Previous Challenge Entry (EDITOR'S CHOICE)
Topic: DEPOSIT( 03/11/21)
|
TITLE:
Uncle Jelly and the Lincoln Log Mansion | Writing Challenge By Gerald Shuler 03/18/21 |
~
2nd Place
 LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT ADD TO MY FAVORITES |
Like when he started building his Lincoln Log mansion.
When Uncle Jelly came to class, he had a small bag of Lincoln Log pieces with him. “I am going to give each child in the class one log.†he said. “We have five children in this classroom. That means you have five logs. It will take me five weeks to build the mansion. In the meantime, we are going to learn what the bible says about deposits and what is called the earnest.â€
Uncle Jelly then taught us about being ready and willing to give what we have to help others. For the next five weeks we listened to bible stories about everything from Solomon's temple to the widow's mite. At the beginning of each week's lesson Uncle Jelly let only one log be given to him. What was curious was that he put each piece in his pocket and took it home with him. He promised we would see the finished work at the end of the five weeks.
When that time came we were all eager to get to Sunday School. As we entered the classroom the thing we all noticed was the table that held something huge. We couldn't see what it was because it was covered by a large sheet.
Uncle Jelly wasted no time. “We are about to see the mansion we all contributed to build.†He could tell by our nervous silence that we were ready to see it. “But first I want to ask you a few questions after you have all read Ephesians 1:12-14.†None of us wanted to miss this so all you could hear was bible pages rustling and then silence as we read. Our puzzled looks made it obvious we didn't understand.
“Here are my questions. Who was the first one to trust in Christ? When we started this project, who did you trust to build this mansion? Did you really believe you would ever see the Lincoln Log mansion? Did I promise you would see it?â€
We talked about each question he asked. It was probably God who first trusted Jesus because he needed someone who wouldn't fail. But it was Uncle Jelly that we were trusting to build the mansion. None of us really expected to see anything so huge, though, even though he had promised we would see it at the end of five weeks. But none of us could connect the questions to the lessons we had been learning. As always, Uncle Jelly was quick to fill the gaps in our understanding.
“When Jesus left the earth he said he was going to prepare a place for us... a far better place than our log house. He promised we would someday see the house he prepared. Until then, though, he was going to leave us something to prove we would see him again. He left us his Holy Spirit to teach us.â€
There were still blank looks on most of our faces.
“I am not Jesus. Jesus is still getting our mansion ready but he wants us to understand that what he promised is true.†Uncle Jelly smiled. “I guess I would be more like what the Holy Spirit would be. I am a teacher. Over the years this class has learned to trust me. That is really all God wants from any of us. He wants us to trust Jesus, learn from the Holy Spirit, and come to live with him when Jesus finishes our mansion.â€
With that, Uncle Jelly pulled the sheet off the log house. I wasn't the five logs that had been given over last five weeks. The house easily had hundreds of logs that made the best house the class had ever seen. Our only question was why there were so many logs when it was supposed to be just five?
“Who said it would only have five logs? I just let the class have five logs to give. And I said you would need to give your logs if you wanted to see the house. I even said it would be a mansion.†He paused and then added “Like Jesus, I didn't build with just what we could give. I went away because all my Lincoln logs were still at my house. Jesus went away for the same reason."
Accept Jesus as Your Savior Right Now and be Certain of Eternal Life.
Join Us at FaithWriters and Grow as a Christian Writer.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
