Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:17-24

Preston jumped from seat to seat in the back of the school bus. He joined in with the boys who were pestering other kids and laughed loudly when rude gestures were made at passing cars. After he and the others ignored several warnings, the bus driver pulled over and wrote down their names. Preston felt ashamed--and he felt even worse when he found out his parents would be contacted.

"I heard from your principal today," Mom said when Preston got home. "We'll have to talk about it later. Right now go get your homework done."

Preston was relieved when his behavior wasn't mentioned at dinner. When they finished eating, Dad turned on the news. The screen showed a man who'd been found wandering the streets. He couldn't remember anything about his past--not even his own name. "Authorities believe this man has amnesia," said the reporter. "Anyone with information that may help identify him should notify the police."

"He doesn't know his name?" Preston asked. "That's hard to believe!"

"They think he may have received a very hard blow to his head, or that something shocking happened and the man's brain reacted by blocking everything out," explained Mom.

"Oh, that's so sad!" said Preston's little sister, Mia.

"Can a person really forget who he is?" asked Preston.

"We wondered the same thing after Mom got a call from your principal today," said Dad. "It sounded like you might have been suffering from spiritual amnesia on the bus. You seemed to have forgotten who you were."

"Preston has amnesia?" asked Mia, looking at her brother wide-eyed.

"Well, he seemed to forget that he is a child of God," said Dad. "Preston--just like all Christians--has the Holy Spirit inside him. Because of God's presence in us, we're able to do what is right and show others the love of Jesus. If we forget that and start acting out of selfishness instead of love, it's kind of like we have spiritual amnesia--we've forgotten who we are in Jesus." Dad turned to Preston. "Could anyone on the bus this morning have identified you as belonging to Jesus?"

"I--I guess not," said Preston. "I'm sorry."

His parents smiled at him. "We forgive you," said Dad. "And Jesus will forgive you too."

–Nance E. Keyes