Bad Eggs
BAD EGGS
Read Philippians 4:4-9.
Michael was quiet as he and his father worked on the garden one Saturday. “Dad,” he said finally as he leaned on his shovel, “I sometimes wonder if I’m really a Christian. Lately I . . . well, sometimes I have bad thoughts that I know a Christian shouldn’t have.”
Dad was quiet for a moment. Then he led Michael to a cluster of small trees and moved back a branch to reveal a bird’s nest. “I found this when I was pruning some branches,” said Dad. “Do you notice anything strange about those eggs?”
“One is bigger than the others.”
“That’s because it wasn’t laid by the bird that built this nest,” explained Dad. “It was laid by a cowbird.”
“A cowbird?” asked Michael. “Why would she do that?”
“So the other bird would think it was her own and care for the chick when it hatches,” Dad replied. “The trouble is, the cowbird baby is usually bigger and stronger than the other baby birds and often takes their food or even pushes them out of the nest.”
“What a mean trick!” exclaimed Michael. “Too bad the other bird can’t tell that the big egg isn’t her own. Then she could push it out before it hatches.”
“That’s right,” Dad agreed. Then he added, “Satan is like that cowbird. He likes to put things into our minds that don’t belong there. We need God’s help to think and do the right things. We need to reject Satan’s thoughts and push them out.”
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Do your thoughts sometimes make you feel like doing something you shouldn’t? Don’t dwell on these thoughts. Reject them. This is easier to do when you read the Bible regularly. Replace bad thoughts with good ones!
TO MEMORIZE:
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27
REJECT BAD THOUGHTS.
From the book
