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Eat Your Peas
by Nancy Quinn The noisy lunchroom was filled with children's laughter and the clatter of lunch trays and metal lunch boxes finding their places along the long tables. The teachers would patrol the aisles and check to make sure we were eating our lunches. For those who chose the school hot lunch, the students were required to at least take one bite of everything. I'm sure the goal was to make sure we all ate a well-rounded and healthy lunch. But for those of us who hated those squishy canned peas, it could be a torturous moment! One day, one of my classmates told the teacher if he ate the peas he would throw up. Undaunted, the teacher assured the student that he would not throw up if he ate one bite. Well, unfortunately the student was aware his vegetable limitations and found the need to prove he was right. The rest of us eventually learned the trick of "stirring". If you stirred the peas around, the teachers would pass you over because it looked like you had your obligatory one bite. Ah, the antics of childhood in a small town in Iowa where the principal's office proudly displayed a paddle hanging on the wall for the naughty children and the teachers made us eat our vegetables. (However, I personally think the paddle was just to scare us because I never saw him use it!) The deception of stirring my school lunch peas reminds me that sometimes people do that in their Christian walk. Do you have a true relationship with Jesus Christ or are you deceiving others and yourself by just going through the motions of Christianity right now? If your faith walk feels a little stale right now, I encourage you to take a step back. Are you witnessing and sharing the love of Christ with others? Do you spend time with the Lord daily? Strength in your spiritual body means a disciplined life. And just like we need to eat our vegetables to be physically healthy, prayer and reading the Bible is necessary to strengthen our spiritual body. So I encourage you to dust off your Bible today (and don't forget to eat your peas!) Proverbs 1:3 "Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair." Proverbs 10:17 "People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray." May God bless these words as I strive to encourage others in their walk with Christ. Please contact me if you would like to request a specific lesson that Lucy Mouse can teach your children or if you would like a coloring page to be sent to match the story! Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |