Six-year-old Tommy had done very poor work in reading class. The first-grade teacher's aide, Mrs. Hall, knew Tommy could do better. She had a little talk with him, telling him that she knew he could do much better work if he really wanted to.
When it came time for Tommy to do his math, Mrs. Hall said to his teacher, “I know Tommy's going to do much better in math than he did in reading.”
“I hope so,” his teacher answered, looking very doubtful.
But Tommy had made up his mind that he would do better. When it was time to work on math, he didn't waste a minute. He settled right down and did four pages without making one mistake!
When math was over, Mrs. Hall said, “Tommy, may I shake your hand? It gives me great pleasure to shake hands with a young man who has chosen to work hard and do well.”
Tommy was very happy to shake hands with Mrs. Hall. Then he said, “May I have a sticker?”
“You certainly may,” she answered, and she went to the sticker drawer. Most children like to have their stickers stuck on the back of their hands rather than on their papers. Tommy held out his right hand for Mrs. Hall to put the sticker on it. But instead, Mrs. Hall said to Tommy, “Today I'm going to put this right on your forehead so everyone can see that you chose to do such a good job.
Tommy's face wore a “super” grin as he walked back down the hall to his regular classroom with his bright “super” sticker on his forehead. And he didn't have to tell anybody what that sticker meant. It announced that he had made the choice to do a good job. However, I'm sure that he gladly explained what that sticker meant to anyone who asked, including his mom and dad.
There are other ways of knowing when someone has made a right choice. Have you ever been around someone who doesn't say bad words like many of the students do? You may also notice that he doesn't use God's name in the wrong way. And when his friends want to do something wrong on purpose, he won't do it. He is different...and this announces that he has made a right choice. If you were to ask him why he is different, he would probably gladly explain that he is a Christian. That means that he made the choice to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. And he has chosen to do those things that he knows would be right and would please Jesus. What wise choices!
Joshua 24:1515And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15) says, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” If you have not chosen Christ as your Saviour, you are a servant of Satan. It's one or the other—there is no in-between. You need to make the right choice—to come to the Lord Jesus who dearly loves you and let Him wash away your sins in His own precious blood. And you need to make that choice right now! Once Tommy made up his mind to do a good job, he didn't waste a minute getting started. And if you are still in your sins and serving Satan, you can't afford to waste a minute either. God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:1919I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (Deuteronomy 30:19)).
Will you make that wise choice right now?
ML-12/30/2007