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The following story about the duck comes from the book \\u201cWill Daylight Come\\u201d by Richard Hoefler. It goes like this:

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A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. Johnny practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma\\u2019s backyard he spied her pet duck. On an impulse, he took aim with his slingshot and let fly. The stone hit the duck and it fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all.

After lunch that day, Grandma said, \\u201cSally, let\\u2019s wash the dishes.\\u201d But Sally said, \\u201cJohnny told me he wanted to help you in the kitchen today, didn\\u2019t you, Johnny?\\u201d And she whispered to him \\u201cRemember the duck!\\u201d So Johnny did the dishes.

Later, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, \\u201cI\\u2019m sorry, but I need Sally to help make the supper.\\u201d Sally smiled and said, \\u201cThat\\u2019s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.\\u201d Again, she whispered, \\u201cRemember the duck.\\u201d Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. Finally, after several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally\\u2019s, he couldn\\u2019t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he had killed the duck.

\\u201cI know, Johnny\\u201d she said, giving him a hug. \\u201cI was at the window and saw the whole thing. But I love you and forgive you. I wondered how long you would let Sally bother you.

God gave each of us a conscience, that little voice inside us that says we shouldn\\u2019t have done that. But like the little boy, we try to do good things to make up for it. We try to be so good that we won\\u2019t hear that little voice anymore. But God \\u2013 just like the grandma \\u2013 sees everything we do and just wants us to confess and say we\\u2019re sorry.

Because He loves us, He is more than willing to forgive us. Even though He already knows, He wants us to come to Him and confess. And if we need to confess and ask forgiveness of another person, we need to do that too.

Taking care of our conscience whenever we feel bothered by anything keeps it sensitive and alert. If we make excuses for ourselves and refuse to listen to our conscience, it will eventually become dull and hard. And a world full of people without much of a conscience is a scary world indeed.