OUR DAILY BREAD             Tuesday, April 11, 1995
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READ:   2 Samuel 12:1-14

                      NAIL HOLES

       "I said, 'I will confess my transgressions
       to the Lord,' and You forgave the iniquity
                      of my sin."

                           - Psalm 32:5

All sin carries a price tag.  Its consequences may
range from minor to major, but the bill always comes
due.  Somebody always pays.

There's a story about a boy whose father pounded a
nail in the barn door every time the boy did something
wrong.  Soon there were many nails.  Then one day the
boy accepted Christ as Savior and began living for Him.
To impress upon his son the wonder of being forgiven,
the father took him to the barn and pulled out every
nail from the door.  "That is what it means to have all
your sins forgiven," he said.  "They are gone forever."

The boy was deeply impressed.  Then looking at the door
he asked, "But Father, how can I get rid of the holes?"
"I'm sorry," said the father, "but they will remain."

The psalmist David paid dearly for committing adultery
with Bathsheba and engineering her husband's death to
cover up his sin.  Guilt sapped his strength (Ps. 32:3-4).
Even though he confessed his sin, and God "removed the
nail," David carried with him a deep sorrow (2 Sam. 12:15-17).
But this did not rob him of the blessedness or forgiveness.

Even though we may have to live with the consequences of
sin, we who have trusted in Christ as the sacrifice for
our sins can rejoice in His complete forgiveness.

                                -- Dennis J. De Haan

        How blest is he whose trespass
           Has freely been forgiven,
         Whose sin is wholly covered
         Before the sight of heaven.

                                -- Psalter
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             THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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      Although God heals the wounds of sin,
               scars may remain.
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 18-20

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Our Daily Bread, having originated from his distribution to the 
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