PEOPLE WHO MEASURE THEMSELVES BY THEMSELVES, AND COMPARE THEMSELVES WITH THEMSELVES, ARE NOT WISE.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read 2 Corinthians 10:12-18.
Verse of the Day: “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:18, NIV).
Tyree liked helping his father. Dad was really good at building things and fixing things. Tyree always felt proud and happy when he and Dad worked together.
He also was glad that his dad was starting to give him more responsibility. They were installing sturdy shelving in the storeroom of a food pantry near their home, and Dad had let Tyree run the circular saw they used to cut the shelves.
“Tyree,” Dad mumbled through a mouthful of nails, “could you please bring me three shelves?”
“Sure, Dad,” Tyree answered. He leaped to the short lengths of lumber he’d cut and stacked and grabbed three pieces off the top. As he picked them up, he was horrified to notice that they were all different lengths!
He took them to his dad. “I, uh, didn’t get ‘em all the right size,” he said.
Dad took the three shelves from his son and laid them on the floor of the storeroom. “You’re right,” he said, scratching his head. “How’d you measure them?”
“I just laid a board on top of the board I was cutting and drew a line.”
Dad nodded. “Did you use the same board every time?”
Tyree shook his head. “No,” he answered. “But they should all be the same length.”
Dad smiled. “There’s your mistake,” he said good-naturedly.
Tyree’s mouth opened in a silent O shape. He slapped his forehead as though he should have known all along what he was doing wrong. Every time he cut a board, he would use that board to measure the next. If the board he’d just cut was just a tiny bit smaller or larger than the last one he cut, he would be using a whole different measurement every time he cut a shelf.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” he said.
“Oh, that’s all right, Son,” Dad answered. “That’s a mistake we’ve all made. Just make sure you always use the right measurement every time you cut.”
Dad’s words sounded familiar. Then Tyree remembered. “Just like choosing right from wrong,” he told his dad. “We need to make sure we always measure our decisions against the only standard that counts—God. Right, Dad?”
“That’s right,” Dad answered. “Always measure against the original.”
“I’ll remember that from now on,” Tyree said. “I promise.”
TO DISCUSS: What standard do you most often rely on to decide what’s right or wrong: What your parents say? What your friends say or do? What the law says? What you think? Or do you compare your choices with God and his character?
TO PRAY: “Lord, thank you for your reminder that you are the only true standard of right and wrong.”