There was once a young lady who was very proud of who she was. Anyone who ever looked at her would see an almost perfect looking girl.
One day though, she felt an itch. Upon investigating she discovered a small mole. It was hidden out of sight from everyone but she suddenly felt very self-conscious about it so she covered it up. Despite her efforts to just forget about it, it began to itch more. It felt really good to scratch it, but the more she did, the bigger the mole grew and so did the desire to scratch it.
It was her secret.
As it grew she started changing the way she would dress and how she behaved in front of others so that no one would notice the growing mole. Even though those around her couldn’t necessarily see the mole, they could see that she was changing.
One day she came upon a man who was talking about a dangerous disease, a disease that would eventually lead to death. Drawing closer she soon discovered that the disease the man was talking about, perfectly described her mole!
He talked about how some moles were big and ugly and others might seem small and innocent but the real problem was what lay under the skin. The mole was really just a symptom of a cancer that directly affected the heart. All of a sudden she felt shame. Now when she looked at her mole, instead of thinking of the satisfaction scratching it brought, she could only see it as something that was killing her.
The man approached her and told her that he knew all about her mole, but when he looked at her she didn’t feel shame, she instead felt love.
“Would you like to get rid of that mole?” he asked her.
All that she could say was “yes”.
He placed his hand on her and she could feel a change. She looked to where her mole had been and it was gone! She had never felt so free! She was filled with joy! That’s when she noticed that the man now had a mole that was not there before, and it looked strangely like hers that had just disappeared. “Is that my…?” she began. “Yes” he replied. And then as she looked more she realized he was covered in moles everywhere. “This is why I’ve come” he assured her. “I am the cure. Now go and tell others”.
As she looked around at the people around her, she began to notice that everyone had a mole of their own. Some were big, some were small. Some people had covered theirs, but she knew from her own experience what was hidden out of sight. Others wore their moles proudly, their moles almost looking attractive, giving no hint as to what was really happening underneath. Some would have moles that would appear then suddenly disappear and as she looked over at the stranger who had taken her mole she saw more appearing on him and she knew they must have met the cure also.
As she stepped back into her world she knew she had to introduce everyone to the cure. But how? Should she stand on a corner and shout to all that could hear? Should she go around pointing out everyone’s moles and force them into meeting the cure? Should she not say anything and just hope that people would notice that she had been cured? Or maybe, she thought, she would be honest about her own mole and share her story with those who wanted to know…
This story can be used as an analogy for sin. We cover up the things we don’t want people to see, and change who we are in a response to what’s really happening behind the scenes. It becomes a secret, one we are ashamed of. Do you have something that God needs to take away from you? Surrender and let him take charge…
– Aaron Brown, Production Engineer & Radio Announcer
