The Scars Remain

When Jim was a little boy, he and his father were great chums. They lived on a farm. Jim went around with his father and helped him in all of his tasks.

As Jim grew older he became mean and disagreeable. Often he told lies and lost his temper.

Father was sad. He wanted to help Jim overcome his bad ways. One day he went with Jim out to the barn. He got a can of nails and a hammer and he said, “Jim, every time you disobey me, every time you tell a lie, every time you get angry, I want you to take a nail and hammer it into the barn door.”

Jim laughed. He thought there would not be very many nails in the barn door, but soon he saw that he was wrong. The barn door was almost covered with nails in a very short time.

Then Jim realized what a naughty boy he was. He went to his father and said, “Dad, I didn’t know I was such a bad boy. It is in my heart now to change my ways. I want to get rid of those nails in the barn door. I don’t like to look at them.”

Dad told Jim that he could win the victory over sin not of himself, but with the help of the Lord. He told him to pray each day to the Lord, and that He was willing to help children to overcome sin and teach them to do what is good.

Dad said, “Jim, I have another plan. Every time you do good, pull a nail out of the barn door. Every time you are tempted to tell a lie but you tell the truth, pull a nail out. Every time you win the victory over anger, pull a nail out.”

From that time on there was a change in Jim’s life. Every day nails were pulled out of the barn door. The merciful and good Lord helped poor Jimmy. Soon there was not one nail left, but to Jim’s dismay, he saw that the barn door was filled with holes. These holes reminded him every time he looked at them of his past sinful life. Then Jim was so ashamed, but he was glad and thankful that the Lord helped him.

May this same Lord Jesus keep you, children, from sinning against Him. May He help you at all times in everything that is good. Oh, that you may seek Him in prayer at all times! Seek Him in your younger days, and do not forget that the scars of sin remain. It is true that we cannot be saved by doing good — only by grace and for Jesus’ sake. But it is God’s will that we shall do good and not evil.

— Rev. J. Van Zweden

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