Years ago when the kids were small, my husband left a package of gum out.

One evening, he noticed a few pieces were missing. He walked into the room where the kids were playing and asked, “Do you want the rest of the gum you got off my dresser?”

Two of the four looked up at him, obviously clueless as to what was going on.

One of the four was too young to be on the “list of suspects.”

That left only one. The one who would choose gum over candy or ice cream any day of the week.

She started to deny taking the gum, but soon realized that was futile. Instead, she started making up excuses.

My husband stopped her mid-sentence. “Own up to what you did and let it go. I’m not mad that you took the gum. I just wanted to remind you that you need to ask permission before you take something that isn’t yours.”

God doesn’t want us to try to justify our sins. It also does no good to try to deny them.

God knows what we’ve done. He just wants us to repent and move on with the assurance that we are forgiven.