The Flashlight

"Aw, Grandpa, why do we always have to read the Bible after dinner?" Mack complained. I want to go finish building my fort, he thought as he watched Grandpa pull his big Bible off the shelf in the dining room. Suddenly a bolt of lightning split the sky outside the window. Mack ducked with his hands over his ears as thunder shook the house. The lights blinked and then shut off."Not the lights," Mack groaned. Well, at least now we can't read the Bible since Grandpa can't see well enough to read in dim light, so I can go make my fort, he thought. "Grandpa, can I have a flashlight?""What for?" Grandpa asked. Mack could hear shuffling as he returned the Bible to its shelf."So I can finish building my fort," Mack said."You don't need a flashlight for that," Grandpa said. "You can see well enough."Mack huffed and gripped the edge of the table as he made his way toward Grandma's linen closet. His foot hit something cold and metal, and water splashed onto his pant leg. "Ew, dog water!" Grandpa handed him a napkin and he dried his foot. After grabbing an armful of blankets from Grandma's closet, he headed down the hall toward the living room. As he turned the corner, he smacked into the edge of the wall. "Owww!" he howled, and his blankets fell to the floor. He saw a light bobbing from the direction of the dining room, and soon Grandpa appeared, flashlight in hand. "Would you like this?" Grandpa asked, holding out the light."Yes please," Mack said."Did you know that the Bible is like a flashlight too?" Grandpa asked as he helped Mack gather his blankets."What do you mean?" "God's Word shows us where to walk. It shines light into our lives by showing us our sin and our need for Jesus to free us from it. And it teaches us how to live as God's children. Without the truth of God's Word in our lives, we would be stumbling in the darkness, and that always leads to trouble.""Like how I spilled the dog water and smacked into the wall?" Mack asked. Grandpa nodded. He piled the last blanket in Mack's arms. "Now go finish that fort of yours," he said. "And with a light this time." -Julia Lodi