“Come to my table- Come eat my bread and drink my wine- Come feast on the fat things and experience my life,” SPIRIT beckoned.

“I can’t,” PUNY AND DEFILED” answered. “I can not come as I am. I must first find holy garments, I must bathe myself and put on my perfumes, and I must acquire great wisdom before I can come.”

Alas, PUNY AND DEFILED believed that she could change herself- that by her own actions she could change not only her behavior, but her nature. She believed “THE LIE”- She believed she could be like God if she ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

SPIRIT waited. He had a plan that PUNY AND DEFILED did not know and could not know until the day appointed. So because the way was not yet revealed, PUNY AND DEFILED believed she could be as God by eating from that tree. She gathered to herself all its fruit and ate trying to cover her nakedness and shame with its leaves. Everyone she knew did the same things in their attempts not to be puny and defiled. “We are Gods,” they proclaimed. “We can determine our own destinies. We have power to accomplish all we desire.”

Foolish created beings: They did not realize that in the day knowledge was chosen over dependence upon God, they gave their power to the EVIL ONE within them- the OTHER VOICE- the one who told them they could be like God.

“So how’s it working for you?” the small voice inside PUNY AND DEFILED asked. “Are you like God now through all your rituals, through all your fasting, through all your good works, through all your thoughts and reasonings?”

While other deceived and blind ones believed that they were like God, PUNY AND DEFILED knew deep down that she was not. She had given her all to be like Him, but her all was not enough and she realized it.

“Behold the Lamb!” SPIRIT roared in power, yet with a gentleness that drew PUNY AND DEFILED closer to the table. “My lamb was prepared for you before the foundation of the world. ‘Behold Him’ I say and you shall live. YOU shall be PUNY AND DEFILED no more”.

“How can that be?” she questioned. The moment she asked, an angel with a vial came forth. The vial had an image of life imprinted on it and within the vial was the life- the BLOOD.

“Life is in the blood” the angel proclaimed. “Only the life of God can change you. Are you ready to give up your self-efforts? Are you ready NOW to be saved?”

“Before she had time to think, all of Heaven thundered in one voce: “Without the shedding of blood, there can be NO forgiveness of sins. No one can come to the Father in their sinful nature- NO ONE! Hear and know: God is holy!”

PUNY AND DEFILED trembled. She knew her sins were many and although her books and teachers told her she could change herself and be free from them, she couldn’t. She had attempted to be clean over and over again, but all her attempts had been in vain and now, she knew the truth.

She was ready!