Shepherd’s Storybook I–2
The
following week Mr. Wise returns to Learner’s woodworking shop.
He helps Learner finish a new set of chairs. Mr. Foolish arrives with
an armload of small statues and tells Learner, “These have
power to keep evil away from your house,” he explains. “Buy
one.”
Mr. Wise says, “They look like idols to me.”
Mr. Foolish replies, “Oh, no! They are simply to beautify your house and keep evil away.”
“Idols only bring misery to a house,” Mr. Wise tells him, “Surely you can sell something else to make a living.”
“I have to sell these! I make more money selling them than from any other merchandise.”
Learner asks, “Why are they so bad, Mr. Wise?
Mr. Wise answers, “I shall tell you about Elijah and the Prophets of Baal, to answer your question about idols and explain why we must turn back to the one true God and worship Him alone.”
Please find in this story in 1 Kings 18:16-39 what Learner and Mr. Wise find:
Why did trouble come to the country of Israel?
What was the contest that the prophet Elijah arranged between the idolatrous prophets of Baal and the one true God?
What answer did the prophets of Baal receive, and what answer did Elijah receive?
Who
is the one true God?
Mr. Wise explains the story: “Many people in ancient Israel set up images so that they could have visible gods that belonged to them. They turned away from the one true God, and trouble came upon their country. We also set up gods for ourselves and trouble comes to us, because we turn away from our one true God. Only the true God rules over the earth, the heavens, and all the nations of the world. He can not be owned or bound by any country’s borders. He is always calling to us to come back to Him.”
“Wait a moment!” Mr. Foolish protests, “That may be the right way for you, but not for me. My ancestors always worshiped the spirits that correspond to these images! I will follow their way.”
Mr.
Wise says, “Let me tell you about The Woman at the Well who
followed the way of her ancestors, but found a better way.”
Please find now in this story in John 4:4-42 what Mr. Wise explained:
What did Jesus offer to give to the Samaritan woman at the well?
What convinced the woman that Jesus was a prophet of God?
Who did Jesus say He was?
What happened when the woman told her people about Jesus?
Mr. Wise explains the story to Learner and Mr. Foolish, while he works on the chairs. “Jesus once talked to a woman by a well in a foreign country. He offered to give her water that would satisfy her so much she would never thirst again. The woman did not understand that he meant water that brings a new kind of life that we have never seen before. We look for it, but we cannot find it.
“The woman asked Jesus if He was greater than her ancestors were who had dug the well and taught her people to worship God. Jesus told her that He was the one sent by God to show everyone how to truly worship God. This kind of worship satisfies us in a way that nothing else can. It gives us a new life that we never knew was possible.”
Learner says, “I’d like to know more about Jesus.” Mr. Wise tells Learner, “I will help you to take some simple steps of obedience toward God. Will you talk to the one true God with me and ask Him to forgive you for turning away from Him?”
“You mean pray? I’m not ready yet.”
“Would
you like to hear more stories like these and tell them to your
family? Let us both memorize a command from the Bible that reminds us
to worship the one true God. It is in Mark 12:29-30.”
Please read and memorize Mark 12:29-30 now.
As the three men continue to talk about God in Learner's shop, Mr. Foolish asks, “Why do you say 'the one true God'? The Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus worship other gods, do they not? Are there not many gods?”
“There is only one true God. The other spirits that some people call gods are beings that God created. Scripture sometimes calls them ‘angels.’ The evil spirits were once angels. They followed the devil, Satan, and rebelled against the most high and holy God. He drove them out of His holy presence, out of heaven. They do not love God. To love God is more important than anything else is.
We cannot love Him if we have other gods. Our salvation depends on our being united with Jesus, just as He is one with God the Father.” “How can Jesus be one with God the Father?” Mr. Foolish asks. “I do not understand.”
“The Almighty God does not require us to understand Him. It is enough to know that He is revealed in Scripture as three Persons. These three are Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one God. There is only one true God.”
“But you must add the three persons. You add one, two, three and get three gods.”
“No! We do not add them. It would be more accurate to multiply them, if you must try to explain the mystery mathematically. One multiplied by one is one. And multiplied again by one is still one. This is because the Son eternally proceeds from the Father. Jesus explained in John 15:26 about the Holy Spirit, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.”
Mr.
Foolish picks up his statues and leaves.
Please memorize John 15:26 now.