Watch Out for Woofs!

“Wolves are so cool!” said Justin as he and Jeremy left the Sunday school room after class.

“Yeah, they’re fast runners,” Jeremy replied. “But that wasn’t the point of the lesson, you know.”

“I know,” said Justin. “Miss Christy said that the Apostle Paul warned the church leaders about false teachers who were like wolves. Hey, that reminds me. You wanna come over and watch a show about wolves with me and my dad?”

“Sure, sounds great! I’ll come over after lunch.” Jeremy turned down the hall while Justin looked around for his parents.

After church, Justin’s family went home and ate their lunch. Justin was excited to have his friend come over and watch a show about one of his favorite animals. He loved all kinds of animals, especially the ones with sharp teeth, like dinosaurs, lions, and wolves. “Dad,” he said, after his last bite of sandwich was gone, “Jeremy said he’ll come and watch the wolf show with us.”

“That sounds great, Son,” Dad replied as he lifted Ellie out of her booster seat. “I think the show starts in half an hour.”

“Woof show?” asked Ellie as she picked up her stuffed bunny. “I wanna watch da woofs.” Ellie brushed her bunny’s long ears with a tiny hairbrush.

“No, Ellie,” Justin told his little sister, “this is just us guys who are watching the show.”

Ellie pushed her lower lip out in a pout. “But I wike woofs,” she said, looking at her big brother with big, sad eyes. “I wanna see dem, too.”

“But,” said Justin, “I don’t know what will happen on the show. I don’t think you’ll like it if the wolf eats a bunny.”

Ellie gasped and stared at Justin with wide eyes. She took a step backwards, hugging her bunny close. “No! Don’t let da woof eat da bunny. I wike bunnies betta dan woofs.” And she scurried out of the room.

When the doorbell rang, Justin was ready for Jeremy. He had popcorn popped and his favorite stuffed animal wolf sitting beside him. Dad turned on the TV then the three of them dove into the popcorn.

“A-woooo! Ow-ow-awooo!” The wolves on the TV screen howled at the moon as the show began.

“That one with the black fur is my favorite,” said Justin, pointing.

“I like the one that’s all gray,” decided Jeremy.

The speaker on the show told many things about wolves. Justin and Jeremy watched intently. They exclaimed excitedly when the pack successfully caught its prey and laughed when the wolf cubs wrestled with each other.

Finally, the show was over. “That show had some great stuff about wolves,” said Justin’s dad. “And some of it was true.”

“Huh?” asked Jeremy. “Only some of it? I thought it was all true.”

“What do you think, Justin?” asked his dad.

Justin thought about the things he had heard the speaker say. “Well, I think the guy said that wolves evolved over one million years ago. But that couldn’t be true.”

“Why not?” Dad asked.

“Because the earth isn’t that old, for one thing,” said Jeremy.

“And animals were created by God,” Justin added.

“Yes,” Dad agreed, “you’re both correct. But did you think about those false teachings before I asked you?”

The boys shook their heads no.

Justin frowned. “I was so busy watching the wolves that I didn’t pay much attention to what the show said.”

“Me neither,” Jeremy admitted.

“False teachings can be tricky. Sometimes, if we don’t pay close attention, we can end up believing things that are not true,” Dad explained.

“We just talked about that in Sunday school today,” said Justin. “The Apostle Paul warned the church leaders to watch out for false teachers.”

“Yeah, and he called them wolves,” added Jeremy.

“It’s like when the wolves on the show were chasing the other animals. They were so hungry that they weren’t going to quit until they got their lunch.”

“Right,” Jeremy agreed. “They were ready to fight for their food—like when they chased away the fox so he couldn’t have any of their meat.”

“After watching this show, you can probably see why Paul used wolves as a word picture for people who try to hurt the church by leading believers the wrong way,” said Dad.

“I think I get it,” said Jeremy. “Just because something looks and sounds great doesn’t mean I can just believe it. I should check the Bible to see if it’s true or not.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Justin’s dad. “We all need to be careful. And the more we learn what’s in the Bible, the easier it will be to notice when something is false.”

Just then Ellie came into the room, hugging her stuffed bunny with one hand and hiding her eyes with the other hand. First, she conked into a table—clunk—then backed up and bumped into a chair—bonk.

“Ellie,” said Justin, “you can uncover your eyes.”

“Are da woofs gone?” Ellie whispered.

“Yes,” said Dad. “Except for this one, rarrr!” Dad reached out and grabbed Ellie in a big hug. She screeched and laughed as Dad rubbed his rough whiskers on her cheek. Then he growled like a wolf as the boys howled together from their place on the couch.

Ellie wiggled out of her dad’s arms, still clutching her bunny. Then she ran from the room. “No! No!” she squealed. “Watch out for woofs!”

Download Coloring Page