Bible Reading: Luke 24:13-35
Key Verse: Verse 32 - “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Key Words: Did not our heart burn within us
One thing about conviction is that you cannot ignore it. Like heartburn, you know it is there, and it is there because of sin. One thing that saddens my heart is to see parents attempt to cover the sin of their child rather than deal with it. As a parent you must understand that sin is an abomination to God. No matter how you might try to justify it, we are told in Luke 16:15, “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
Evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman, who had a strong influence on Billy Sunday, related the following story. “After a preacher had cried out against sin, one of his members complained, ‘We don’t want you to talk so plainly about sin because if the children hear you preaching so much about it, they will more easily sin. Call it a mistake if you will, but don’t call it sin.’
“The preacher left and went to his medicine chest and returned with a bottle of strychnine marked poison. He said, ‘I see what you want me to do, you want me to change the label. Suppose I remove the label marked poison and put some mild label, such as essence of peppermint? Can’t you see what would happen? The milder you mark the label; then the more dangerous you make the poison!’”
Sin is poison. No matter how parents try to label it, cover it up, or excuse it, it is still sin; and it is still poison. The best thing you can do for your child is to say, “You are wrong. You have sinned, and you must seek God’s forgiveness.” But never, never label your child’s sin as an essence of peppermint.
What to do:
✞ Teach your children to lovingly call sin, sin.
