Are you like Mr. MONK?

Have you seen the television show about Mr. Monk? He is a detective that is very strange. He has many phobias, or fear of many things. He has strange actions and habits.

Most people laugh at him because of the way he behaves. They do not understand him. As a child, he was laughed at, and bullied.

As a detective, he looks very closely at the scene, and often he sees things that others may have missed. He thinks carefully and extra to see some details that are important

to the crime. You could say that he has a higher standard.

Sometimes he does have a feeling about the person in question, but that feeling is based on a fact that got his attention when he was talking to them.

In the final scene, he has a gleam in his eye, and a smile across his face as he says, I just solved the case.

The Christian life can be like this Mr. Monk. Many times Christians behave differently than those around them. This can cause those around them to laugh at them, or be mean

to them In some way. Some Christian young people are bullied or intimidated because they want to do better. They reach for a higher standard for themselves.

The Christian studies the facts, and looks closely, and thinks much about what the Bible says. Sometimes his feelings made him study more, but the answer is still based on

the facts. How can you tell the result?

Like Mr. Monk, when a person sees and understands that the answer is receiving Jesus' gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin, the smile is real. Do you have that smile?

The smile is an outward sign of the inward peace.