in his hand. “I think it’s this . . . whatever it is.” He held up a slightly damp object made from old newspaper.

“See? It’s an airplane!” Penelope announced. “We learned to fold them in preschool. I made one for Anna too. And see—I folded hats for Mommy and Daddy. We learned to do them in preschool too!”

“Why, thank you,” said Mom with a faint smile. “That’s sweet of you, but . . . Penelope, where did you get newspapers to make these?”

“In the basement,” Penelope replied. “There was a whole pile of them by the window.” She looked at her mother anxiously. “Is that okay?”

“I noticed that it was damp by that window, and I’ve been meaning to get rid of those old papers!” Dad said. “They’re all wet. That must be why they smell so bad.”

“Don’t you like my presents?” asked Penelope.

Mom tried to soothe Penelope’s hurt feelings. “It was a very nice idea! Come on, let’s find some construction paper so you can make new ones.”

After Mom and Penelope left the room, Bryce and Anna quickly scooped up the smelly “presents” to take them out to the garbage can. “Penelope really did mean well, and I’m afraid she was surprised and disappointed when we weren’t delighted with her presents,” Dad said with a sigh. “She thought they were so nice, but we just see them as smelly junk.” He grinned at the two kids. “Kind of like good deeds.”

“Good deeds?” echoed Bryce.

“A verse in Isaiah says that the good deeds people do to earn their salvation are like filthy rags,” Dad explained. “Some people think they can please God just by doing their best, but all their good deeds are like those smelly presents from Penelope. Only Jesus can remove the smelly, filthy sin from our lives. We need to trust Him to save us and make us clean.”

How about you?

Do you think God will be pleased with the good things you try to do and let you into heaven? God won’t accept your good deeds as payment for salvation. They look—and smell—like filthy rags to Him. You need to trust Jesus as your Savior in order to be saved and have eternal life. He will remove your sin and give you a clean heart.

Key Verse

“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6 NLT

Key Thought

Good deeds can’t save you

Further Reading

Titus 3:3–7