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Romans 3:24 – Illustration – Grace
‘Cause It’s a Lot Better Pitcher ‘An We Had Before.'”
“In the days of Moody, there was a minister named Harry Morehouse….One morning he was walking along the street in a poor part of one of our great cities and witnessed a minor tragedy. A small boy, who could not have been more than five or six years of age, came out of a store with a pitcher of milk in his hands. The little fellow was making his way carefully along the street when he slipped and fell, the pitcher breaking, and the milk running all over the sidewalk. He let out a wail, and Harry Morehouse rushed to see if he were hurt. There was no physical damage but he would not be consoled, crying out over and over, `My mama’ll whip me! My mama’ll whip me.’
Mr. Morehouse said to him, `Maybe the pitcher is not broken in too many pieces; let us see if we can put it together again.’ The boy stopped crying at once, as he had no doubt seen bits of crockery glued together to remake a broken plate or cup. He watched as Mr. Morehouse placed the base of the pitcher on the sidewalk and started building up the pieces. There were one or two failures and the pieces fell apart. At each failure the boy started crying again, but was silenced by the big preacher who was helping him so much. Finally, the entire pitcher was reconstructed from the pieces, and it stood there in perfect shape on the sidewalk. The little fellow was given the handle, and he poked it toward the place where it belonged, and, of course, knocked the whole thing apart once more. This time there was no stopping his tears, and it was then that Mr. Morehouse gathered the boy in his arms and walked down the street with him to a nearby crockery store. He entered with the lad and bought a new pitcher. Then he went back to the milk store, had the pitcher washed and filled with milk. Carrying the boy on one arm and the pitcher of milk in the other hand, he followed the boy’s instructions until they arrived at his home. Very gently he deposited the lad on his front steps, carefully putting the pitcher in his hands and then said to him, `Now will your mama whip you?’ A smile broke on the boy’s streaked face, and he answered, `Aw, no sir! ’cause it’s a lot better pitcher ‘an we had before.'” (Barnhouse, Romans, vol.2, p.99.)
It does not matter how good our lives might be, Jesus’ perfect life and death and life again is “a lot better…’ an we had before.” Let us never think we live good enough that we no longer need Jesus and His grace – for His grace is powerful enough to make us justified.
[1]Ibid., Barnhouse, p.99.
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