“Ethan, I am upset with you! You know you should do what your teacher asks, not refuse. How could you be so disrespectful?”
Ethan looked at the floor. It was easy to see he remembered the look in his teacher’s eyes earlier that Friday afternoon in kindergarten.
“No play time for you this evening,” his mother continued. “You will be in time-out for a long while to think about how you have hurt your teacher.”
Poor little Ethan was weighed down with remorse. All weekend he moped around with a long, sad face. When Monday arrived and Ethan returned to school, he ran as fast as he could to his teacher. Crying hard and between sobs, he managed finally to get the words out. “I’m sorry,” he said.
One can be sure remorse was great for a thoughtful, sensitive five-year-old who loved his teacher when he realized he had done something to hurt her. Ethan could hardly wait to return to school and tell his teacher he was sorry.
This incident provides a perfect example of what the Lord asks of us when we do something displeasing to Him. Ethan’s sincere remorse and desire to set things right touched his teacher’s heart. She welcomed his plea for forgiveness with open arms. Likewise, true repentance and sincere remorse touch the heart of our heavenly Father—He will do no less.
We all fall short. When it happens, give yourself “time-out” for reflection and repentance. And then run with haste into the open arms of our loving heavenly Father to ask forgiveness.
(Photo courtesy of office.microsoft.com.)
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Southern born and from the foothills of the North Carolina mountains, Mary Emma Tisinger now calls the flatlands of Delaware home. Her poetry and other writings have appeared in various publications and books. Just released is I Did Not Want to Let You Go: A Widow’s Walk with God (Carpenter’s Son Publishing), and coming soon, Eli’s Choice, for children ages three to seven. Mary can be reached at maryemmat@verizon.net.