JIM was keeping very well pleased with himself. It was the first time that he had managed to persuade his father to go with him to the swimming pool. As he looked down at the smaller boys who were playing and swimming in the water below him, he thought here was a chance to show what he could do, and outshine some of the small fry.
Ordinarily, it was not like Jim to “show off.” If he had not been so wrapped up in himself, he would have noticed the look of disapproval on his father’s face as he watched him from the other side of the pool.
“Say, Jim, let Dad see you on the rings,” cried his younger brother, Joe, looking up to the large rings which were suspended from the roof and hung down over the water.
“Okay,” said Jim, sticking out his chest. “Afterward I’ll let him see how I can swim two lengths.”
The life guard set the rings in motion toward each other with a long pole, and then Jim, with another quick look at his father, jumped up and gripped the first ring. Keeping it swinging, he reached over and seized the second ring, and in this way he gracefully swung from one ring to another until he had reached the last one. With an effort which he meant to be very effective, Jim sought to land near where his father was standing. But unhappily he did not raise his foot high enough, and his ankle struck the edge of the pool. It was a very humble Jim that limped back to the dressing room.
“What went wrong?” Joe asked.
“Dunno,” Jim muttered, “just didn’t lift my foot high enough, that’s all.”
Jim knew that there was more to it than that; therefore, he was not surprised when his father said quietly, “That was a nasty crack you gave yourself, my boy. But it is a lesson which will last you all your life, so that out of seeming evil good may come. Jim, in God’s Word there are two kinds of people: the humble and the ‘heady', or the proud (2 Tim. 3:44Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (2 Timothy 3:4)), and I need not tell you that it is not the mark of a true believer in the lowly Lord Jesus to be proud.”
Both Jim and Joe were sincere Christian boys, and as Jim thought of how his swelled head had caused him a swollen foot, the words of Solomon came to his mind: “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Prov. 16:1818Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18).
To all our young readers, saved and unsaved alike, we pass on the gracious message of the Lord Jesus: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11:28,2928Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28‑29).
ML-10/09/1966