“Brrrm, brrrm, bang, bang”, Bobby cried as he ran through the living room waving his arms as though he were flying.
“Bobby! Whatever are you doing that for?” Mum called out over Bobby’s noise.
“I can do anything!” Bobby said as he flopped down on the couch.
“What do you mean, you can do anything?” Mum asked, “I can tell you one thing, you aren’t to make so much noise when you come flying in here like that!”
“Well, that’s what the preacher told us about yesterday at church….he said we could do anything through Christ who give us strength”, Bobby said picking up a cushion and using it as a shield.
“Did not!” Sarah said, “It just shows how much you weren’t listening to what he DID say!”
“Well, what did he say then?” Bobby said a little sulkily.
“He said we weren’t to take a verse out of its context and make a rule about it like you did just then,” Sarah said, “He said that that verse you just said, has to be read with all the. other verses ahead and behind it”.
“Oh!” said Bobby somewhat crestfallen, “Well, what does ‘contect’ mean anyway?”
“Context!” Sarah corrected, “It means you have to read all the verses around the one you like, and then see what makes sense!”
Mum was listening and smiling as Sarah went on with her explanation. She knew that Sarah had got the real sense of what the preacher had been talking about.
“All the verses before that one are talking about being content with what we have got”, Sarah went on. “We are not to want what other people have, and it’s not always easy to be like that!”
“Ho, ho,” said Bobby, “What about that latest model phone like the one that Michaela has that you were wanting? Huh?”
“Well, I know that,” Sarah said, “I know I have to be satisfied with the one I’ve got, and it is only the Lord Jesus who can give me the strength to be like that! That’s right, isn’t it Mum?”
“Yes, that is exactly what the preacher was saying”, Mum said, “And I’m glad that you’ve made sense out of what he was saying Sarah, because you will find lots of times you will need to remember that or you will be unhappy or jealous of other people if they have things that you haven’t got. Now Bobby, ” she went on, “You just pick up your wings and fly outside to do your chores….you will have plenty of strength to do that!”
“Brrm, brrm”, said Bobby as he got up and ran outside still making aeroplane noises as he went.