“Mom said, ‘Yes!’” I yelled, as I ran over to the cabin where my friend Audrey and I had spent the night. “We can go on an overnight campout, and we can take Helen with us too!”
Helen was my five-year-old sister. Audrey and I were almost 12, but Helen was such a good sport that we really liked having her do things with us.
Quickly we began gathering up all the things we would need — sleeping bags, food, bathing suits, insect repellent. Soon we had a canoe loaded and were on our way with Helen sitting on a bundle of things in the middle of the canoe. Audrey and I paddled as fast as we could. We wanted to reach a sandy beach farther up the lake which would be a great place to camp for
the night.
After arriving, we spread some canvas on the sand and laid our sleeping bags on it in a row. Then we changed into our bathing suits and went swimming. The water was shallow and beautifully clear, and the lake bottom was firm sand. It was such a fun place to play!
After swimming we built a fire and got out a can of spaghetti-Os for our supper. Then I began looking for a can opener. “Oh, great!” I said. “I must have forgotten the can opener. Maybe if we just put the can in the fire, it will get soft enough so I can poke a hole in the lid with this sharp stick.” Audrey wasn’t too sure it would work, but we tried it anyway.
When we thought it had been in the fire long enough, Helen went up close to inspect it.
“You’d better not get too close,” I warned her. “It just might explode.”
Helen moved back a few steps. Just then the can gave a loud “POP,” throwing spaghetti-Os in every direction!
Helen was covered from head to toe with spaghetti-Os and sauce, and it was all over the ground. Even the bottom of the lake had spaghetti scattered under the calm, clear water for as far as we could see. It was amazing that one can held so much!
The spaghetti in that can could have been useful to us. It could have been our supper. Did you know that our lives can be helpful, or they can cause problems? If we have come to the Lord Jesus for salvation and are living for Him, there is no way to measure how much good we can do, by His grace, to others. But if we are not saved and have only our own sinful nature, or if we are Christians who are letting that sinful nature control us, there’s no telling how many problems we can cause others. God tells us in Romans 14:77For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. (Romans 14:7) that “none of us [lives] to himself, and no man [dies] to himself.” We affect the lives of people around us more than we think. In 2 Corinthians 5:15,15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:15) God tells us that the Lord Jesus “died for all, that they which live [those who have trusted in His precious blood to wash their sins away and have new life in Christ] should not ... live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” That is how we can best help those around us. If they see that we are different than other people, they may ask us what makes us different. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”
(Matthew 5:1616Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)).
Is your life helpful or harmful to those around you?
Messages of God’s Love 10/12/2025