Motorcycle Madness
GOD COMMANDS PURITY, BECAUSE HE VALUES PURITY.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Philippians 1:9-11.
Verse of the Day: “Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone? Let God judge me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity” (Job 31:5-6).
Grant burst in the back door after a hot, sweaty session of backyard football with a few of his friends.
“Thirsty?” Mom asked.
“Yeah,” he answered. “I’m dying of thirst.”
“How about a glass of ice water?” Mom said. She held a glass in her hand.
Grant reached out and grabbed the glass. “Thanks, Mom,” he said. He lifted the glass to his mouth but stopped before taking a drink. “What’s this?” he asked. He held the glass up in front of his face. “There’s dirt in this water!”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Mom said. “It’s cold and wet, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to drink . . .” Suddenly a knowing expression crossed Grant’s face. “What’s this all about, Mom?”
Mom reached for a magazine on the kitchen counter and set it down on the table in front of Grant. “I was running the sweeper in your bedroom this afternoon, and I found this under your desk,” she said.
Grant blushed. It was a copy of Motorcycle Madness, a magazine a friend had given him that featured pictures of motorcycles and women in skimpy clothes.
“I just figured,” Mom said, “that you wouldn’t mind putting impurities into your body, since it doesn’t seem to bother you to put impurities into your mind and heart.”
“Oh,” Grant muttered, making the connection between the dirty water his mom had given him to drink and the pictures he’d been looking at.
“Grant,” Mom said, “the pictures aren’t very pure, are they?”
Grant shook his head. “No,” he answered, “they’re not.”
“I want you to stay pure, Grant,” Mom continued. “I value purity… because God values purity. That’s why he commands us to be pure, to live pure and blameless lives—because he knows that purity is a good thing, a valuable thing.”
“Yeah,” Grant said. “I’m sorry, Mom.” He turned the glass of dirty drinking water around in his hand. “I guess I value purity too.”
“Good,” Mom said. “Now, would you like a glass of clean water?” She picked up the magazine, carried it to the wastebasket, and threw it away.
Grant nodded. “Yes, please,” he said. He looked at the magazine, resting atop the trash bin of coffee grounds, eggshells, and other garbage. “Thanks, Mom,” he said.
TO DISCUSS: Why does God command us to live pure lives? How does your life show that you value purity in your own thoughts, words, and deeds?
TO PRAY: “Lord, help us to have the mind of Christ when it comes to our thought life. We want to make a covenant with you to guard what we watch, listen to, and read.”