The teachers had been praying for good weather on Saturday as plans were being made for the yearly Sunday school picnic.
Invitations had been handed out, games had been planned, cakes had been baked, and prayers had gone up that the Lord Jesus would bless each child attending. At 10:00 sharp the bus pulled away from the Sunday school with 50 children headed for a good time at the park.
An hour later those children were busy having fun. Some were jumping in a sack race. Other smaller children were having a treasure hunt among the trees. And, as usual, the teachers were trying to be everywhere at once!
A small boy came up to his teacher and asked, “Is there good money in this?”
What did he mean? Did he want to know if the prizes for winning the races were worth the work of trying to win? No, he wondered if the pay for being a Sunday school teacher were high enough to make all this work for the teachers worthwhile! His teacher happily explained to him that when you have good news to tell, you don’t feel you need to be paid to share it, even if it takes some work.
Most of us probably think of Sunday school as something that has always taken place for children on Sundays. But Sunday schools did have a beginning. And the first person to start a Sunday school lived a long time ago.
Right in the heart of the city of Toronto in Canada is the statue of a man holding a Bible, and underneath on a plaque is written the story of Robert Raikes. We learn that he was a very rich man who lived in Gloucester, England over 200 years ago. Seeing so many children on the streets on Sunday afternoons, he began to invite them into his home to teach them the story of God’s love. In this way, in 1780, he began the very first Sunday school.
How thankful we can be for men like Mr. Raikes and many others who have given their time and energy to tell children of God’s love and His wonderful plan of salvation. “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me.” Matthew 19:1414But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:14).
Just as there was a time long ago when there were no Sunday schools, the Lord Jesus tells of a day coming very soon when Sunday school doors will be shut forever. He has promised, “I will come again.” John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3). Maybe you have attended Sunday school for the last time. Perhaps today the Lord Jesus will return to take home to heaven those who have accepted Him as their Saviour. Don’t delay any longer if you have not yet trusted Him to wash your sins away. “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” Ecclesiastes 12:11Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
ML-02/26/1989