There once lived a boy who never quit eating,
His name was Franklin Johnson Keating.
He ate all his veggies.
He ate all his greens.
He ate up his broccoli,
And then ate his beans.
Then went the potatoes,
With butter on top.
There goes the tomatoes,
With a gulp and a pop.
He gobbled up a steak,
And then went a roll.
Then he slurped up his soup.
Then he ate his bowl!
There goes his spoon.
There goes his plate.
Then with a smile,
The tablecloth he ate.
This may seem unreal,
Kind of like a fable,
But next he ate–believe it or not,
His own kitchen table.
Then the curtains went,
In a big, sloppy slurp.
There goes the sink,
With a belch and a burp.
Wait! Here comes his dad,
Carrying a big box.
Full of his sister’s,
Old, dirty socks.
Franklin opens wide,
And, swoosh, there it goes,
Down to his belly,
Before the smell hits his nose.
Then Franklin freezes,
And gives a little moan.
“I think I’m done now,”
He says with a groan.
“I feel kind of green.
I don’t feel right.
I think I’ve lost,
My appetite.”
Moderation means that you know when to stop. So just
because you can eat twelve candy bars, doesn’t mean that
you should eat twelve candy bars. Moderation draws a line
that says, “Even though I can do something, too much of it,
even if it’s good, can be bad for me.” Some people have
trouble eating too much, watching too much TV, or playing
too many video games. These are just a few examples of
where some people might need to show more moderation.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “’Everything is
permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial.
‘Everything is permissible for me’—but I will not be
mastered by anything.” In other words, the only thing that
Copyright three-thirty ministries, 2008.
www.threethirtyministries.org