Our friend Joyanna
A lot of children, and even adults, would like to be the best at whatever they do, to be praised, to receive a reward, or to be the boss. Here’s a story that helps us think about this a bit more.
“Croak, croak!” The frog was having a conversation with two beautiful ducks that were gliding peacefully through the water.
“Oh, the wind, the rain, the falling leaves. It feels like autumn.”
“Yes, it will soon be time for us leave before it gets really cold. We’ll fly off to the warm south”.
“Oh, you are so lucky! I have to put up with the cold and hide underground so that I don’t die.”
The ducks felt sorry for the poor frog. What could they do? One of them had an idea:
“What do you think about coming with us on our journey?”
“You’re not thinking straight. There is no way I could come with you!”
“And you don’t realise how clever we ducks can be!”
So the two ducks got hold of a long, dead branch with their beaks, one duck at each end. The frog wasn’t sure what was going on.
“OK, stand in the middle and grab the stick with your mouth.”
And the next thing we know, our strange team was flying, a frog with two ducks, each holding onto the branch. The frog was enjoying his first ever flight!
A farmer was looking up into the sky and spotted the frog, the ducks and the branch and shouted:
“Which of you had this great Idea?”
“Me!” said the frog
But to say that, the frog had to open his mouth! As you have probably guessed, it meant he fell to earth at great speed and his trip was over.
What do you think of this frog? He was pretending to be something he wasn’t, showing off to impress the farmer.
Now, let’s meet Jesus as he enters the town Capernaum. A Roman centurion, a man who had 100 soldiers under his command, came towards him, and asked him, “My servant is at home in bed, he is very sick and in a lot of pain.”
“I will come and heal him.”, replied Jesus.
“Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house.”, said the centurion.
This man was very important because he was responsible for a lot of soldiers. But he was also humble: he recognised Jesus’ power and saw himself as very small in comparison to him.
His servant was instantly healed. Read about it in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8, verses 5 to 13.
It doesn’t do us any good to tell people how great we are at football or at school, or how expensive our designer clothes are.
The centurion understood that Jesus looks at our hearts, and that he is kind to those who don’t think of themselves as better than everybody else.
In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say, “God opposes everyone who is proud, but he is kind to everyone who is humble.– James 4:6
Your friend Joyanna– Emiliya
