Passing Tests

Read: Matthew 4:1-11

“I’ll probably fail our math test today,” Carter told Lucy as they walked to school. “I’m really bad at multiplication.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Lucy. “But I’m not going to fail. Want to know why?” She slid a card from under the cuff of her sleeve. “See? The multiplication tables are all right here!” She grinned. “I’ve got an extra card. Want it?” She pulled a card from her pocket and offered it to Carter.

“That’s cheating,” Carter said.

“What’s worse, cheating or failing?” asked Lucy.

Carter took the card and looked at it. It would be so easy to cheat! he thought. My desk is near the back of the room, and Mr. Collins hardly ever walks around when we have a test. But… “I’m not going to do it,” he said, handing the card back to Lucy. “I don’t think you should either. It’s not right.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “You are dumb,” she replied, “and not just in math!”

At the end of the day, Carter hurried home. “How was school today?” his mother asked.

“Okay,” Carter replied. “But I don’t know if I passed my math test. I hope so!”

“Well, if you studied and did your best, don’t worry about it,” said Mom. “Did anything good happen today?”

“Well…” Carter hesitated. “This is gonna sound weird, but I actually felt good about taking the test. I had a chance to cheat, but I didn’t. I knew it’d be wrong and that Jesus wouldn’t want me to do it. So I decided to trust Him with my test and do the right thing.”

“Good for you!” Mom said. “No matter what grade you get on your math test, you definitely passed one test today. You were tempted to do something wrong, but you didn’t. That kind of test is really hard to pass sometimes. Jesus faced tests like that when He was on earth, and He passed every single one in order to save us. We can pass them too when we depend on Him to help us resist temptation—and even when we do give in, He’ll always forgive us since He paid for all our sins on the cross.”

Carter grinned. “I’ll remember that tomorrow when I take my history test!”

–Douglas G. DeVries

How about you? Do people sometimes encourage you to do things that are wrong? It can be hard to resist, especially when others make fun of you for it. But you don’t have to give in. Jesus always passed tests of temptation, and He’ll help you pass them too. And when you do give in, you can always go to Him for forgiveness. Trust Him to give you the wisdom and courage to do what is right.

Today’s key verse: God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

Today’s key thought: Resist temptation