Trevor was a good boy in school and had never really gotten into any serious trouble. He was also a Christian. By that we mean he had accepted the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and usually tried to please Him.
There was another boy in Trevor’s class who was a bully, and everyone was afraid of him. George loved to beat up and bully other children not as strong and tough as he was!
Trevor, like the others in his class, was afraid of George. He decided that if he made friends with him, George wouldn’t bother him!
Do you have a problem like this at school? Maybe you think if you could make friends with the “tough guys” in your class they would like you, and other children would be afraid of you too! That’s exactly what Satan would like you to do. He tells you not to worry if you get into a little trouble - it’s worth it. But the Bible has a warning: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth [does], that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). In other words, if you purposely do something that is wrong, God says it will bring you sadness.
Trevor told his mother about his new friend and what he was like. She was quite upset and warned Trevor, “Do not have anything to do with George. . . . He is a very bad boy!” Trevor’s mother believed what the Bible says in James 4:7, “Resist the devil [and his temptations], and he will flee from you.”
Some time later Trevor came home from school upset. His mother wanted to know why.
“I can’t tell you, Mother,” he said. “It’s just too bad!”
She asked him again.
Trevor was almost in tears. “I did something really bad!”
“Did it have something to do with George, the boy who fights?” she asked.
“Yes,” he whimpered.
“Trevor, you must tell me about it, and you need to tell the Lord Jesus what you have done, and then you will be happy again.”
Trevor hesitated but finally confessed that George had used the Lord’s name in vain. And then he added, “I think I laughed!”
What a tender conscience Trevor had, and how his mother appreciated her son’s honesty. “Let’s pray about it, Trevor, and confess it to the Lord Jesus.” After this, Trevor was happy again. Psalm 25:45 says, “Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me.” Psalm 86:5 says, “Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive.”
MARCH 16, 1997
ML-03/16/1997
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Galatians 6:7