Day 3

 

 

The Radiator

 

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

 

Proverbs 14:12

 

 

My elementary school was heated by hot water radiators. To most kids that meant don't touch it when it is hot, but my mind worked along a different path than most. I saw the radiator as much more than a heater.

 

My plan was to place crayons on the floor under the radiator and to heat them up to where the crayons were moldable. I would take those moldable crayons and shape them into dinosaur crayons. I just knew that every kid in that class would be envious that I had little dinosaurs I could color with. (I still think I should patent the idea). I was a visionary, but a little short on the fundamentals of how it could work.

 

I had no idea what the melting point of crayons was or how long it might take the radiator to get the crayons to a moldable substance. I wasn't even sure that the crayons could ever be made to be moldable. I just knew that there was enough waxy material in crayons that heat would do something to them. Hey, the advance of science is not without it's risks. So, I placed a bunch of crayons underneath the radiator right before we left for recess.

 

I still cannot tell you what the melting temperature for a crayon is, since it happened while I was at recess. What I can tell you is that the floor around the radiator was much more colorful after recess than it was before recess. And I can tell you that the principal had a strange and painful way of showing his appreciation for my artistic attempt to advance science.

 

It had all seemed like such a brilliant idea. However like most of my wonderful schemes it had gone colorfully wrong. That is what happens when we do things our way and not God's way.

 

I cannot tell you how many times people come to me with problems of their own making. They find themselves knee deep in melted crayons (metaphorically speaking) because they though they knew a better way than God's way. God doesn't give us "thou shalt nots" because he is trying to ruin our fun. God's ways are simply what is best for us.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read 1 Kings 21:1-29

• What did King Ahab want and who did it belong to?
• Did he try to acquire it the right way?
• By whose way did he wind up acquiring what he wanted?
• Did God approve of the way Ahab acquired what he wanted?
• What did Elijah tell Ahab would happen as a result of doing things the way he did?

Read 1 Kings 22:34-40

• What happened to Ahab as predicted by Elijah?

Read 2 Kings 10:1-11

• What happened to Jezebel as predicted by Elijah?