The Wrong Measuring Cup
GOD IS THE STANDARD FOR DETERMINING WHAT IS RIGHT.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 1.
Verse of the Day: “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” (Psalm 1:6, NIV).
Jermaine stirred the contents of the mixing bowl together while Mom greased the cookie sheets.
“I notice you’ve been getting phone calls from Tyree again,” Mom said. Jermaine flashed a quick look at his mom and then continued stirring. “Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“What does he want?” Mom asked.
Jermaine shrugged. “He just wants to be friends, Mom, that’s all. You know Ty.”
“Mm hmm,” Mom said. “I know Tyree all right. Is he still working for those men on the street corner?”
Jermaine stopped stirring and set the bowl on the counter. He sighed. “Mom, he just does things for them.”
“You know those men are drug pushers,” Mom said.
“But Ty never touches any drugs. He just, you know, runs to the store for a can of pop or mails letters for them. You know, stuff like that. He says there’s nothing wrong with it because he doesn’t even touch drugs or anything like that, and his family needs the money.”
“That’s what Tyree says,” Mom said. She picked up one of the cups they had used to measure flour and sugar. “It sounds to me like Tyree is using the wrong cup.” “What do you mean, Mom?”
“Tyree says there’s nothing wrong with what he’s doing. But he’s deciding that based on what he thinks … or on what those drug pushers are telling him. Either way, that’s no way to decide right from wrong. That’s like using an old shoe to measure how much sugar to put in a cookie recipe. What Tyree should be doing is basing his decisions on God and what God says. God is the standard for knowing good from evil, not what Tyree says or thinks or does. And God says, ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.’ Tyree should be listening to what God says, not to what those men on the comer say.”
“I know that, Mom.”
“I hope you do, child,” Mom said. “I hope you do.”
TO DO: Make an arrangement of measuring cups and spoons, along with a Bible, as a centerpiece on your dinner table or kitchen counter. Use this as an object lesson to remind everyone that God is the standard—the measurement—of what is right and what is wrong, and that we should rely on him and his Word, not on our own ideas or those of others.
TO PRAY: “Lord God, we acknowledge that your Word is the standard that we live by. Help us to make right choices based on your commands.”