The Smiths were entertaining friends one evening when the front doorbell rang about 10 PM.  Mrs. Smith, an attentive hostess, showed no sign of having heard.  Her husband wondered briefly if perhaps he’d imagined the sound.  He shrugged and went back to shuffling the cards for the next round of play.

The bell resumed its ringing—louder, longer, and more insistent than before.  The button was pushed and released again and again, at shorter and shorter intervals.  Whoever this nocturnal visitor was, he or she was clearly becoming impatient.

“Could you get that, Harriet?” requested her husband, Jim.

“Get what?” Harriet wanted to know.

“The doorbell!” called her spouse.

“You’re hearing things” she said, dismissively.

“Or you’re going deaf” he rejoined.  Seconds passed.  “Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“No” said Mrs. Smith.

“Who could it be at this hour?” Jim wondered aloud, rising from his chair.  “All of our invited guests are already here.”

Abruptly, the doorbell stopped ringing.  But no sooner had Mr. Smith settled back into his seat with a relieved expression, than a persistent banging began, as if someone were pounding on the front door, determined to gain admittance.  “What the devil?” he asked with annoyance, concern rippling across his perturbed face.

“It’s no one, Jim” Mrs. Smith assured him.  “Come back to the game.  It’s your deal.”  Jim stared at his wife in incomprehension.  It was then that the banging mercifully abated, only to be replaced by violent shaking of the doorknob.  Harriet, concentrating on refreshing drinks and snacks before play resumed, seemed completely unaware.  Old friends Max and Chloe Burns, shot each other a puzzled look across the card table.

“Perhaps it’s someone in trouble” suggested Max.  Mrs. Smith studied her hand, calmly arranging and rearranging the cards she had just been dealt.  She said nothing in reply.

“A neighbor, maybe?”  Chloe tried.  Mrs. Smith ignored this, too.  “Could it be the police?” asked Chloe, upping the ante.  But once again, there was no response from her friend.

“Kids playing a prank, maybe” tossed out Vera Andrews.

“Some drunk?” queried her husband, Bill.

Possibilities were raised, analyzed, and discussed in low murmurs.  It was quite clear by now that there was indeed someone at the front door and that this was no ordinary party crasher.  Yet Harriet Smith seemed weirdly and absurdly bent on acting as if nothing unusual were happening.  Finally, Steve Tanner—a large, confident man and Jim’s co-worker—pushed back from the table, stood up, and strode toward the entryway of the Smith home, intent on solving the riddle of who or what was on the other side of the door.

This bold move at last succeeded in evoking a response from the hostess, who until that moment had been the soul of unconcern.  “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you” she cautioned quietly, without looking up from her cards.  Harriet’s warning had been issued in a flat, ironic tone, as if she knew it would go unheeded.  She was not mistaken.  Steve Tanner was already unlocking the deadbolt and throwing wide the door.  What happened next will never be forgotten, much less satisfactorily explained.

A long black hooded robe shrouded the form of a tall skeletal figure tightly gripping a large hourglass.  Peer as one might into the folds of the robe, no features could be discerned.  The shadows were impenetrable.  A fetid odor of decay hung about the creature or whatever it was, and the evening breeze now wafting through the Smith’s foyer carried the stench straight into the house.

“Are you the, the…Grim Reaper?” Tanner stammered in a tremulous voice, his former bravado drained away, along with the color from his face.  The oversized hood shook slowly from side to side.  “That’s a relief” Steve croaked. “You had me worried for a minute, there.”

At this, the phantom pushed past Mr. Tanner, one sleeve of its moldy, motheaten robe brushing a large houseplant just inside the door.  The healthy plant, previously thriving, withered away before the very eyes of the startled onlookers.  Something similar occurred with Jim Smith’s tropical fish collection seconds after the stranger tapped on the aquarium.  What was going on?

The shrouded figure now making for the great room appeared to know the house well and seemed quite at home there.  Passing through the kitchen, it spurned the open seat across from Bill Andrews, and squeezed into a chair beside Harriet.  It made no apologies, but rather, rude noises of various kinds, and behaved in the most obnoxious manner possible.

“Well, are we going to play cards or aren’t we?” demanded Harriet.  The Smith’s guests were dumbfounded. Aghast at the thought, but not knowing what else to do, they politely and bravely pretended not to notice there was anything amiss.  And although they tried their best, their efforts quickly failed.  One by one they fell silent and squirmed in their chairs, wondering which of them would be first to say their farewells and make their escape.  At length someone suggested that the party adjourn to the den, where the sliding glass door could be opened “for a little fresh air.”  The whole group jumped at this idea and made its way into the adjacent seating area.

