GETTING EVEN WITH MR RODRIGUEZ By Becky Kew

GETTING EVEN WITH MR. RODRIGUEZ By Becky Kew Published at www. Gospel. Hall. org

Mr. Rodriguez was a cranky man. He owned a grocery store and didn’t like kids coming into his store. If someone ever did anything wrong in his store he would never forgive them. He held grudges.

Tyrone has just gotten kicked out of Mr. Rodriguez’s store. Last week he stole a bag of chips from there. He didn’t seem to care about this, to him it was only worth 50 cents. Two of his friends tried to tell him that God cares when we break his rules.

It was time to go to the Bible Club: • Tyrone didn’t think he had time to go. He said, “Thanks to Mr. Rodriguez now I’ve got to go two blocks further to get medicine for my mom. ” • One of the boys decided that they should get even with Mr. R. Tyrone, Jeremy and Chantel decided that they would spray paint the store. • Ricky and Marcelo walked away quietly, wondering how they could stop their friends.

The Bible says that we want to do things our own way instead of God’s way. We naturally rebel against God. This is because of our sinful nature. Rom. 5: 12

At the Good News Club Mrs. Perez noticed that Ricky and Marcelo were quieter than normal. Mrs. Perez was teaching about what we should do when someone hurts us. Ricky’s eyes lit up. “True love from God is kind, ” Mrs. Perez said.

Mrs. Perez told a story from the Bible about King David There was a man named Saul who was jealous of King David and wanted to have him killed. There were times David had a chance to get even but he chose not to. David showed God’s love and kindness instead of getting even. Mrs. Perez said real love doesn’t keep track of wrongs and rights.

This should remind us of someone. Jesus showed this love when others hated him.

After Bible Club Ricky and Marcelo told Mrs. Perez about what happened with Tyrone. They wanted to know what they should do.

Mrs. Perez read from Matthew 5: 44: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. ”

Thinking about the Story of Jesus and the story of David and Saul the boys decided to put what they learned into action. With Mrs. Perez’s help, they were going to think of some ideas of how they could show Kindness to Mr. Rodriguez

Before heading home, Ricky and Marcelo stopped by the library to talk with Tyrone, and the gang. They found them huddled around the computer, they were going to send a hateful e-mail to Mr. Rodriguez.

“Wait!” Ricky interrupted. “Mr. Rodriguez keeps a gun by his cash register. If we make him mad, something terrible might happen!, I’ve got a better idea. Let’s show him love and kindness. Mr. Rodriguez would never expect that. ”

The three friends just stared at him and shook their heads. Tyrone and the gang had another plan. As they walked out the door, Ricky could hear them talking about stealing eggs to throw at the store windows that night.

That night Mr. Rodriguez got egged.

From that day on Ricky and his friend sent kind letters and e-mails everyday, they always signed the letters and cards, “from The K 2 E Club” WHICH STANDS FOR KINDNESS TO EVERYONE CLUB When Ricky and Marcello heard about the egging they quickly went to Mr. R’s store and washed his windows for him……. . He was so angry and didn’t have time to clean it up because he was late for a meeting.

One day Tyrone saw Ricky and Marcelo carrying a trash bin and asked what they were doing. “We thought we would be kind to Mr. R by picking up that trash in front of his store. ” Marcelo said. “God says the way to overcome evil is by doing good. ” “I can’t believe it, ” Tyrone said. “Who ever heard of being kind to someone who is mean to you? ” Ricky spoke up, “There was a man long ago who was accused of something he never did. His enemies beat him up and killed him. As He was dying He never said a mean word or tried to get even. ”

“In fact, he forgave his enemies” Ricky said. “Your joking, right? ” Tyrone laughed, “Who is this guy? ” “His name is Jesus”, Marcelo answered quietly. Tyrone stopped laughing. “DO YOU KNOW JESUS, TYRONE? ” Ricky asked.

As Ricky talked about the Lord Jesus, Tyrone quietly hung his head, scuffing his shoes on the sidewalk. “I have done too many bad things, ” Tyrone whispered. “God could never forgive me. ”

JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS. 1 TIMOTHY 1: 15

Right there and then Tyrone realized his need and believed on the Lord Jesus. “I think God wants me to help you show kindness to Mr. Rodriguez. ” he said.

The whole gang now were united in showing Mr. R kindness. One day something different happened.

Mr. R asked about the notes. The gang was able to share with him about the love of God. Tyrone then apologized to Mr. Rodriguez for egging his store, he told Mr. R how Jesus helped him to show kindness instead. Mr. R soon became a good friend to the K 2 E Club.

LET’S LOOK UP THE VERSE FROM GOD’S WORD THAT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR THIS STORY ROMANS 5: 8 Romans 5: 12 1 Timothy 1: 12 Romans 6: 23