…but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you says the Lord your redeemer.   - Isaiah 54:8  (NIV)

As I was reading my scripture for the day, my thoughts returned to one of my family’s gatherings.

On this occasion, I was talking with my nephew and his wife. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that their two-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, found the dessert table.

Mackenzie’s mom kept trying to steer the little girl’s attention to playing with her cousins but I could tell that the desserts were all she could concentrate on. She’d edge her way back to the table over and over again, only to be redirected by her mom.

In almost a split second, the chocolate cake was more than Mackenzie could bear and she literally grabbed a handful and shoved it in her mouth. With chocolate icing all over her mouth, she tried to wipe it off but that she ended up smearing it even more around her mouth, nose and chin. This little angel was in a fix because the evidence of what she’d done was  undeniable.

Calmly her mother asked “Mackenzie, have you been into the cake?” The angelic, chocolate-faced child looked our way with blue eyes wide and said sheepishly,  “No ma’am.”

Mackenzie received a light punishment and I then watched her mother lovingly clean her face, kiss her forehead, and hold her close.

Thinking of the scene that day reminded me so much of myself and my heavenly Father.

When I’ve sinned against my Father, it may not be as apparent as Mackenzie’s chocolate-coated face, but my heart shows everything to the One who loves me most.  I know that there are also consequences to my actions but my heavenly Father loves me too much to leave me all dirtied  and stained.  In His everlasting kindness, he has compassion on me as He lovingly cleans me up and holds me close.