A Just God
GOD VALUES FAIRNESS BECAUSE HE IS A JUST GOD.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Revelation 15:1-4.
Verse of the Day: “Follow justice and justice alone” (Deuteronomy 16:20, NIV).
Nicole slid hard into second base, stirring up a cloud of dirt and dust. “Yer out!” the umpire bellowed.
Nicole jumped up and stared incredulously at the umpire. “Out?” she yelled. “How can you call me out? I was safe!”
The umpire shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Nicole,” he said gently but firmly.
Nicole shook her head and slumped off the field. The play had ended the game, and she had to join her teammates as they lined up to congratulate the other team.
Johnny stood behind her in line and whispered sympathetically in her ear. “I can’t believe your own dad called you out,” he said. “Are you mad?”
Nicole shook her head. “No,” she said. “He’s always fair. I shouldn’t have tried to stretch it into a double.”
Dad and Nicole walked off the baseball field together. “Tough play, huh?” he said. “You’re not upset with me, are you?”
Nicole shook her head but didn’t answer.
“I had to call you out,” Dad explained. “I couldn’t treat you differently from the other players.”
“I know,” she said. “You had to be fair.”
“That’s right,” Dad said. “Do you know why?”
“Because it wouldn’t be fair,” Nicole said.
Dad smiled. “Yeah, but why is fairness right?”
“Well,” Nicole said, stalling, “because God says we should be fair.”
Dad nodded. “Uh-huh,” he said. “Why does God say we should be fair?”
“Because . . . because he … he likes fairness.”
“Right,” Dad said. “He values fairness. But why does he value fairness?”
“Oh, I don’t know!” Nicole said in a frustrated tone as she tossed her baseball glove into the cab of Dad’s truck. “Because he’s fair!”
“Absolutely right!” Dad said, chuckling. “That was a pretty good guess.”
“Yeah, I guess it was, wasn’t it?” Nicole said. She climbed into the cab of the truck and sat down; her father climbed in behind the wheel. “Oh, uh, Dad?”
He looked at her. “Yes?” he said.
“You were right,” she answered. “I was out.”
TO DO: Make up new rules for a favorite game. Make the rules unfair. Play the game the new way for a while, then play it the old way. Which way is more fun?
TO PRAY: “Great and marvelous are your actions. Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways. You are just and fair in everything you do. Help us to reflect your character in our actions by being like you, by being fair with others.” (Prayer based on Revelation 15:4.)