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Thirteen year old Dan circled the five foot tall cactus carefully. He stayed well away from the long skinny arms that seemed to reach out for him whenever he got too close. He grinned mischievously, rubbing his hands together in glee. This is perfect, he thought to himself.

Looking carefully around to make sure no one could see him, he pulled out a pair of long tongs his father used to turn hotdogs on the grill. Slowly, for he certainly didn’t want to get stuck by the barbed cactus himself, he grasped the topmost section of the long cactus arm and twisted.

With hardly any effort at all, that section of the cactus popped off in his tongs. Then, laying the cactus down on the rocky ground, he took a brown paper bag and poked a small hole in it about an inch from the bottom. Next, he threaded clear fishing wire through the hole and up and out of the bag’s mouth. To this, he tied the piece of jumping cactus he had seized.

With a triumphant smile, he dropped the piece of bound cactus into the bag, and pulled the fishing line back through the tiny hole until the cactus inside was pulled tight to the side of the bag. He coiled the rest of the fishing line into his hand.

Still smiling, he stood up and admired his cactus bomb. Perfect! Won’t Robbie be surprised!

He glanced around again making sure no one had come out looking for him yet. He saw Mrs. Garrison, walking from the main church building to the administration building, and he froze, not a hair on his body moving in the 109 degree heat of the Arizona desert. If Mrs. Garrison should spot him…but she didn’t, it didn’t appear that she was even looking for him.

Dan sighed in relief when the woman disappeared through the double doors of the administration building. He looked over the 12 acres of desert that Valley Baptist Church owned making sure no one else was about. Swiftly, he moved back towards the church, hoping to get back before his Sunday School Teacher, Bro. Tim, missed him enough to come looking.

He slipped through the back door of the main church building, and a wave of cool air swept over him from the air conditioned hallway. He paused to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside and then practically ran down the hallway to room 150. He slipped in just as Bro. Tim said, “Turn in your Bibles to…” the large and muscular 7th grade boys’ teacher stopped talking as Dan tried to sneak into a chair in the back. “Dan, so good of you to show up. Where have you been?”

Dan squirmed a bit in his seat and stuffed the brown bag full of cactus under his chair. “I, uh, I had to go to the bathroom.” Well, it was the truth…mostly. He did go to the bathroom before retrieving the cactus—the last thing he needed to arm his cactus bomb.

Robbie Tindal snickered at him, and Dan resisted the urge to throw his cactus bomb at Robbie right then and there. No, he would wait…but only until after Sunday School let out. He grinned evilly at Robbie who made a face at him and turned away before Bro. Tim could rebuke either of them.

Bro. Tim looked knowingly from Dan to Robbie, but finally decided to press on with his Sunday School lesson. Dan tuned him out, letting Bro. Tim’s voice fade into the background. He mentally went over the steps of his plan, making sure it would all work. He could just hear Robbie howling when the cactus bomb exploded in his face! It was a good plan.

Soon enough, Dan shook himself from his daydreams as he realized that Bro. Tim would soon dismiss the class. Moving quickly, but quietly, Dan took out a black marker and wrote Robbie’s name on the brown bag. Then, when everyone bowed their heads to pray, he reached back and set the bag near the door so Robbie could see his name printed on the bag as he left. He then unwound the string and tied the loose end to his hand. No one would see the fishing line in the blue carpet leading from the bag to his hand. All he had to do was wait for Robbie to pick up the bag and then when the other boy’s back was to Dan, he could just yank hard and the cactus would come tearing out of the bag, hopefully right into Robbie’s chest.

“Amen!” Bro. Tim said, closing out his prayer. “Remember boys, everyone who memorizes Psalms 23 for next week will get to go to a pizza party!”

Most of the boys cheered at that, but Dan didn’t. He just sat in his seat while the rest of the boys, crowded towards the door. Robbie, as always, came last. He leaned over as he neared. “You’re a moron,” he whispered.
“Jerk!” Dan whispered back.

Robbie smirked and walked past to the door, and the moment Dan had been waiting for arrived. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan watched as Robbie spotted the brown bag with his name on it. Curious, he reached down and picked it up.
Perfect!

