The Singing Bird and the Stone
Once upon a time, there was a group of little boys all playing happily in a field. In the field there was a large tree and perched on one of the branches was a little bird. One of the boys, called Barney, picked up a stone and was just about to throw the stone at the little bird, when suddenly the bird began to sing its bird song.
Guess what happened? The boy dropped the stone. One of his friends said, “Why did you not throw the stone, Barney?” “Well, it started to sing,” he said, “and I just couldn’t do it.” And do you know, boys and girls, not one of those other boys said anything, or laughed at him, because you see, they all felt the same way. The bird’s song had softened their hearts and helped them to do right.
Martin Luther, the great Reformer, once said to some of his friends, “Let’s sing a hymn and defy the devil.” Sometimes, boys and girls, when we feel tempted to do wrong, it is good to sing a few lines of one of our favourite hymns; it is amazing how it can help us to overcome temptation. Any hymn might do, but there is one about temptation, which is a good one to sing.
It begins like this:
“Yield not to temptation,
For yielding is sin;
Each victory will help you,
Some other to win.”
And then the chorus of the hymn goes on like this:
“Ask the Saviour to help you,
Comfort, strengthen, and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.”