Bible Reading: Proverbs 4:10-15, 18-19; Matthew 7:13-14

"This is so much fun!" exclaimed Scarlett as she tramped along through the snow with the other kids from her church.

"Yeah," said Ada. "This is a cool place to have a winter retreat."

Soon they came to a fork in the path. The kids ahead of them took the path to the right. "Wait!" called Scarlett. "Mr. Bailey said to turn left at each fork, and then we'll end up back at camp."

The other campers hesitated. "Yeah, but look! This path on the right is full of footprints. There aren't as many in the path to the left," argued one of the boys. "I think we should take the one everybody else used." Most of the kids agreed, and they all continued down the well-trodden path.

Scarlett and Ada didn't know what to do. "Mr. Bailey said to take the fork to the left," said Ada. "I think we should do that."

"Me too," said Scarlett. "Let's at least take it for a little ways. If we don't get back to camp soon, we can turn around and follow the other kids." Ada nodded, and they started off.

To the girls' delight, it wasn't long before they arrived back at camp. They explained to Mr. Bailey why the other campers weren't with them. He shook his head. "They'll come to a dead end and have to turn around. I'll send someone out on a snowmobile just to make sure they're all right."

During camp devotions that evening, Mr. Bailey grinned at the group. "We have some tired campers tonight," he said. "Most of you took a longer hike than you planned because you didn't follow the directions you were given. Instead, you followed the path many others had taken." He opened his Bible. "As many of you learned today, the right path is not always the popular one. God's Word tells us that many people choose the wrong path in life. We might be tempted to follow our own selfish desires thinking it will make us happy, but the Bible says that well-worn path only leads to destruction. There's only one way to have true joy and peace, and that's Jesus. When we trust in Him, He walks with us along the path that leads to eternal life. Choose to follow Him, not the crowd."

– Mary Rose Pearson

How About You?
Which path have you chosen to follow? Are you walking with Jesus down the path that leads to eternal life? Or are you going your own way? Though the world may tell us we can find our own way to happiness, the Bible says that path only leads to a dead end. Jesus says He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Trust and follow Him. (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.)

Today's Key Verse:
Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (NIV) (Matthew 7:14 )

Today's Key Thought:
Follow Jesus, not the crowd

Bible Reading: Psalm 51:1-12; 1 John 1:9

Jonathan took out his dad's aftershave lotion and rubbed some on his face before leaving the bathroom. When his mother stepped into his room a little later, she sniffed the air. "What do I smell?" she asked.

"Jonathan used Dad's aftershave lotion," Sophie hollered from her room across the hall. She came to the doorway. "He didn't take a shower again."

Mom checked the bathroom. "His towel is damp."

"Check the soap," said Sophie. "Lots of times when I shower after him it's not even wet--he just wets his washcloth and towel and pretends he showered."

"Is that true, Jonathan?" asked Mom. She went to the shower and picked up the bar of soap. It was bone dry, and she glared at him.

"I just don't like getting all wet," Jonathan said defensively.

"You're so gross!" said Sophie.

"Shhh." Mom held up a finger. "Jonathan, I'm sure you know that using this--" she held up the aftershave, "doesn't take the place of using soap. When you splash on cologne or lotion instead of washing, you may smell nice for a while, but the dirt remains. And pretty soon people can tell."

"Yeah," said Sophie. "That smelly lotion can't cover up the fact that you're still as dirty as a pig!"

Mom cast Sophie a warning glance before turning back to Jonathan. "Well, Jonathan is going to take his shower now," said Mom. She sighed. "It's important to keep our bodies clean, but we also need to think about something even more important. Just like our skin gets dirty, our hearts can get dirty--dirty with sin. Things like pride or an unloving attitude fall into that category, Sophie. And so does deceiving your mother, Jonathan."

Both Sophie and Jonathan looked at the floor as Mom continued. "We may sometimes try to cover up the wrong things we do and hide them from other people, but there is nothing we can hide from God. Whenever we sin, we need to confess our wrongs to Jesus. He'll forgive us and wash us clean."

– Nance E. Keyes

How About You?
Do you try to cover up your sins? God can see through any cover-up. Even if you can keep people from knowing what you did wrong, you can't hide it from God. You need to confess your sins to Jesus so He can forgive you and make you clean. He died to pay the price of your sins, so you never need to hide them. Trust Him to give you a clean heart so you can enjoy fellowship with Him.

Today's Key Verse:
Scrub away my guilt. Wash me clean from my sin. (ERV) (Psalm 51:2)

Today's Key Thought:
Don't cover up sin

Bible Reading: Psalm 40:1-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Angelo kicked at a stone on the pavement. "Did I tell you that I can't go live with my dad?" he asked his friend Tai. "I have to stay with Mom." Angelo sighed. "Dad always took time to do stuff with me. Y'know--guy stuff. Now I'll only get to be with him every other weekend."

"Well, you can still call and text him, can't you?" asked Tai. "You still have a lot to be thankful for."

As Tai spoke, Angelo noticed that his eyes were bright. Are those tears in Tai's eyes? he wondered. As he thought about it, he realized he'd never heard Tai talk about his father. "Does your dad live with you?"

Tai shook his head. "My dad died," he said softly.

"Oh! I'm sorry," said Angelo, not sure what else to say.

The boys walked quietly for a while. "It's been tough, and I miss Dad a lot," Tai said finally. "But one day, Mom helped me understand how she deals with it. I had this toy guitar I made by stretching rubber bands around a long box. When I strummed them they made different sounds, depending on how tight they were." He paused, and Angelo looked at him curiously. "Some of the rubber bands fit over my box easily," Tai continued, "but others were tight and had to be stretched out thin in order to get around the cardboard. A few even snapped."