Unfortunately, the odious party crasher came along, and insinuated itself between Harriet and her husband on the sofa.  It seemed to whisper things to Mrs. Smith that made her blush, whether in outrage or in shame one could not tell.  Sometimes the folds of its robe contracted, as if gripped by spasms of soundless mirth.  For someone treated as though they were invisible, the visitor certainly seemed to be the life of the party.

But who or what was this apparition?  What was it doing here?  What did its sudden appearance signify and what did its unwelcome visitation portend?  The Smiths and their several guests conferred and agreed that they would never know unless or until they acknowledged the disturbing and ugly presence in their midst. They prevailed upon Harriet to tell what she knew and at length succeeded in worming the truth out of her.

To their mutual shock and revulsion, Harriet revealed that the loathsome and disgusting interloper secretly belonged to her—or rather, she belonged to it.  It was her “sin” she said, and barged in whenever it wanted to, spoiling everything, crowding out her better angels and never letting her forget who was boss.  Her every attempt at self-improvement had crumbled sooner or later, as her cruel master deceived her and dragged her down, mocking her with painful reminders of past failures and predicting that her promises to try harder next time would once again be broken.

All of this had left poor Harriet wracked with guilt and in utter despair.  Unable to hide the odious and humiliating presence of her sin, she had disguised it, camouflaged it, and now—in desperation—simply ignored it, hoping it might go away.

To make matters worse, Harriet had recently discovered her late grandmother’s Bible and had found the word “sin” highlighted in its index.  Curious, she looked up a few of the references and quickly learned that sin is breaking God’s law (either the letter or the spirit of it).  Sin separates a person from God because He’s holy and can’t tolerate even a little sin.  The earned result of sin is death.  Hell follows after.

“You poor dear!” soothed Chloe Burns.  “How perfectly awful to have a sin problem!”

“I can’t imagine what that must be like!” sympathized Vera Andrews.

Harriet sniffled and nodded, her hands twisting a tissue on her lap.  “Would you like to know what else I learned, Jim?” she asked her husband innocently.

“Sure, of course, darling” he replied, sounding caring and concerned for her.

“I learned that ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’” she said.  “Even you.”

The room immediately fell silent.  Every face blanched, then assumed expressions of pity.  Jim was known to be a good person and an above average husband.  His wife must be losing it.  Yet, he was patient with her and gave her hand a compassionate squeeze.

“Sinners can’t solve their own sin problem” Harriet continued, “but God can and did.  He sent His one and only Son to be born, suffer and die on a cross in OUR place, for OUR sins.  Jesus was buried and rose again from the dead.  Out of His love and mercy, God grants eternal life as a gift to every person who believes this, repents of their sin, and calls on the name of the Lord to save them from the punishment their sins deserve.”

The Smith’s guests glanced awkwardly at one another.  Soon, they rose and gathered up their belongings, preparing to leave.  As Jim retrieved their coats, Harriet did a double take.  A tall, loosely robed, shadowy figure that closely resembled her sin seemed to sneak out of the closet as her husband closed the door.  Another stood up from behind a sofa where it had apparently been crouching behind Steve Tanner.  Two more slouched in the backseat of the Andrews’ car, as if waiting for Bill and Vera to board.  And so it was with each person who had attended the strange soiree.  Finally, only the host and hostess remained.

“’All have sinned and fall short” mused Jim Smith.  “Now THERE’S a popular viewpoint,” he sighed, shaking his head.  ‘The earned result of sin is death.  And Hell follows after.’  Good thing I don’t happen to believe that” he added, wryly.  It was then that someone else began ringing the front doorbell.  Jim’s grin faded in a flash…

[As my readers will know, this silly story has a serious point.  Sin is common to all of us EXCEPT Jesus Christ, born of a virgin (so, no sinful nature passed down to Him), who lived the life of perfect obedience to God that only the Son of God (being Himself divine), could do.  Being both fully God and fully human, Jesus alone had power to live a life without sin (which qualified Him to be our sin-bearer).  Jesus traded places with us, sacrificing His life on the cross to take the punishment our sins deserve (so that we could be forgiven and set free from death and hell).  Sin always kills unless it’s dealt with, and God has provided the one method acceptable to Him.  If you’d like to accept the pardon Jesus died and rose again to give you, read on.]

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can transform you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  (Romans 10:9-10)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)