Don’t Ask Me

John was 13 years old and regularly met with a group of friends after school. They did all the usual things that boys do, tearing round on their bikes, throwing stones in the local river, climbing things that shouldn’t be climbed…..

Martin was slightly older than the rest and one day he said to his friends:

“Let’s do something exciting! I have this great idea, we could sneak out of our houses after midnight and go around knocking on peoples’ doors and run away.”

“We’d get caught!” exclaimed John.

“No we won’t,” Martin replied, “Who would be expecting thirteen year olds to be out at that time of night? They’ll blame it on the older lads”.

It all sounded so feasible and fun, that John decided to go along with it. Just after midnight he slid down the drainpipe outside his bedroom and ran off to join the gang. They had a brilliant time hiding, watching irate neighbours coming to the door in their dressing gowns.

The next evening there was a knock at the front door. It was Mr Jones from down the road. He confronted John’s mother with the fact that he had looked out of his window and seen the lad running away down the street.

Mrs Owen looked shocked and said “No it wasn’t my son; he would never do anything like that. I’ll bring him to the door and you can ask him.”

John, of course, denied it all, his heart pounding.

“There!” said Mrs Owen, “I told you you were wrong, my son wouldn’t lie, he’s a Christian.”

The same evening John laid on the bed in his room feeling hideously guilty. He had let his family down, and his church and God.

Read Matthew 26: 69-75 for the account of Peter’s denial of Christ.

• What effect did this denial have on John,  that was similar to Peter’s?
• What has been your reaction to a bare-faced lie?

Additional Reading 

• Proverbs 28:13           
• Luke 15: 11-24
• 1 John 1:9