Summary: Troy struggled to unscrew the lid of a small bottle of paint he needed to use on a model airplane he'd gotten for his birthday. His face turned red as he tried with all his might to turn the lid. Finally, he took the bottle out to the garage, picked up one of Dad's screwdrivers, and tried to pry the lid off. The screwdriver slipped and jabbed his finger. "Ouch!" Troy cried as he watched a trickle of blood run from the cut. He put the bottle down and went into the house for a bandage. When Troy returned to the garage, Dad had just gotten home from work. "What did you do to your finger?" Dad asked, looking at the bandage on Troy's hand. Troy explained about the lid. "Did you read the directions on the bottle?" asked Dad. "Directions?" Troy frowned. "To open a bottle?" Dad picked up the bottle of paint and pointed to the writing on the top of the lid. "It says to push down and then turn, Troy. Did you do that?" Troy shook his head. "I didn't see that," he said. When he followed the directions, the lid came off easily. Troy laughed. "Next time I try something new, I'll know enough to read the directions. Want to see how far I've got my model done, Dad?" "Sure," Dad replied, and they went into the house. "Good job," said Dad, admiring the model airplane. "Ihope your sore finger won't bother you too much while you finish it." "Me, too," said Troy. After a moment he added, "Hey, Dad, this is like what you told me last week." Dad grinned. "I told you a lot of things last week," he said. "Which piece of good advice are you thinking of?" "You said the Bible gives us directions for life," replied Troy, "and that without them, we might do things that are wrong and then we're sure to get hurt. Like I hurt my finger when I ignored the directions on the bottle of paint, right?" "Good thinking," said Dad, "but when you don't follow God's instructions on how to live, you can get hurt a lot worse than having a sore finger." "Yeah, well, like I said . . . now I know enough to read the directions," Troy replied with a smile. "And I even know I better follow them, too!" How About You? Do you read the directions God gives in the Bible? Do you follow them? Or do you attempt to do things your own way? It's important to read the Bible and learn what God says, but be sure you don't just read His directions. Failure to do what God says can result in getting hurt spiritually--and sometimes even physically. Remember . . . read and follow Gods directions. Today's Key Verse: Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. (James 1:22) Today's Key Thought: Follow God's directions
