Some things I learned in Kindergarten today!

Well I guess before I tell you what I learned. I need to explain what I was doing in kindergarten. Sometimes you are willing to do about anything to spend some time with the person you love. I had the day off, but Davena was subbing in kindergarten. Therefore I decided it would be a good idea to volunteer in her class.

It was a pretty good day. The kids were relatively good considering they are five and six. I learned a lot today. I learned that Davena is a pretty good sub and does really well with the children. I learned that “I smell good” according to one of the little girls. And I learned that kids don’t remember names real well. I was called “Ms. Mounts” (sorry Ms. Mounts if you are reading this, I’m sure you look nothing like me). I was called “hey you” but most of the day I was called “Ms. Josh.” Again, they are five and six so I didn’t hold it against them.

These are not the things that I wanted to share with you in this blog. As I was sitting on the playground the thought came to me that if Christians would obey some of the same rules as they have to obey in kindergarten it would make things a lot better. So, with that being said, I would like to share some kindergarten rules with you that every Christian should follow.

Rule #1:  Friends are good to have, but having the wrong friends will get you in trouble. I noticed that some of the kids were better behaved when they were not around certain other kids.

As a Christian we should heed the warning in the scriptures that tell us not to be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” You may love God, and you may want to live right, but if you hang around the wrong crowd long enough they are going to get you into trouble. I’m not saying that we have to avoid every non-believer. How can we reach a world that we cannot touch? I am saying that a person who chooses the wrong friends may find themselves in trouble.

Rule #2:  Most of the time it’s better to just stay quite. These kids today were pretty well behaved, but when they did get into trouble it was usually because they were talking when they should have just been quiet.

This one is tough for me. I like to have an opinion about everything. It is hard for me to stay quiet sometimes. The problem is that the Bible teaches me to “live peaceable with all men”, not to gossip, and to love my neighbor as myself. One scripture says that the tongue is set on fire of hell. Even our Lord was quiet in the face of His accusers just before He was crucified. My life, and I suspect yours, would be a lot better if we could contain our words.

Rule #3:  Read the instructions. Every time Davena would hand a paper out she would read the instructions to the children, and then show them how to do the work. On almost every assignment handed out there would be a few kids that would not know what to do. The reason they did not know what to do is because they were not listening to the instructions.

I bet you can guess where I am going with this. How many times have we not known what to do with our lives, or not known what to do when a certain situation arises? The reason we do not know what to do so many times is because we have not been reading the instructions. When was the last time you read your Bible? Listen to a sermon? Followed along with a teacher?

Rule #4:  Keep your hands and feet to yourself. I noticed that some of the children like to “help” the others. They were telling them what to do, or how to do it. A couple kids got hurt on the playground because another kid wasn’t keeping their hands to themselves.

Why is it that we feel we need to sweep everyone else’s porch when ours is so dirty? The Bible tells us not to point out the splinter in our neighbor’s eye when we have a beam in ours. On many occasions the Pharisees and the Sadducees would point out a “fault” on the part of the Christ or his disciples. The only thing they did was to show how much at fault they were. We teach our kids not to be a “tattle tale,” but the Bible teaches us not to be a “tale bearer” (gossip, tattle tale).

Rule #5:  Keep your eyes on the teacher. The teacher knows where to go, when to go, and how to get there. She (or he) knows the agenda for the day. These five and six year olds can’t tell time, so if it was up to them they would miss lunch, miss their special areas, and they would not know when to leave.

As a child of God it is a good idea to keep my eyes on the one in charge. If I don’t have my eyes on Him then I might find myself in a lot of trouble. I would miss blessings that He has for me. By keeping my eyes on Him I can avoid wrong turns. And one day soon He will let me know when it is time to “go home.” The Bible teaches that none of us are able to “tell time,” for none of us “know the day or hour in which the Son of Man cometh.” It is very important to keep our eyes on God. He will never lead us astray.

It’s amazing the things we will learn if we are looking!