There was a loud crash, and the sound of falling glass. Poor Freddie!’ He had been bouncing his new tennis ball against the wall of his home, and all at once, instead of hitting the wall, it went right through the back window. Freddie ran and found his tennis ball and then sat down on a big stone to think.
“Old Mary is busy upstairs,” thought Freddie, “and besides, she is so deaf at the best of times I’m sure she couldn’t have heard the crash. Mother is away visiting Uncle George, and I don’t think anybody saw what happened. If I am asked who did it, I won’t tell a lie. But if no one asks me—and I don’t think they will—there is no need for me to say anything about it.”
“Father would be angry, too,” he said, half aloud. “Perhaps, even, I might have to pay for the new glass with my own money. I think I shall just act as though I don’t know anything about it.”
Was Freddie right in thinking this way? Had anyone seen him throw his ball through the window? There is a verse in the Bible which says, “Thou God seest me.” All at once Freddie began to think about that verse, and then he remembered the story of Ananias and Sapphira, which he had heard at Sunday School. He could almost hear his teacher warning them that God hates lies whether we tell them, or just act them. He could almost hear him telling his boys that when they felt tempted to act or tell a lie, they must turn to the Lord Jesus and ask Him for help and strength to tell the truth.
With a rapid step he ran down the lane to meet his father, who had just appeared in the distance. As he ran, he silently asked for courage to tell his father just how the accident had happened.
“You’re quite out of breath, my boy,” said his father. “One would think you had something very important to tell me.”
“Yes, father, I am in a hurry to tell you something. I’m very sorry, but I have broken the hack window. I was tossing my new ball, and all at once it went right through the window. I am very sorry, Father.”
“That’s right my boy. Always come directly and tell of any mischief you have done. I would rather have every window in my house broken, than that my Freddie should tell a lie to hide his carelessness, or act a lie in order to save himself from blame.”
Then, as he walked along by his father’s side, Freddie told him how he had been tempted to keep silent about the, broken window, and of how he remembered that verse, “Thou God seest me.”
“My dear boy, I am so thankful that you have been taught to see how easily we may be guilty of the sin of falsehood, even without saying a word. Never trust in your own strength, but when tempted to do wrong, ask God to give you grace to resist the temptation.”
Remember, dear young reader, that the Lord Jesus, although He loved and Lied for sinners, still hates sin, and we must always remember that “Thou God seest me.”
ML 03/11/1951