Psalm 19 prays “Keep me from deliberate sins.”  Sometimes we do bad things.  We say things that hurt the other person, or we behave in unkind ways.  And as soon as we do it, we are sorry, because we did not mean to hurt the other person.

But sometimes, we do the bad thing on purpose.  That is what happened to Haman today.

Maybe he got out of bed on the wrong side, but it just seems like he was determined to make his sister Polly cry this morning. 

First, he put a LOT of milk on his cereal.  A LOT!  And then there was teeny, tiny bit left for Polly.

Second, he “accidentally” dropped her toothbrush in the toilet.

Third, when Polly tripped over the vacuum cleaner cord and the cord popped out of the wall and tried to zip back into the vacuum cleaner, it got tangled up around her legs and she cried.  And do you know what Haman did?  Instead of helping her, Haman laughed at her in a mean spirited way.

Every one of these unkind deeds, he did on purpose.  They were NOT by accident.  They were deliberate sins.

And Mr. Potato Head KNEW that Haman did these things on purpose.  And Mr. Potato Head was angry with Haman and he said, in a very loud voice “Haman, you MUST STOP AND THINK before you do these unkind things.”  He pounded his fist into the palm of other hand) “You MUST STOP TEASING YOUR SISTER!”

These kinds of things happen in ALL families.  It’s just louder and it happens more often in some families. 

Mr. Potato Head is angry.  Polly is crying and Haman is ashamed for being mean to his sister. 

And Polly is ashamed for being the cry baby.

And Mr. Potato Head is ashamed for shouting so angrily at Haman.

Did you know that the Bible tells a story about a time that Jesus got really angry and he shouted at the people who were doing something bad?  After Jesus was finished being angry, he explained a very important truth to them.  The truth was that he was about to die on the cross for their sins.

You might think this story is about the Potato Family.  And it is, but it is also a story about you and me, because every one of us has teased or cried unnecessarily or shouted TOO loud.  Each of us has been mean-spirited at one time or another. 

And the truth is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins as well.

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes for a prayer. 

DEAR GOD, KEEP US FROM DELIBERATE SINS.  DON’T LET THEM CONTROL US.  THANK YOU THAT JESUS HAS COME, IN SOME MARVELOUS AND MYSTERIOUS WAY, TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS.  AMEN

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