Joe Cheated at School

By Harold Smith

Did you ever try cheating, boys and girls, at school? If you didn't then you're an exception, because most boys and girls, sad to say, have a try at cheating. Joe tried that. He had to have good grades on his history test and other lessons, so he studied extra hard for his history test. Just to make sure, he decided to use an old trick that his friend Eddie had told him about. He put some of the dates that were so hard to remember, that he was sure would be on his test paper, he put them on a little piece of paper and slipped them up his sleeve. He thought, "If I need them I'll look them up". So he took the test, and he found that the studying had helped a lot - it always does, boys and girls - but some of those dates were really confusing. He then looked over his finished test paper and he thought, "I'd better check and see if they're all right!" He looked up, and Mrs. Wilson was quite busy at her desk, so he slipped this piece of paper out of his sleeve and compared his answers. They were pretty good, but there were a few that needed changing. But before he could change them, he noticed that someone was standing by his side, it was Mrs. Wilson! Mrs. Wilson reached down for his test paper and said, "I'm sorry Joe, I'll have to give you a zero", and she tore the paper up. "It's not fair!", Joe protested to his parents when he got home and explained the whole thing to them. "Eddie cheated lots of times and never got caught. I didn't even do it. I never even had a chance to change one answer, yet she took my paper and she tore it up and gave me a zero on the whole thing. That's really not fair!" "But son", Mother said gently, "You were planning to change those answers and you're just as guilty as Eddie, you must see that". "But I didn't do it! Sure, I was going to, but I just didn't do it, so I'm not really guilty!" "Oh yes you are", Dad said, "God looks on the heart. He knows in your heart that you planned to cheat. He knows that you would've carried it out if you could have. You see, Joe, temptation to sin isn't wrong, but when you WANT to sin and you PLAN to sin - whether you really do it or not - that's WRONG in the sight of God". "I see what you mean", Joe admitted, "But how do I get rid of this thing?" "You must confess it to God", Dad answered, "You must come to the Lord Jesus and you must put your trust in Him to save you from your sin. He'll forgive you and take it away and save you from all your sins". And that's what YOU have to do, boys and girls, to get rid of your sins. I hope you'll get rid of your sins today!