Thought for the week..

I smiled at the child being encouraged to eat his broccoli. His dad knew all the tricks.‘Open up the tunnel for the train to come in.’‘Let’s send this spoonful down red lane.’And a new one on me, ‘Slide this one down the flume to the deep end.’Every family has its own version, don’t they? Encouragement is a gift that we can give to each other. We all know how helpful it is when someone says a word of encouragement. It helps us to keep going, whether with our work, our diet, our gardening or our studies. To hear someone’s‘Well done’is such a relief in the midst of a struggle. But the Bible issues a warning about encouragement. It talks of those‘who encourage each other in evil plans. … They plot injustice and say,“We have devised a perfect plan!”’May the Lord preserve us from the wrong sort of encouragement. (see Psalm 64:5-6)