The great man had arrived, and there were banners and crowds shouting cheers of welcome to him in Carmen’s town in Chile.
Carmen’s school was let out so that the children could also line the streets to see him. It was a wonderful sight! He drove slowly by, with marching bands in front of and behind his long, black, shiny car. Those standing behind others stood on tiptoe for a better view.
Then the school children went back to class, and the teacher told them to write about the great man they had just seen.
Carmen remembered that God has said, “Honor all men” (1 Peter 2:1717Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)), and she wrote carefully about this great, important man. But her heart was also thinking of the One who is far more important than that man, the One who is “higher than the kings of the earth” (Psalm 89:2727Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:27)). So she also wrote about the Lord Jesus and about what He has done for sinners. At the end of her assignment she wrote, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)).
After school the teacher, Mrs. Garcia, called her to her desk and asked her to explain what she meant by those words about all having come short of the glory of God. This was a hard question for a 12-year-old girl to answer, but she had her Bible with her, as she always took it to school, and she showed her teacher what it said. Mrs. Garcia asked to see the Bible and said she had never had one in her hand before.
“Would you like me to leave it with you?” asked Carmen.
Mrs. Garcia gladly said yes, so Carmen marked some verses that might help her. Mrs. Garcia was delighted. After that, she often chatted with Carmen about her faith in Christ, and soon she had a Bible of her own.
What do you think of that story, girls and boys? Is it worth speaking for Christ, even if you do not know how someone will react? Sometimes it is not accepted gladly, but it is still good to speak of your Savior to those who don’t know Him.
Perhaps I could tell you one more story of a man named Julian, who was a short little man who carried a big pack of Bibles on his back to give to people in villages he went to visit for that reason. These were often gladly accepted, but not always. Finally, some enemies of the Lord Jesus caught him and threw him into prison for passing out Bibles.
“Why do you do this?” asked his guards. “You know it will get you into trouble.”
His brave answer was this: “For the joy of bringing bread to the hungry and water to the perishing.”
Julian was sentenced to death for spreading the Word of God. Is it worth it, boys and girls? The Lord Jesus also died, because He loved us and thought that we were worth dying for even when we were His enemies, and He is worth more than 10,000 of us! In heaven we will worship and praise Him. Why not start now?
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:1212Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)).
Messages of God’s Love 10/22/2023