Hayden’s primary talk February 15, 2015
Parable of the Ketchup
By Meghan Decker,
Friend
Apr 1999, 32
I want to begin with a story.
One day a mom and her two children, 9 year old Carrie and 6 year old Andy, went to the grocery store. Carrie was teasing her brother by trying to keep the cart away from him. He tried to grab the cart, but Carrie twisted it away, accidentally hitting a row of ketchup bottles on a shelf. Two of the bottles crashed to the floor, shattering and spraying the bright red ketchup everywhere. The two kids stared in horror at the broken glass and ketchup.
Mom came around the corner and saw the mess on the floor and the scared look on her kids faces. She found a clerk, who cleaned up the mess.
Carrie felt terrible. She knew it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t been teasing Andy. She quietly told Mom what happened. Andy asked:
“Are we in trouble?
Mom hugged Andy.
”No, I think you feel badly enough about what happened and you‘ll be more careful in the grocery store from now on. But, Carrie, what do you think you need to do to make up for the store losing those two bottles of ketchup?”
Carrie felt she needed to pay for them even though she didn’t mean to break them, it was still her fault.
Mom thought that was a good idea. She told Carrie she would lend her the money for now, and she could pay her back at home. Then Mom explained to the clerk that Carrie had been playing around with the cart when the bottles broke, and so she wanted to pay for them. The clerk thanked Carrie for being so honest, and Carrie felt much better.
At home, Carrie didn’t feel quite as good when she had to give her Mom part of the money she‘d been saving for an Ipod, but she was still glad she didn’t have that sick feeling in her stomach that she had felt when the bottles exploded on the floor. She worried that she would see that stain on the floor forever, reminding her of her mistake, but it had come clean with a wet mop.
This story is like a parable.
Sometimes we make mistakes that seem too horrible to be forgiven, but if we repent, our spirits can become clean again from sin, just as ketchup can be mopped up off a floor.
Jesus Christ has suffered for our sins. Because of this, we don‘t have to keep feeling guilty and bad forever. He helps us feel good again after we repent.
John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
I know that Jesus is my Savior and Redeemer.
I know I can repent and be forgiven for my sins.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
