Toy Room Disaster
MERCY IS RIGHT BECAUSE GOD IS MERCIFUL.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 103:1-8.
Verse of the Day: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36, NIV).
Joey stomped down the basement stairs, walked into the toy room, and froze.
“Hi, Joey,” said his little sister, Bailey. She sat cross-legged in the midst of several boxes. Joey looked closer at the boxes and saw that each box contained hundreds of plastic Lego interlocking pieces.
He swallowed hard before speaking. “W-what are you doing?” he asked his sister.
Bailey smiled proudly at her brother, whom she knew spent hours building things with his Lego pieces. He had built a working train out of the tiny plastic pieces, a train that ran through a Lego-made village. But Joey could see none of his elaborate creations. Instead he saw six boxes filled with the tiny pieces.
“I sorted your Lego for you, Joey,” Bailey announced. She smiled broadly at her brother. She pointed at the boxes, starting with the box directly beneath her elbow. “I put all the red pieces in this box, all the green pieces in this box, all the white pieces in this box—”
“You—you took all my Legos apart and put them in those boxes?” Joey stammered.
Bailey nodded. “Uh-huh,” she said. “Do you like it?”
Joey stared at his sister for a long moment. She had destroyed every train, every car, every building he had created. It would take weeks, maybe months, to put everything back together. How could she do that? he thought. He wanted to scream at her but didn’t. “That’s really great, Bailey,” he said through gritted teeth. “That’s really great.”
He turned back toward the steps that led from the basement to the kitchen and ran into his mom. He started to open his mouth to complain to his mom, but she held her index finger up to her lips and led him up the stairs. When she had reached the top of the stairs and closed the door to the basement, she lowered her finger.
“I know,” she said. “I know she destroyed your whole village. But she did it because she loves her big brother and wants so badly to please him.”
“But-”
“And I want you to know how proud I am of you,” Mom continued. “It would have been so easy for you to break a little girl’s heart just then, but you didn’t. You acted with mercy and compassion toward your little sister, and I’m so proud of you, I can’t stand it!” She pulled Joey to her in a tight hug. He closed his eyes and sighed.
TO DISCUSS: Why was Mom so proud of Joey? Do you think it’s right to be merciful? If so, why? What does today’s Bible reading say about the nature of God? How was Joey like that? How can you be more merciful toward your brothers and sisters? toward your parents or children? toward others?
TO PRAY: “Lord, we want to be merciful as you are merciful.”