NOVEMBER 3

Proverbs 4:14-19

                          WALK ON COUDS?

“ That cloud looks like a ship!” said Rose as she and her brother Chung lay in the grass, looking up at the sky. “And that one,” replied Chung, pointing, “looks like an elephant with no trunk.”Rose laughed.“It’d be fun to walk on a cloud,” she said as they got up and went into the house for supper.

Hearing her,Mom smiled.“Fun?”she asked.“Or folly?”“Folly? What’s that?” asked Chung. “ That means a lack of good sense, or a foolish idea,” said Mom. “A cloud wouldn’t hold you up, you know.” Chung nodded and ran to answer the phone.

“It’s Bruce,” Chung called a moment later, holding his hand over the phone. “Can I go to the arcade down the road to play video games after dinner?” “ That’s not a good idea,” replied Dad. “Police have reported that thugs like that place and hang around there at night.” Chung started to protest, but Dad held up a hand. “ The answer is no, Chung. It’s not a place a Christian should be.”

Chung moped around and was unhappy the evening. The family then settled down to watch TV, and a documentary on National Geographic was up. It was on fogs, and Rose mentioned, “I hope we never have to drive in that condition.”

“Now you see what it’s like to be in a cloud,” Mom told her. “Fog is like a cloud in contact with the ground.” Chung grinned at his sister. “Yeah, and trying to walk on it would be folly, not fun. Right, Mom?” he asked. “ This cloud is no fun at all. It’s dangerous.”

“So even though some things look like fun, being involved in them can be dangerous, right?” asked Mom. “ That’s a good thing to remember.” “Yeah, Chung. Like going to the arcade with your friends,” put in Rose. “You thought that sounded like fun, but I guess that would have been folly, too.”

“Right,” agreed Dad. “Being in that atmosphere would have been much more dangerous than being in this cloud. You would have had to fight o a lot of temptation or danger. I know. I was a kid once myself.”

Thought: Are the things you do fun or folly?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know some “fun” things can lead to sin. Please help me to be alert to such dangers and avoid them. I pray I’d be thankful for parents and others who care enough to not allow me to do them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.