Daily Devotional for April 13, 2023
The Jumping Test
Adam placed the ladder against the garden shed. As he climbed up it, his dad looked up from weeding the garden and hurried over. “Adam! What are you doing up there?”
“Practicing!” Adam called back. “I have to jump off the shed roof at school tomorrow, so I want to try it at home first.”
Dad grabbed the end of the ladder. “What did you say you’re going to do?”
“I said I have to jump off the roof. It’s to prove my faith.”
“You’ll do no such thing!” said Dad. “You could break a leg. Come down this instant.” Adam descended the ladder and sat beside his dad on the grass. “Now,” said Dad, “what’s this all about?”
Adam hugged his knees. “I was telling some friends at school about Jesus, and they laughed and said it was all baloney. They don’t believe there’s a God. Then Nick dared me to jump off the roof. He says if I can do it without getting hurt, he’ll believe in God! So I’m praying that God will help me jump off the shed safely.”
Dad sighed. “Adam, nothing is impossible for God. But when you ask Him for something, you need to make sure it doesn’t go against what the Bible says. I don’t think jumping off the roof to prove He’s real is in line with His Word.”
“But Dad, if it would make Nick believe, wouldn’t God want me to do it?”
“Last night we read about how Satan tempted Jesus by telling Him to jump down from the highest point of the temple,” Dad reminded Adam. “Do you remember Jesus’s reply?”
“Um…He said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Dad nodded. “When your friends dare you to do something foolish, you don’t have the right to test God either. He tells us to share the good news of Jesus with others, but remember that it’s God who changes people’s hearts, not us. Jumping off a roof isn’t going to make Nick believe in God. I think the best way to help him and the others know that God is real is to pray for them and trust Jesus to help them see His love in you as their friend.”
“Okay,” said Adam. “If Jesus wouldn’t jump off a building, I won’t either. I’ll tell the guys the jump is off.”
-Tanya Ferdinandusz
How about you?
Have you ever wanted to do something to try to prove God is real? It doesn’t work that way. The Bible tells us not to test God the way Satan did when he tempted Jesus and dared Him to prove who He was. Jesus wants people to know He’s real, but not through foolish stunts. He shares the truth about who He is in His Word, the Bible. Point others to His truth and love, and trust Him to do the rest.
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