The Lesson of the Barn

“Can I go across the street and see if we can find the kittens in the barn?” I ask my Mother while my friend stood by shaking her head up and down.

“It’s almost lunch time so why not wait until after lunch?” Mother replied.

“Please, please, please, I won’t be gone long, okay? I whined.

Mother gave in with a stern warning.

“I don’t want you jumping out of that barn loft anymore now, okay?”

“We won’t”, I said, “and I’ll be back in just a little while.”

So, out the front door my friend and I went, jumping off our little front porch, allowing the screen to slam behind us. We quickly looked both ways and then ran across the street.

It didn’t take long for us to climb into the barn loft. I loved the smell of fresh hay and we played on the bales for a while forgetting all about the kittens that might be there somewhere. Soon we sat down on the edge of the loft, swinging our legs over the edge. We laid back in the hay and I’m sure discussed the important things going on in school with our friends.

“I’ll jump if you will.” My friend said.

“Mother said not to jump though. You heard her.” I replied.

“Well, okay, then, I’ll jump. My Mother didn’t tell me I couldn’t?” And, jump she did.

So, there I sat in the opening of the barn loft, kicking my feet back and forth and contemplating whether or not to take the chance and jump even though I would be disobeying my Mother. The little voice in my head whispered,

“Go ahead and jump; she’ll never know.”

The other voice in my heart all the while was saying,

“You shouldn’t jump. After all, you told your Mother you wouldn’t.”

And, there stood my neighbor. She had jumped and she was okay. I didn’t want to be a baby when she wasn’t afraid to jump. So, jump I did. I was fine except for turning my ankle a bit. Oh, I could walk but it hurt a little when I did.

“Time for lunch………come on home”, it was my Mother calling from across the street.

“I’m coming, Mother!" I yelled, " I’ll see ya later, “I said to my friend as I headed toward home …..slowly…..limping slightly.

Opening the screen door, I stepped inside and there stood my Mother.

“Why are you limping?” She asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just kinda turned my ankle when I was climbing down out of the barn.”

“Oh? You didn’t jump out of the barn loft, did you, after I told you not to?”

“No, Mother, I told you, I was just climbing down 'cause you were hollering at me for lunch”, I lied.
Immediately, that little voice in my heart reminded me that I had just lied to my Mother, while the other voice in my head told me she would never know.

“Hummm, well, that really looked like you that I saw jumping out of the loft when I came to the door.” Mother said.

I had forgotten that while standing in our front door, there was a clear view of the whole barn.
Following my mother into the kitchen and onto our porch, I watched her walk outside and I knew what was going to happen. Suffice it to say, the spirea bush outside was minus a little limb when she came back in. And, when the punishment was over, my ankle wasn’t the only thing that hurt.

How many of us tend to listen to the voice in our head rather than the nudging of the still, small voice in our heart? How many of us think that we can get by with something and will never be caught? How often do we think it’s only a little white lie and it won’t matter? It doesn’t make any difference with our Lord whether our lie is a white one or a whopper. A lie is a lie in God’s sight and He hates lying.

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV