Daily Devotional for April 7, 2017
The Best Lesson
Grandma walked into the living room and picked up the remote. “That’s enough TV for today, Neal. Don’t you have homework to do?”
Neal shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, Grandma.” He reached down and scooped up Tiger, the stray cat Grandma had rescued. “Even if I do it, Mrs. Stevens still won’t like me.”
“I thought you enjoyed her class. What happened?” Grandma asked.
“I do like it. But I forgot to do my homework a few times, and now she always asks me if I’ve done it,” Neal explained.
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Grandma said.
“But she won’t let me use the classroom computer during study hall unless my homework’s done. And if I tell her it’s done, she doesn’t believe me! She makes me show her my work.” Neal stroked the fur on Tiger’s back, making him purr. “She doesn’t make anyone else do that.”
“I see,” said Grandma. “Neal, do you remember when I first got Tiger?”
Neal remembered how skinny Tiger had been. His striped fur was dirty, and one ear was torn. “Tiger hissed and scratched at anyone who came near him,” said Neal.
Grandma nodded. “Tiger had been mistreated. It was hard for him to trust people again. I fed him and spoke gently to him every day. Then one morning, Tiger stepped away from his dish and brushed against my legs. More time went by before he trusted me enough to let me pet him.”
“But he’s okay now,” Neal said as he gently petted the purring cat. “I guess he figured out you’re not going to hurt him.”
“Sometimes when we make mistakes, it takes people a while to trust us again, just like Tiger,” Grandma said. “But that doesn’t mean we should give up. Jesus changes us and gives us the strength to do what’s right, and as we obey Him, one day others will see we can be trusted again.”
“You mean, if I continue to do my homework, eventually Mrs. Stevens won’t need to remind me anymore?”
“Not only that, Neal,” said Grandma. “You’ll also show her—and yourself—that because of Jesus, you have the power to change. That’s the best lesson a student could ever learn!” – Heidi J. Schmidt
How about you?
Have you lost someone’s trust because of a mistake you made? Have you felt like giving up trying to show you’ve changed? Remember that God works through people who make mistakes. The apostle Paul made some big mistakes before Jesus saved him. Depend on Jesus for the strength to do what is right, and ask Him to help others notice the change.
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