Daily Devotional for February 18, 2018
To Read or Not to Read
Sierra shut her bedroom door and tossed her backpack onto the bed.
She set her cat, Tommy, on the floor. “Stay away from the curtains, Tommy,” she warned. “You know you always get stuck in them.”
Sierra flopped onto her bed and opened her backpack. After digging around a moment, she pulled out a book. “What do you think, Tommy?”
she asked. “Should I?”
Tommy didn’t answer. He was staring at the lace curtain waving in the breeze coming through the window.
Sierra leaned back and tossed the book onto the bed beside her. “I know Mom doesn’t want me to read these kinds of books, but all my friends read them. They can’t be that bad, can they?” She picked up the book again. The cover looked interesting. She flipped it over and read the back for the tenth time. A few pages couldn’t hurt.
Sierra opened the book and soon had read several pages. Then a quick movement made her jump. It was only Tommy, she realized with relief. He had pounced on the curtain. His claws were caught in the fabric, and he hung down, his full length stretched out. He was helpless.
“Silly cat, leave the curtain alone!” Sierra freed him, and he marched across the room and sat with his back to the curtain.
Sierra turned to her book again. She knew she shouldn’t read any more, but soon she was engrossed again. She had finished the first chapter when a sound caught her attention.
She looked up and stared in disbelief. Tommy was hanging from the curtain again. The temptation had been too great. Sierra began to laugh.
“Tommy, you should know better, after all the times you’ve gotten stuck. Resist the temptation! You should—”
Sierra stopped and stared at Tommy and then at the book in her hand. Shame washed over her. She dropped the book as though it were on fire.
She loosened Tommy from the curtain again, then picked up the book and placed it in her backpack. “I’m going to return this book and ask Jesus to forgive me for disobeying Mom,” she told her cat. “I don’t want to become ensnared like you!” – Christa Long
How about you?
Have you ever given in to temptation and regretted it later? Maybe you read something you shouldn’t have or looked at bad pictures. When you give in to temptation, it’s easy to get stuck. But there’s good news—Jesus gives us the power to resist temptation. Confess the wrong you’ve done to Him, and He will forgive you and help you obey.
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