Bible Reading: Matthew 15:7-9; Titus 1:15-16

"Look," said Adrian, pointing to an insect he and his sister Eva had caught out in the garden. "Maybe it's praying!" Sure enough, the bug's forelegs were folded together as if in prayer. "Let's see if we can find out what it is."

The kids searched online and found a picture of the bug they had caught. "It's a praying mantis," said Adrian.

"Does it really pray?" asked Eva.

Adrian laughed. "Of course not! Bugs don't pray. I wonder what we should feed it?" He scrolled down the page. "This says they eat other insects and like to eat their prey alive."

"Gross!" said Eva, wrinkling up her nose.

"It says here that if you put a small piece of meat on a string and move it in front of a praying mantis, he may think it's alive and eat it," said Adrian. "Let's try it!"

Adrian put a tiny piece of hamburger on the end of a string, and sure enough, the mantis lunged for it.

"So, did your new pet like the food you gave him?" asked Mom.

Adrian nodded. "The website we found said praying mantises are vicious little creatures. It said the female will even eat her husband if she gets hungry enough."

"You little hypocrite," said Mom, looking at the bug. "You look so faithful and devoted with your forelegs folded like that, but you're a pretender--you don't mean it at all."

Eva giggled. "That would be a good name for him." So Pretender he became.

Whenever Adrian looked at Pretender, he felt a bit funny inside. At dinnertime he folded his hands and said "Amen" after his parents, but he never cared to listen to what was being said. I'm just like that bug, he thought. I'm not really praying--I'm just pretending. Adrian knew Jesus loved him, and he pretended he loved Jesus too. But he had never asked Jesus to be his Savior.

As Adrian snuggled down into his blankets one night, God seemed to be whispering to him, Haven't you been a pretender long enough? Suddenly, Adrian tossed off the blankets and got up. I'm going to talk to Mom and Dad! he thought. I want to quit pretending and become a real Christian.

–Matilda H. Nordtvedt