"What can I give this year?" Paul asked his mother as he fumbled through his closet. "With Dad out of work part of the year, we barely had enough money to get the things we needed, let alone anything extra."

Mom smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you can come up with something," she said. "Maybe there's something in your locker at school."

The next day, Paul searched hopelessly through his locker. Lots of old papers, broken pencils, and even a dirty pair of gym socks were soon piled up on the floor. Then he spied a baseball that he had borrowed from Randy long before. Randy's probably forgotten about this -- he's got more baseballs than anyone I know, Paul thought, pulling the ball from the back of his locker. He tucked the ball in his jacket pocket and headed home.

That evening Paul showed the ball to his dad. "I'm gonna help old Randy do a good deed," he told Dad. "I'm gonna give this to the kids at the home. Randy will never miss it."

Dad frowned. "Whoa!" he said. "You can't give something that isn't yours."

"But it's for a good cause," insisted Paul.

"Doing something wrong can't be justified by saying that you're doing it for God," Dad told him. "King Saul, in the Bible, tried to do that. God had told him to destroy all the cattle and sheep in a certain city, but King Saul kept some of the best animals -- he said he wanted to sacrifice them to God. God was not pleased. He'd rather have Saul obey Him than offer sacrifices. And God would rather have you obey His command to not steal than to keep that ball -- even for a good cause!"

Always Obey God