NOVEMBER 17  

Acts 9:36-43

                      ARE YOU A GOOD EXAMPLE?

“See my picture!” Little Emily proudly showed Samantha a page of scribbled lines. Streaks of different colours crisscrossed the picture of balloons. “ That’s no good! Mom likes my pictures better than yours,” said Samantha.“Yours are always a mess! You just can’t draw or colour! You don’t stay in the lines.”Emily’s lips puckered,and big tear drops rolled.“Mommy!” she wailed and ran to find her mother.

“Don’t be a tattle-tale,” Samantha called after her. She sighed as she took an orange crayon from the box and began to carefully color the stained glass window in a picture of a church. “Now I suppose Mom will come and fuss at me just because I told Emily the truth. My pictures are much neater and prettier than hers, so why shouldn’t I say so?” Samantha looked critically at her coloring and chose another crayon to use. The picture was nearly finished when Mom walked into the room, holding Emily’s hand.

“I came to see some pictures,”said Mom.“Let me see what you colored today, Emily.” She found her picture and handed it to her mother. She beamed when Mom complimented her on the colors chosen.

Then Mom looked at Emily’s picture. “ This is very nicely done,” said Mom.“ The outlines in your coloring book are boundaries,and you stayed in the lines very well as you colored. Like you told Emily, a picture is prettier when you stay inside the lines.” Samantha smiled and nodded as she glanced at Emily. “But I’m concerned about some other boundaries that we have in life - God’s boundaries or rules,” added Mom. “When we obey His rules- like ‘Be kind to one another’ - it’s as though we’re making a pretty picture of our lives. When we go outside His boundaries, our ‘life-pictures’ don’t look very pretty to others or to God.” Mom looked at Samantha. “Do you think your words to Emily were within God’s boundaries?”

“I... I guess not,” Samantha mumbled, knowing she was wrong. “I don’t think so,either,”said Mom.“What can you do about it?”“Well,I...I’m sorry, Emily,” said Samantha. She smiled at her little sister. “Would you like me to help you color another picture?” Emily nodded happily.

Thought:How does your "life-picture" look? Today's Scripture tells about Dorcas. An amazing part of her story is - God raised her back to life after she died.But the important lesson is that your ife,like hers,can be a “pretty picture” fo rJesus.
Prayer: Father in heaven, help me to be a kind Christian. I pray I’d be someone whom Jesus can use to show others as a positive example! In His precious name I pray, Amen.