Things That Go Together

Cristina was playing Things That Go Together with her little sister, Bonnie. "What goes with this?" asked Cristina, setting a picture of a shoe on the playroom floor. Bonnie picked up a picture of a sock to put next to the shoe. "Good," said Cristina. "What about this one?" She placed a picture of a hammer on the floor. As Bonnie chose a nail to go with the hammer, their brother Miguel came into the room, tiptoed behind Cristina, and took three game pieces. "Get out of here!" yelled Cristina. "This is our game, not yours."But Miguel didn't leave. He held the game pieces just out of reach and stuck out his tongue. "Come get them if you want them!" he taunted. Cristina felt her temper swell. It seemed like every time she was having fun, her brother stirred up trouble. "I'm so sick of you!" she screeched as she smacked her brother's arm. She hit him again, even harder than the first time."Mom!" Miguel wailed. "Cristina hit me!" When Mom appeared in the doorway, both children bombarded her with complaints. A few minutes later, both had been sent to their rooms.To Cristina, it seemed like forever before Mom called her and Miguel back to the playroom. Mom had placed some cards that she used for teaching Sunday school on the floor. "Your game is good for teaching Bonnie how to match things," Mom began, "and it can be good for bigger kids too." She pointed to some pictures--a Bible, a heart, a cross, and an empty tomb. "All of these items represent Jesus and our faith in Him. Each of us knows He loves us and has trusted Him to save us from sin and give us new life." Then Mom pointed to some words--love, kindness, patience, anger, teasing. "Which of these words go with the pictures?" she asked.Cristina looked at the floor. Even though Miguel had teased her, she knew that hitting him did not match her faith in Jesus."When we say we have faith in Jesus but then choose to do things that don't go with who we are in Him--people who love others because He first loved us--it doesn't make sense," said Mom. "What we do needs to match what we believe." – Nance E. Keyes