FEBRUARY 16, 2 Peter 2:9

Courtney hurried to tie her sneakers. It was a Saturday morning, and she was going to go with Dad on his morning walk.

Dad smiled as Courtney skipped along beside him. “I enjoy having you along when I go for a walk,” said Dad. “Why don’t you come with me more often?”

“I think I will,” agreed Courtney. “Maybe not every Saturday.” She grinned. “I have to sleep in once in a while, you know. But I do like to come with you too. I like to look at all the flowers blooming in the yards and….” Courtney broke off her sentence as two large dogs ran barking towards her across their fenced backyard. She shrank against Dad.

Father smiled down at her. “Don’t worry. That’s a strong fence,” said Mom. “I walk this way every morning and I’ve never seen those dogs get out.”

Courtney shuddered as she hurried past the dogs. “I don’t like dogs.” “I know,” said Dad, “but you can trust the fence to hold them.”

That evening, Courtney’s friend Sara called. After hanging up the phone, Courtney talked with Dad. “Sara wanted me to go with her to a movie that I knew I shouldn’t see, but I said no,” she reported.

“Good,” said Father, giving her a hug. “As you get older, honey, you’ll face many temptations. You need to build strong fences to keep from giving in to things you shouldn’t do.”

Courtney looked puzzled, and Dad explained. “There are several things we can do to build fences that hold back temptation,” he said. “Paying attention in Church and Sunday school, reading the Bible and obeying it, talking to God in prayer, and spending time with Christian friends are all ways to help strengthen our fences of resistance. Then, even though temptation can come at us like those dogs you saw today, all it can do is bark at the fence. If you build a strong fence, it will be sure to hold.”

Thought: There are many temptations that are hard to resist. Are you building “fences” against them? You need to do that now so that you don’t give in, even to the strongest temptation.

Prayer: Thank You, Heavenly Father, that in times of trouble, I can turn to You. Please deliver me out of temptations. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.