NOVEMBER 8, Exodus 20:15

When Bala got home from school, he proudly showed his mother his history test. All the questions were answered correctly. “Wonderful!” exclaimed Mom. “I’m surprised! I know you didn’t study very much.” She looked over the paper. “I used to know a lot of these things myself,” she said. “Let’s play a game. I’ll ask you some questions, and then you can ask me some. We’ll see who can do better.”

“Aw, Mom,” objected Bala. “I want to go outside.” But Mom insisted, and it was soon apparent that Bala knew little or nothing about the material covered in the test. “Bala, have you been cheating?” asked Mom, after he missed most of the answers.

“Well… n-not exactly,” stammered Bala. “I mean, lots of kids get a few answers from somebody else. That’s normal.” “Perhaps they do, but that doesn’t make it right,” Mom answered sternly. “Besides, you say you’ve accepted Jesus as your Saviour, so don’t you think you should be different from ‘lots of kids’?” “Yeah… well, I suppose, but I am only human,” Bala defended himself, “and it’s not really so bad. It’s… it’s just kinda like… like getting a little help, that’s all.”

“Bala, would you steal something?” Mom asked. “Of course not!” Bala replied. “It’s wrong to steal. That’s one of the Ten Commandments.”“Exactly,” agreed Mom.“And what is stealing?”“Well, it’s taking something that doesn’t belong to you,” Bala answered. “Correct again.” Mom held up his paper. “And you took answers that did not belong to you. You stole them, Bala.”“I… I…” Bala didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t mean to steal.”

Mom shook her head. “No,” she said, “maybe not, but you did steal. You’ll have to take this paper to your teacher and tell her what you did today and about any other times you cheated. She’ll decide what to do about it.” “Aw, Mom,” protested Bala. “Can’t I just… just not do it ever again?”

Mom shook her head. “Right now, it would be good to confess it to the Lord and ask His forgiveness,” she suggested. “And then, instead of playing after school, you’ll have to stay inside every day and study until you know this material.”

Thought: Have you ever cheated or stolen?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to examine my heart. If I have cheated, I need to confess to You and ask for forgiveness. And it is necessary to admit to others as well. That is not easy to do, but with Your help, I can do it. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.