NOVEMBER 30, 1 Thessalonians 5:22

Lauren liked being on her own for an hour before her mother got home from her half-day work. She poured herself a glass of milk, grabbed a cookie, and sat down to watch her favourite TV programme. Mom wouldn’t approve of this, she thought, but Mom’s old fashioned. Lauren can’t imagine how watching a little TV would hurt anything. So she watched, laughing so hard at the jokes that she didn’t hear her mother’s footsteps… When Mom entered the room, Lauren jumped up in surprise. “Mom,” she exclaimed. “You’re home early!”

Mom looked at the TV. “You shouldn’t be watching that programme, Lauren,” she said. “Some of the jokes are what we call ‘off-colour’-they’re actually sinful.” “Oh, Mom! I don’t pay any attention to that bad stuff,” replied Lauren.

Mom frowned. “We’ll talk about it while we fix dinner. Let’s have noodles tonight. Please go prepare the chicken meat and soup,” she said. “I’ll join you as soon as I’ve changed out of these clothes.” Hoping Mom would forget about the TV, Lauren quickly turned it off and headed for the kitchen.

When Mom came in and went to get something from the refrigerator. She pulled out a plastic container and opened it. Taking a whiff, she wrinkled her nose before putting the cover back on and handed it to Lauren. “Here’s the leftover turkey hamburger we had last week,” she said. “You can have the rest of it tonight.” “Oh, good!” exclaimed Lauren. But when she opened the container, she made a face. “Mom!” she exclaimed. “This stuff is moldy! It’s gross!”

“Well, don’t eat the part that’s bad,” said Mom. “Just eat the good part.” Lauren stared at her mother in disbelief. “I can’t eat just the good part,” she objected. “It’s… it’ll be contaminated by the part that’s spoiled.”

“I agree with you,” said Mom. “I wouldn’t eat it, but since you seem to think you can filter out all the bad things from the stuff you feed your mind, I thought maybe you’d like to try that with the things you feed your body too.” Lauren slowly shook her head. “I see what you’re saying,” she admitted. “From now on I’ll find something better to do after school-I promise!”

“Wise decision,” said Mom. “Then I’ll throw out the spoiled food.”

Thought: Be careful of bad influences from friends or TV…

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, help me to stay away from temptations lest I fall into sin. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.