“Hey, Jim,” whispered Charlie. “I found a rebuilt 327 short-block for Frank's speedboat. Frank and I are going to go get it now. Want to come along?”

“Cool!” I said. “Where are you going to buy a short-block at this time of night?”

“I said we're going to go 'get it' not pay for it!” boasted Charlie. “It's George's new motor that he just got back from the machine shop!”

“Count me out. You guys are crazy. You're going to get yourselves shot or thrown in jail. George will know you are the ones who took it. You're always over at his house asking him to give you parts,” I warned.

I could hear my dad's voice inside my head. “Jimmy, remember who you are. You're my son. I'm not always going to be there when trouble comes. Do the right thing and you will never have to worry.”

My dad spent a lot of time talking with me and my brothers. He told us stories of his youth and what he had learned. Oftentimes, he had to learn things the hard way. However, he wanted more for us boys. He wanted to spare us from senseless pain and suffering. You see, my dad loved each of us more than words could tell. That's the way fathers are.

God loves all of us more than any person can. Our Heavenly Father has gone to great lengths to teach us wisdom. He wants to spare us from senseless pain and suffering. That's the way our Heavenly Father is. Through the proverbs of His servant, Solomon, the Father of all creation tells us:

“My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse”—

“My son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it” (Proverbs 1:8-19).

By the way, Charlie stole the Chevy short-block. He carried it down George's street for about half a block and then got a hernia. After George threatened to beat the “living daylights” out of Charlie, the police took him to the emergency room. Funny how things turn out sometimes... “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.”