Petals or Precepts

Stella slowly plucked petals from the daisy in her fingers.  "He loves me - he loves me not."

Tommy broke into a gale of laughter!  "Oh, look at the princess!  Does Prince

Charming love her, indeed?"

"Get away, Tom Dawson! Can't a girl have any privacy? Anyway, it's just a game!"

"Why do you look so dreamy-eyed if it's just a game?"

"Mother!" Stella called.  "Make Tom leave me alone!"

Mother entered quietly.  "Now what's wrong between you two?"

"Nothing is wrong," chirped Tom.  "Miss Queenie here just wants to know if he loves her.  She's torn up a half-dozen daisies!" he mocked.

"Well, never mind," Mother calmed. "There's nothing to that superstitious stuff anyway.  You had better trust something more solid than daisy petals."

Tom said, "Yes, but there isn't much that is clear or certain to trust these days."

"Yes, people of the world always want to know pros and cons of everything.  They want leeway for man's ideas and choices.  They want to be their own boss and do their own will, but there is no wiggle room in God's Word.  God deals in absolutes - 'Thou shalt, and Thou shalt not,' and His Word is final."

"Not everyone thinks so," Tom replied.  "They've taken down the display of The Ten Commandments from some courthouses and public places by order of the Supreme Court!"

"Yes," said Mother, "but that doesn't change God's Law.  It stands no matter what men do.  God wrote many laws, but people can't keep even the first ten! There's something inside us that keeps us from obeying God's Law.  James said that if we break even one point, we are guilty of all" (James 2:10).

"That's hard," Tom breathed.  "I can't do right all the time no matter how hard I try."

"I know, " said Mother.  "And neither can anyone else, yet no one can break God's Law and get by with it.  'The wages of sin is death' (Romans 3:23).  The Law cannot save us; it only shows us that we are sinners and are unable to please God.  That's why Jesus Christ came.  Jesus was sinless, but He gave His live for us, so that God could forgive us and we could go to Heaven on Christ's merit, not our own.  When He saves us, He also gives us the strength to resist sin and obey Him."

"I'm glad for that!" Tom smiled.  "And I'm glad Jesus saved me.  I know I mess up sometimes, but I do want to live for Him.  C'mon Stella.  Forget your daises.  Let's make a poster of the Ten Commandments. Others may not want them, but we can put them up in our own home."

"That's good," encouraged Mother.  "David said, 'Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed' (Psalm 119:80)."

Tom and Stella worked quite a while, and Mother gave a little explanation with each Commandment. When they finished, they tacked the poster on the wall.  It looked nice and Mother was pleased with their work.

God is good, and God is love.  His laws are right!  The Israelites promised to keep all God's Laws, but they could not.  Neither can we! We have broken God's Law and sinned against Him.  We must trust the sacrificial death of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only payment for our sin.  He alone kept the Law perfectly.  He shed His blood that we might be forgiven.

Tom and Stella followed Mother downstairs to help her with supper.  They were delighted to have spaghetti for supper, and Mother was delighted to give them ice cream for dessert!

You, too, have sinned, but if you ask the Lord Jesus to forgive your sin and receive Him as your Savior, you, too, can have everlasting life and a home in heaven.  Jesus will give you a new heart and the desire to please Him and do God's will. (John 1:12) Trust Him now!

(You can put the copy of the Ten Commandments on the front of this story on your wall to remember God's precepts and what Christ has done for you!)