Like
it held something mysterious, Gramps began opening the paper bag he
had brought with him, now sitting on the kitchen table. The eyes of
both teen boys were glued to what was about to come out of the bag
like Gramps was defusing a bomb or something else dangerous.
Noah
Pierson (that's Gramps), placed something in front of Sam Tiffin that
looked a little like a homemade blue ribbon award of some kind. He
put a similar one in front of Ben (he's the one with the orange
hair). Sam spoke first, with, “Thanks Gramps. I see it says 'The
Winner's Circle' on the ribbon, but I don't understand what it's
for.” Ben said he didn't understand either.
Gramps
picked up one of the unused poster boards and some markers, they'd
used before. He returned to the table and popped the top off the blue
marker. He began to explain, “Because of what both of you
suggested, when we began brainstorming, I now welcome you both into
God's Winner's Circle here on planet Earth. You may not remember, but
here are some crucial points you both touched on, we should make a
poster of... here goes.”
“Sam,
you suggested our business make something connected with the Bible.
Here, I'll put that on the poster... 1. Bible Connected. And number 2
was that you thought our product should be something fun... and
number 3 was that it would entice them to share it with friends,
young and old.
Now,
Ben. You did the biggie. You put the frosting on this cake of a
product.” “But Gramps, I didn't say nothin' about frosting, did
I?” Silver-haired Noah explained with, “No... not exactly. But
you said something very wise – and it wasn't about the trains 'n
brains thing either. Ben, your goodie idea was to make a product that
was a lot like something that people were already familiar with, kids
and older folks, alike. Remember mentioning the game named, Hangman?
Well, I believe that's an idea that can make this product a real
juicy one, that God will even like... because it's connected with His
precious word, our Bible.”
The
notes were all added to the poster, and reviewed again, with each boy
voicing more comments for them.
Gramps
spoke in an almost spooky tone, with “Now I want you fellas to
pretend you are about to start out on a path, not exactly like the
one we're now on, making our imaginary company. I want you to sort of
pretend you are on a path starting through a deep jungle, full of
vines, trees, bushes, swamps, and trails that have no directions
signs. OK?” The eyes of both teens got as big as golf balls.
“I
always thing of this jungle adventure whenever I read a verse in the
biggest chapter of the whole Bible, Psalm 119. Verse 105 is simple
and yet tells you how to get safely down any jungle path, or even
through those teen-livin' years, that most often seem as dangerous
and confusing as any jungle of snakes, tigers, spiders, and other
stuff.” Gramps rubbed his hands together in an excitable manner.
You
can actually divide this verse up into 4 pieces. Here we go.
“Lamp
unto my feet” (1)shows me the condition of my shoes and feet. (2)
That lamp also shows me if my feet are on the path, or what I need to
change to get on the path. Now 'Light unto my path' does two things
too. (3) it lights the path ahead to help me know where to travel and
what path is right for me. (4) the light unto my path also helps me
recognize dangers along the path. Remember guys. The Bible talks
about Satan as being a roaring lion seeking who he can devour...”
Pointing to each of the four fingers of his right hand, Gramps
reviewed each of the 4 points, two more times.
“Before
we close in prayer, fellas, look at the verse and tell me where this
lamp and light come from.” The boys responded “Thy Word!” in
unison so loudly, Bonnie poked herself with a pin clear back in the
spare bedroom.
If
you ask Him, God will tell you it's more than OK to get others
excited about “Thy Word”.
