The Facts of Life
THE LINE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL RUNS DOWN THE MIDDLE OF EACH ONE OF US.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Romans 7:21-25.
Verse of the Day: “Every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory” (1 John 5:4).
Janet leaned her head close to her friend Vicki as they sat on Janet’s front porch watching cars go by. “Michael Mallon was bad again in school,” she said.
“What did he do this time?” Vicki asked.
“He called the teacher a bad name,” she answered.
Vicki’s eyes widened. “He is so bad!” she said. “Why is he so bad?”
Janet shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s just a bad boy.”
Suddenly, they heard the door behind them open. Janet’s mom came out and sat beside them. “I heard you talking about Michael Mallon,” she said. “So he got in trouble again, did he?”
Janet and Vicki nodded their heads in unison, as though they were both controlled by the same puppeteer.
Mom watched the cars for a few moments, too. Then she said, “So you think Michael’s a bad boy?”
“Uh-huh,” Janet answered, nodding her head vigorously. “He’s always getting into trouble.”
Mom smiled. She inhaled deeply. “You know, girls, sometimes I start thinking that the world is divided into two kinds of people: good people and bad people. The good people make right choices and the bad people make wrong choices.”
Janet and Vicki looked at Mom and listened.
“But you know what happens when I start trying to figure out who the good people are and who the bad people are?” The girls shook their heads.
“I remember that I make wrong choices, too.”
Janet’s and Vicki’s eyes grew big and round, and they looked at each other.
Mom pulled Janet onto her lap, scooted next to Vicki, and wrapped her arm around her daughter’s friend. “The world isn’t made up of good people and bad people,” she explained. “We’re all sinners. We all make wrong choices. We all need God’s forgiveness, and we all need God’s help to make right choices.”
Janet laid her head on Mom’s shoulder. “I’m glad God helps us make right choices.”
“I am, too,” Mom said, “because if he didn’t, I’d always be getting into trouble!” Mom flashed a silly smile at the girls, and they all started laughing together.
TO DISCUSS: How does God help us make right choices? Why should a person admit when he or she has done wrong?
TO PRAY: “Lord, thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you, also, for helping us to make right choices.”