God is the Truth
Once upon a time, there was a family of birds that lived in a tree by the park. There was a Dada, a Mama Bird, and the little birds: Duff, Puff, Gruff, Ruff & Tuff, and Fluff.
One day Roscoe the raccoon was strolling around the wood looking for some food. As he made his way to the farm he came upon a patch of strawberries. Roscoe loves strawberries. In fact, he loves them so much that he sat in that strawberry patch eating the strawberries until there were none left. His tummy was full of strawberries. His mouth was dripping with strawberry juice and his paws were red. Roscoe was a very happy raccoon.
Later on that day, Maria the Chicken came to the strawberry patch to water her strawberries. When she found that someone had eaten them all up, she suddenly began to cry. Her little chicks were with her and when they saw her cry, they began to cry too.
Not long after this, Charlie the Bear happened by the strawberry patch. He found Maria and the little chicks crying and asked, “What happened?”
“Someone stole all my strawberries,” Maria whimpered, “and those strawberries were all the food that we have to eat for the next two months. Now I don’t know what we are going to do.”
Well, this made Charlie the Bear very upset. He had great compassion for Maria and her little chicks. So he decided to call a meeting of all the animals in the wood to find out who ate Maria’s strawberries. When everyone arrived at the park for the meeting, Charlie the Bear announced, “Someone has eaten all of Maria’s strawberries. It was all that she and her chicks had to eat for the next two months. So we’re going to ask everyone here if they know who did it.”
Then Charlie the Bear and Dada Bird went from person to person asking if they knew who ate the strawberries. When they got to Roscoe, he simply hung his head and said, “It wasn’t me and I don’t know who did it.”
After they asked everyone and found that no one confessed to the crime, Dada Bird got out God’s book. He read from three different passages. “God says that we should not lie. He also says that He is the truth and cannot lie. Lying hurts ourselves, others, and offends God. He is hurt and angered by lies because He is the truth. Someone here is not telling the truth. It will only hurt everyone. Charlie the Bear and I are going to ask each one here a second time about Maria’s strawberries. This time whoever did it, please simply repent and tell the truth.”
When they had asked everyone again if they had taken the strawberries no one admitted to it. When Charlie came to Roscoe, he simply hung his head and said, “It wasn’t me and I don’t know who did it.”
This time, however, Puff noticed something. “Roscoe,” she asked, “why are your hands behind your back?”
The truth was, he was hiding them. But he didn’t say that. He just shrugged his shoulders. Then Charlie the Bear told him to reveal his paws. When he did, everyone gasped.
“But why didn’t you just tell the truth,” Dada Bird asked.
“Because I was ashamed,” replied Roscoe. “I’m sorry, everyone, for lying. And I’m sorry, Maria, for eating your strawberries.”
Well, the animals decided to forgive Roscoe, but they wouldn’t be able to trust him for a while. They gave him a hug and started to figure out how they might be able to help Maria and her little chicks.
That night when Dada Bird put the little birds down for bed he reminded them that God is the truth and cannot lie. “And when we lie,” he said, “it only hurts everyone. So please learn from this to imitate God and trust Him by always telling the truth.”
The little birds said that they would and went to sleep with peace in their hearts.
The End