Only Joking

Bible Reading: Ephesians 5:1-4, 8

“What’s wrong, Simon?” asked Micah as the boys walked home from school.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Simon with a scowl. “You’ll just laugh.”

“No, I won’t. We’re friends. Come on, Simon. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Well…” Simon took a deep breath. “Some of the guys found out my middle name is Thomas, which means my first two initials are S and T—ST. Since that’s the abbreviation for Saint and my last name is Bernard, they all started calling me Saint Bernard—like I was one of those great big Saint Bernard dogs! They barked at me and everything.”

Micah tried not to grin. “Don’t let it bother you—they’ll get over it.” As he thought about it, however, he couldn’t resist making a joke. “Wait till I tell everyone I walk the dog home from school every day!”

Simon looked at Micah in disbelief. “You said you wouldn’t laugh, and I trusted you!” he said angrily, and he began running home.

“Hey, I was only joking!” Micah called after him. “You know I won’t really tell them that!” But Simon was gone.

For several days, Simon refused to walk home with Micah or even talk to him. He’s just being stubborn, thought Micah, but it really bothered him.

One morning as Micah read the Bible passage that went along with the lesson in his devotional book, he came to these verses: “Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbor and says, ‘I was only joking!’”

Uh-oh, thought Micah. That sounds like the way I treated Simon. He sighed. I really hurt his feelings by making that joke, especially since I told him he could trust me. He turned to a passage in Ephesians he had read a few days before. These verses say to follow Jesus’s example and love others because He loved us so much He sacrificed Himself to save us. But I wasn’t very loving toward Simon. I’ve got to ask him to forgive me. So Micah went downstairs, ate a hasty breakfast, and grabbed his books.

“What’s the big hurry?” asked his mom as he dashed past her.

“God reminded me I have something important to do,” said Micah. “I’ll explain later.” And he ran all the way to Simon’s house.

-Sara L. Nelson

How About You?

Do you sometimes tease kids about things that bother them? When you’re tempted to tease, remember today’s Key Verse. Making jokes is not okay when it hurts someone. The Bible says to imitate Jesus, who loves us so much He died for our sins. Trust Him to help you be kind, caring, and trustworthy like He is, and if you’ve hurt someone by teasing them, apologize and ask them to forgive you.

Today’s Key Verse: Proverbs 26:18-19 Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Don’t hurt others by teasing