Who would have thought you could use Rugrats to explain the Gospel?

I woke up this morning at 3:30, and could NOT fall back asleep. This is kind of unusual for me, but I tried to make the best of it. My sister has given me her Netflix password, and I have definitely been taking advantage of it! Since I couldn’t fall asleep, I got on Netflix and played an episode of Rugrats. In this particular episode, Chuckie thought he had gotten the maple tree in the back yard “sick” because the leaves were changing colors and falling off the tree. The babies tried tirelessly to save this tree! They tried juice, medicine, even gluing the leaves back on, but nothing worked! As they mourned the loss of the tree, I was thinking about how the next spring, the tree would grow back all of its leaves. But, despite our best efforts, we are unable to prevent the leaves from falling, and likewise unable to initiate their re-growth in the spring. We don’t have that kind of power!
Likewise, we often try to save ourselves from our own sin. We try to cover it up, use self-help strategies and will-power; but like the babies efforts to “heal” the tree, our best efforts prove futile and useless. The leaves will fall, and we are slaves to sin when left to ourselves.
BUT, there’s good news! God is able to save us from our sin. Take the Rugrats illustration for example: the babies were trying relentlessly to “save” the tree and put the leaves back on. However, their efforts were futile- the leaves were all going to fall off, and they couldn’t stop it. But, every spring, the leaves grow back. The babies couldn’t do anything to make that happen, just like they couldn’t do anything to prevent the leaves from falling. Similarly, we are dead to our sin. We can’t do anything to save ourselves. We can try to cover our sin, try to fight it with our own efforts, but at the end of the day- we are slaves to sin. Our leaves will fall.
But God saved us! Just like He orchestrated the leaves to grow back in the spring, He saved us from our sin! He sent His Son to die for us, and He alone is able to save us from sin. Our efforts are in vain; but His work is sufficient. (“It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Romans 9:16)
We are completely and totally unable to save ourselves. But our God is able to save. He is mighty to save, He is willing to save. That’s so cool.