Last Saturday night I was getting ready for bed. I looked around the bathroom and I happened to look into the bathtub. There in the bathtub was a beautiful specimen of a . . . scorpion. It was medium size and had nice proportions for such a nasty, creepy-crawly bug. There he was trying to get up the porcelain sides of the white shiny surface. To no avail.

You know, of course, that scorpions and humans don’t get along too well together. Scorpions like to scare and sting, humans like to kill the thing. So I looked around the bathroom to see what I could discover for a defense. I saw my wife’s hair spray. I thought that might work. So I sprayed the bug with the aerosol. It slowed him down.

That wasn’t quite enough however. So I went into the laundry room to see what else might be at my disposal. (My wife, you see, does not like any use or trace of bug spray in the house, especially not near the master bedroom.) In the laundry room cupboard I discovered a can of “Spot Shot” stain remover. If you’ve used it, you know it is very good for cleaning stains from carpet or upholstery. That might do the trick, I said.

So armed with the Spot Shot I returned to the bathroom. The slowed down scorpion was still moving. I let him have it with the nebulizer. He violently reacted. But not for long. I think he must have soon drowned from all the foam. He was still moving a little. I think it was the death throes. So I used the bottom of the can to detach his stinger tail from his body.

Then I left him overnight, so I could show my wife and grandkids this specimen in the morning. The next day was Sunday, and we were preparing to go to Church together. But I took the time to show the eight and ten year old, and their mother and 1 year old baby, the now dead scorpion in the bathtub. I called them all together. They were, of course, thrilled that I would save that show for them!

The mother, my daughter, wouldn’t go close enough to the tub to get a real good look at the now dead monster. The youngsters cautiously approached, and looked in horror at the now dead insect.

Later that day, in telling this story to others, I presented the event as a parable. A parable, of course, is an earthly story with a heavenly message. Christ taught with parables.

I methodically equated this episode with what Jesus Christ has done for us. Can you even imagine how an encounter with a scorpion even relates to our Savior, Jesus Christ? He gave His life so that we could have eternal life if we but repent and keep his commandments.

The scorpion is like a sin or misdeed that creeps into your bathtub, or into your life. It is a blemish on your character. With Christ’s help you can blot that sin or blemish out by repenting and Christ will look at your sin no more. It’s kinda like having a can of Spot Shot to rid your life of scorpions. The Spot Shot may kill the bug, but Christ will cleanse your sins altogether.

It’s not automatic. You have to use or accept His atonement for it to work. You can’t just have your Spot Shot in the cupboard. You must get it out and spray it. To have Spot Shot work on stains, you must use it. To have the atonement work on making sins disappear, you must use it.

Get on you knees and pray for it. Repent. Ask for forgiveness. Then that spot or scorpion is cleaned out of your life. It works. It is wonderful. We never did like scorpions anyway!

For more on Christ’s atoning sacrifice, I suggest you read “The Illegal Trial of Christ” by Steven W. Allen. Go to StevenAllenbooks.com for more.