For my Sunday reading blog post, I’m sharing a story forwarded to me by a family member recently.

I work where there is a little duck pond. We have all kinds of ducks and geese living there—mostly domesticated. They get used to people feeding them and don’t behave like normal ducks and geese. Some of the geese get obnoxious and come up and bang their beaks on the window or honk, causing occasional disruption for workers situated close to their window. One white goose was particularly obnoxious and would regularly come up to the window and honk and make a scene. One of my coworkers made this little goose his enemy. Mostly for laughs from his coworkers he would go out and chase the goose around. One day when the goose was being particularly obnxious, the guy went out with a red permanent marker. He grabbed the goose and picked it up, clutching it with one arm, and with his other hand drew a big bullseye on its white feathers in red ink. Later that afternoon, I noticed the white goose away from the other geese and backed into a corner near a window where I could see it up close. The poor goose was pecking furiously at his chest futilely trying to erase the red stain. This little goose knew something was wrong. He knew he should be beautiful and white. My eyes swelled up because I recognized that pain. I recognized the pain of having a permanent red stain on myself and trying as hard as I could to remove it by my own strength.

 

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the

LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as

snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

I add my testimony that there is no such thing as red permanent marker for our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the Savior because he saves. His grace is there for us whenever we need it.