Jewel # 31 (April 30, 2009)

"And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up MY JEWELS."  (Malachi 3:17)

Jimmy was a typical young teenager who loved to have fun and sometimes his fun included tricks he played on friends.  Usually his tricks didn't harm anybody or anything, but one time the trick could have had serious results.

Late one evening Jimmy and his friend Al were walking home along a dark village street near his home.  As they passed a house that was in the process of being repaired, the boys came up with an idea.  The neighbours who were having the work done were letting their family of boys sleep in the attic of the house.  Because the inside wasn't finished, the only way to get into the attic was from the outside by a ladder propped up against the house.  Jimmy and Al knew this and also knew that the  boys had planned to sleep in the attic that night.

The two friends decided to sneak quietly to the side of the house, remove the ladder and hide it in the ditch by the road.  Once they completed their secret plan, each boy headed to his own home and hurried off to bed.

Jimmy had difficulty falling asleep.  He tossed and turned.  Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined the broken bodies of young boys lying on the ground of the unfinished house.  He tried to erase the thought that the boys might fall from the attic to the ground,  but sleep did not come.

After some struggling with himself, Jimmy crept out of bed, slid into his jeans and quietly left his home and hurried back down the street in the darkness.  He located the ladder hidden in the ditch and quickly carried it to the house  where the boys were sleeping in the attic.  He carefully placed it back against the house where he and Al had found it.  Then he scurried down the street to his home and into bed.

Jimmy knew what he did was wrong and that the Lord had been speaking to him.  He whispered a prayer, telling the Lord Jesus that he was sorry for the trick he had played and thanked Him for helping him to make it right.  Jimmy's mind was at peace, and he immediately fell asleep.

In the eyes of God, sin is disobeying what we know is right in the ways of God.  Jimmy felt this because he belonged to the Lord Jesus.  He realized that what he had done in fun could have caused a tragedy.  He knew he needed to confess his sin and correct the deed and then he could thank the Lord for His forgiveness.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:9) 

"A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."  (Proverbs 22:3)

P.S.  This is a true story.  Jimmy was your grandpa Norm.  I used to be called "Jimmy."