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Changing Seasons
A Story of
Zacchaeus
Aren’t the
trees beautiful in the autumn, as the leaves change their colors.
God designed nature in such a beautiful way that we can enjoy the changes
of each season.
Do you know
that you also have a nature inside of you? Your nature is the way
you handle yourself in different situations. If you are able to laugh
at yourself when you make mistakes, you might be called good-natured.
If you get angry at small things, someone may say you have an angry nature.
Just as God
causes different changes in nature during the seasons, He can also cause
a change in our nature. Let’s look at the story of a man named Zacchaeus,
from Luke 19:1-10.
Jesus entered Jericho and
was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a
chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead
and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that
way.
When Jesus reached the
spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed
him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has
gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' But Zacchaeus stood up and said
to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to
the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back
four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today
salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Before Zacchaeus
met Jesus, he had a nature that caused him to cheat people out of their
money. People did not trust him and they did not like him.
After Zacchaeus met Jesus, his nature changed. He gave people back
everything that he had stolen from them, and even more. He was able
to make new friends because he was changed on the inside. His love
for God changed him.
God can change
us too. When you are in a situation that you don’t know how to handle,
rather than reacting with a bad nature, ask God to help you act kindly.
He is always there to help you, if you will just ask Him.
Changing
Trees Abstract Art Activity
Cut out a tree
trunk from brown paper and glue to a piece of construction paper.
Tear (or cut)
circles or triangles out of various colors of construction paper and glue
to the top of the tree. This shows the beautiful colors of the seasons.
Be sure to glue some scattered leaves around the bottom of the tree trunk.
You can even
draw a picture of Zacchaeus standing in the tree as Jesus passes by.
Have fun!
Mrs. Mary
(Mary Hamrick)
In the front
of your Bible, you will find a Table of Contents that lists each book of
the Bible. The Bible is divided into
“Books”. Each book will have chapters and verses. For example,
when you see Matthew 6:9, Matthew is the “book”, 6 is the “chapter”, and
9 is the “verse”. The chapter number is characterized by a
BIG numeral, and the verse will be the smaller numeral. The Bible
is divided into two sections - the Old Testament and the New Testament. |
