Biblical Truths…Still for Today

Just in case you were questioning the relevance of Old Testament stories, have I got a story for you.  This week at work, two students brought up a pencil and both claimed it belonged to them.  They each had a story complete with witnesses to testify it was each respective student’s pencil.  I never know what to do in these situations.  I mean, I don’t really know whose it is and I have no way to prove it either way.  No matter what I decide, someone is going to be upset with me.  So after staring at them for a few minutes (literally.  I figured, let them squirm for a bit), the story of King Solomon and the two mothers came to mind. I figured, what the heck.  I have no better ideas.  So, I said, “Well, let’s just cut it in half.  Each of you can have half of it.  Is that okay with you guys?”  One student shrugged and said, “Sure.”  The other looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “Um, no.  I use that pencil to write with.  I need it.”  Well, in my head, I had found the true owner.  I mean, Solomon was the wisest man, right?  But how could I really say this was my method of deciding?  I figured parents wouldn’t be too thrilled about me ‘stealing’ their son’s pencil with no proof it wasn’t his.  So, I asked several other teachers what they would do, but got no real advice (thanks, ladies…), so the pencil sat on my desk.

Fast-forward to today.  The pencil was still sitting there.  First thing this morning, one of the students walks up to my desk and says, “You can give the pencil back to George.  It’s his.  I found my pencil in my desk.”  and then walked away.  You guessed it.  George was the one who didn’t want me to cut the pencil in half. 🙂

(*Names have been changed to protect my students. 🙂 )