Bible Reading: Psalm 11:4-5
The Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everything closely, examining everyone on earth. Psalm 11:4
THE NEXT TIME you’re stuck in a traffic jam with your dad or mom or your cousin Elmer, take a few minutes to watch the drivers in the other cars. See if you can identify some of these “animals” (don’t look for animals in your own car!):
The Giraffe: This driver is always trying to see ahead. He creeps to the left and then to the right, trying to see around the lanes of traffic to find out what’s holding things up. He’ll even stick his head as high out of the car as possible in order to see what’s happening.
The Frog: This driver seems to think that whatever lane she’s in is the slowest lane, so she’ll hop from one lane to the other. She may nose her way into your lane before leaping to the next lane. She may even creep by you on one side, then glare as you creep by her on the other side—unless she can get into your lane ahead of you!
The Snake: Sometimes traffic slows or stops because two or more lanes of traffic have to merge into one lane. This species of driver will speed ahead as close to the end of a line of traffic as he or she can, waiting until the last possible second to merge. Then the snake will try to nose into traffic ahead of drivers who’ve been waiting in line since 1963.
Of course, none of those kinds of drivers do themselves (or others) much good. Most traffic would flow a lot better if people would just be fair and polite to each other, taking turns and working together (instead of acting like animals!).
In fact, the whole world would function a lot better if everyone was fair. Your school and church would be much nicer places if everyone acted fairly. And families would get along better if only everyone treated everyone else fairly.
If we just treated each other with fairness, life would be more like God intended it—and less like life in a zoo!
REFLECT: Today’s Bible reading mentions a big advantage of doing what is right. What is it? Can you think of other ways life would be better if everyone treated each other fairly? How about in a crowded store? at your school? in church? at home with your family? How can you help your friends (and others) see the benefits of fairness?
PRAY: “Lord, I want to make my world a better place. Help me to remember to treat others fairly, especially when_____________________ [I’m at school, I’m at home, I’m in a public place, etc.].”