"What does that have to do with missing your dad and getting along without him?" Angelo asked.

"Mom pointed out that when I strummed my make-believe guitar, the rubber bands that fit super-tight made different musical sounds than the ones that were looser. She said life is like that too, and when bad things happen, we're stretched like those small rubber bands. We may be hurting, but we can still make music during the hard times of our lives because Jesus is with us. He understands what we're going through because He suffered too. We don't have to give up and snap." Tai looked at his friend. "Mom and I decided to trust Jesus to be with us through the hard parts of our lives. I'll pray that you'll be able to do that too."

– Nance E. Keyes

How About You?
Have you had hard things happen in your life? The death of someone you love, a divorce in your family, a move away from old friends, a difficult time at school? Jesus understands your pain and promises to be with you. Because He suffered and died to save us, we have hope knowing that we will spend eternity with Him. Trust Him to make your life a beautiful song that points to His love and faithfulness, hard times and all.

Today's Key Verse:
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. (NIV) (Psalm 40:1)

Today's Key Thought:
Trust God in hard times

Bible Reading: Psalms 19:12-14; 139:23-24

Levi and his dad were enjoying a football game on TV. "Watch out for that guy on your right!" yelled Levi, and Dad waved his arms as if the players could see him. But it was no use--the man they were cheering for went down. "That was dumb!" exclaimed Levi in disgust. "He should have seen that guy coming at him! He wasn't paying attention."

Dad nodded. "The coach pulled him out now. I expect they'll show him an instant replay of that move and he'll see his mistake."

Once the game was over, they headed to the table for dinner. "Hey! How come Henley gets pizza and the rest of us get meatloaf?" asked Levi, glancing at his sister's plate. He yanked out his chair and bumped the table hard as he sat down. "You're such a spoiled brat," he said to Henley.

Henley began to speak, but Levi wouldn't listen--not even when his mom tried to explain. Instead, he gave his plate a rough shove, spilling his milk.

"Levi, go to your room!" said Dad. "Your behavior is not fit for this table. You can come back when you're ready to apologize."

Levi trudged to his room, hungry and angry. He plopped down on his bed. In his mind, he replayed what had happened. He tried to tell himself he'd been treated unfairly and that Henley was spoiled. But then he remembered that Henley had been sick when they'd had pizza the day before and his mom had saved some for her. That's why she's getting it now, he thought. He'd made a mess of the situation and hurt his sister's feelings.

The rest of the family was almost finished when Levi returned and took his place at the table. He looked at his dad. "In my mind, I watched an instant replay of what happened and saw that I made a mistake." Levi turned to his mom and his sister. "I'm really sorry for the way I acted."

"We forgive you," Mom and Henley said together.

"And remember that God will forgive you too," said Dad. "Whenever He shows us our mistakes through an instant replay of our actions, we can confess our sin to Jesus and He will forgive us and help us do better."

– Phyllis M. Robinson

How About You?
Do you sometimes say or do things you later regret? Maybe you often find yourself snapping at your siblings or talking about others behind their backs. When you replay your words and actions in your mind and notice any that were hurtful and wrong, confess them to Jesus. He will forgive you and help you speak and act in a way that reflects His love instead. Then ask anyone you hurt for their forgiveness too.

Today's Key Verse:
I decided to confess my sins to the Lord. I stopped hiding my guilt and told you about my sins. And you forgave them all! (ERV) (Psalm 32:5)

Today's Key Thought:
Confess sin

Bible Reading: Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 2:20

"Grandma, in Bible times people had to sacrifice animals to God, didn't they?" Jovie asked one day. "Why don't we do that now?"

"When Jesus died for our sins, He was the perfect sacrifice. Animal sacrifices are no longer needed because Jesus's sacrifice covers all our wrongs when we trust in Him."

"Well, when people made a sacrifice, something had to be killed, right?" said Jovie. "But my memory verse talks about a living sacrifice. What does that mean?"

"To be a living sacrifice means to give your whole life to God." Grandma picked up a small piece of yarn. "Pretend this yarn is my life. It's my love, my family, my time, my actions--my everything. Here, I'll give it to you." Grandma held out one end of the yarn. Jovie took it, but Grandma kept hold of the other end. "There--my life is all yours now. I'm sacrificing it to you." She tugged on the yarn a little as she spoke.

Jovie giggled. "Then why are you still holding on to it?"

"Good point," said Grandma. "That's like Christians when we say we've made our lives a living sacrifice to God, but then we leave strings attached to some areas. For example, we might not want God to have any say in how we spend our time or our money. Or perhaps we continue to put ourselves in situations where we'll be tempted to do things that are wrong. It's possible to hold something back in any number of areas." Grandma dropped her end of the yarn. "Now tie that into a bow."

"Okay," said Jovie, but as she began to tie a bow, Grandma reached out and took hold of the yarn again, almost tugging it out of Jovie's grasp. "Grandma! What are you doing?"

"That bow you're making is too small," said Grandma. She smiled at Jovie's puzzled look. "Christians sometimes act the way I just did. When we don't like the way things are going, we try to pull our lives back out of God's hands. To be a living sacrifice, we need to remember that we belong to Jesus, who sacrificed His own life to save us, and trust Him to guide us in every part of our lives."

"Even when things aren't going the way we want, right?" Jovie nodded. "I think I get it."

– Jean A. Burns

How About You?
Are you listening to God as He guides you in every area of your life? Or are you still holding on to some strings and trying to control some areas yourself? Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so you could be saved from sin and spend eternity with Him. He cares about you and what's going on in your life--every part of it. Trust Him to help you and guide you in every area of your life--no strings attached.

Today's Key Verse:
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. (NIV) (Romans 12:1)

Today's Key Thought:
Give your whole life to God