Dan yanked hard on his fishing line, and sure enough, the cactus tore right through the bag in Robbie’s hands and…somehow missed Robbie completely! The cactus fell to the carpet with a dull plop––right between the two of them.
Robbie stared at the cactus. Dan stared at the cactus.

Robbie stared at the fishing line in Dan’s hand. Dan stared at the fishing line in his hand, wondering why his plan hadn’t worked.

“Why you!” Robbie roared, leaping at Dan who ducked and somehow managed to twist by the enraged boy.

“Boys!” Bro. Tim shouted. “Stop it!”

But it was too late. The race was on.

Dan darted out the door, and down the hallway, Robbie pounding after him in close pursuit. Dan sprinted for the back door. He burst into the bright, hot sunlight and stumbled a bit to get his bearings. Only then did he realize he still had the fishing line in his hand. Looking back, he saw the cactus bouncing along behind him.

And Robbie coming fast!

Dropping the fishing line, Dan darted around the corner of the church building and ran for the cholla cactus he had used to make his cactus bomb. He figured to run circles around the cactus to keep Robbie away from him.
“I’m going to get you!” Robbie shouted.

“You and what army?” Dan laughed, dodging around the cactus he intended to use as a shield. He stopped, the stringy cactus between the boys, and stuck his tongue out at Robbie.

Robbie picked up a rock and prepared to chuck it Dan’s way. Dan saw it and laughed. “You can’t hit nothin’ with that,” he taunted. “That rock is too heavy!”

Robbie regarded the heavy rock in his hand for a bit and shrugged. He threw it with all his strength. Dan could see it coming. He knew he could easily dodge the slow missile even if it could actually reach him. He grinned and stood bravely, knowing the rock wouldn’t hit him—knowing that it would fall short.

But then something happened that Dan never even saw coming. The rock did indeed fall short—right into the jumping cactus. The cactus exploded, pieces of cholla flying everywhere. Dan cried out in shock and pain as pieces of the jumping cactus fell all over him.

Sometime later, in the church kitchen, Dan’s dad examined his son’s injuries. Sections of jumping cactus had landed in Dan’s shoes, his arm, and in both legs. In one hand, his father held a pair of nasty looking pliers.

“What’s that for?” Dan asked, wincing in pain as some of the cactus dug deeper into his skin.

“Jumping cactus is slightly barbed—has hooks in the needles,” his dad explained. “We need to twist the cactus to get it out of you.”

Dan swallowed. “You can’t just pull it out?”

“Not without it doing more damage.”

“Dad! That’s gonna hurt!”

His dad nodded. “Yes it will. You now know what Robbie would feel like if your…what was it you made?”

“Cactus bomb,” Robbie replied, sulkily.

“Right, cactus bomb. If it had hit Robbie, it could have really hurt him.”

“Instead he hurt me,” Dan grumbled.

“In your case, you did this to yourself,” Dan’s dad corrected. “You started it, and you chose to hide behind the jumping cactus, remember?”

“I didn’t know it would explode like that!”

“That’s what a lot of people say about sin,” his father replied. “No one thinks that playing around with or hiding behind a sin will hurt them. But it always does.” His father reached out with the pliers and took hold of some of the barbed needles stuck in Dan’s right arm. “Once sin gets its hooks in you, it doesn’t like to let go.” He twisted and pulled.

Dan let out a yelp of pain, and tears came to his eyes. “That really hurts!”

“Bet it does. Did you listen to the Sunday School lesson today?”

Dan shook his head. “I was more interested in my cactus bomb,” he admitted.

Dad gave him a stern glance. “You should’ve listened. It was about David who hid behind his sin. In his case, he didn’t just get some cactus on him. He lost his son. His son died because of his sin.” He twisted another piece of cactus off of Dan, and Dan bit his lip to stop from yelling. “I want you to remember this lesson, son. Hurting others for fun, for revenge, or even to cover up another wrong, will always catch up to you one day.”

Dan nodded miserably. “Got it, dad. Sin is like jumpin’ cactus!”

“Glad you learned your lesson, son. Is there anything else you should do?”

Dan thought about it for a second. “I should probably apologize to Robbie.”

His father nodded. “Good. I’m glad you learned something from this little adventure.” His dad reached over with his pliers and twisted free another piece of cactus.

Dan let out another startled yelp of pain.

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