Make it Right

The old bunkhouse was a perfect place to play. The narrow bunks that lined the walls and the square frame windows made a perfect cabin. The shaggy carpet was fine for sitting around and playing games. But the broken glass swept into one dark corner was not so wonderful. It had happened when a bunch of us were having a lot of fun and didn’t notice how wild we were getting. Then, crash! Grandpa’s old mirror lay in a thousand pieces on the floor. We knew we were in trouble. But no one was around to see, so we thought it would be better to shove all the evidence away out of sight. And since none of us was going to tell, I thought it would be best to shove all thought of the trouble out of my mind.

Shoving things into corners doesn’t get rid of them, does it? Maybe it will be out of sight and out of mind—but the problem isn’t gone. The mirror wasn’t fixed. And in the dark corner of my heart, I knew I wasn’t honest. Years went by. Most of the time I didn’t think of that old mirror. Everyone else had forgotten it, too. And Grandpa never mentioned it. I was glad that it was forgotten.

But I was wrong. I had forgotten that there was Someone who doesn’t forget. I didn’t think about the God who loves truth and right, and who hates all that is wrong. The Lord doesn’t accept cover-ups and excuses, and He sees all the hidden corners. The broken pieces of glass weren’t out of His sight at all. And He was kind enough to remind me.

Sometimes I wanted to do better and really live for God. “First make it right,” the quiet voice of God whispered. “A covered-up wrong is still a wrong. You have been hiding the truth, and that is a lie.” I thought it would be silly to go tell Grandpa now. It had been at least three years! But God doesn’t listen to excuses. “Make it right,” He whispered.

At last I really got serious. I determined I would obey and do what was right, no matter how hard it was. I wanted to please the Lord and be clear in my heart. It was time to go tell Grandpa about the mirror. I felt nervous and my heart was thumping, but I told him the truth. And Grandpa forgave me. “Thank you for telling me. I didn’t know it had broken,” he said. At last the corner was clear! I felt so free and happy. Everything was right again. And that mattered most of all.