Net Weight

Adam and Eve had free reign of the garden. They just had one rule. Don’t touch that one tree. So that’s the fruit they ate. God punished them, but He also gave them a promise.

Out of all that horrible news God had for them, there was one good thing. Yes, from then on life would be really tough. Men would have to plow the ground and battle thorns and thistles. Yes, women would have unimaginable pain when giving birth. Yes, as a result of this first sin, people would continue to sin. But someday, a descendent of the woman would come and put an end to the tempter’s evil trickery. This descendent would crush the snake’s head, but the snake would bite.

Abram was getting old. He and Sarai were way too old for kids, and they were starting to get worried it wouldn’t happen. When God kept insisting they would have a child, they laughed! How many 100-year-old fathers of a newborn baby do you know? But God promised Abram that he would be the father of many nations. Abram would have so many descendants that counting them would be like trying to count grains of sand or stars in the sky. God even gave him a new name, Abraham, which meant “Father of Many.” God kept His promise to Abraham, and Isaac was born. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had a son named Judah. Judah had kids. A bunch of Judah’s descendants became kings of the nations of Israel and Judah, just as God had promised Abraham so many years earlier. Thousands of years later, the greatest King of all time was born in a small town during a Roman census. He was also a descendant of Judah, and He was the one God was referring to when He said that someone would come along and crush the snake’s head. He grew up as the son of a carpenter, and He learned to make things out of wood. As He got older, He started teaching others. His name was Jesus.

There were lots of jobs that people needed to do then, just as there are now. They needed carpenters to make things. They needed fishermen to catch fish for the people to eat. One time, four friends were out fishing, and they were having a horrible time of it. No fish seemed interested in finding out what might be in the nets that came over the sides of the boats. Simon and his brother Andrew were fishing in one boat, and John and his brother James were in the other boat. They had been fishing all night, and had no luck. It was getting really frustrating!

Morning finally came, and they gave up. They decided to start washing their nets to get ready to put them away. Maybe they would have better luck another day.

Jesus was standing by the lake, and there was a huge crowd gathered to hear what He had to say. There was hardly any room for Him to make Himself heard, so He looked out and saw the two fishing boats nearby. Jesus asked Simon if He could use his boat for a while. They pulled away a bit from the shore, and Jesus started teaching in a loud voice so everyone onshore could hear. When He was done with the lesson, He turned to Simon and said, “Hey, let’s go out a bit further to where the water is deep. Then let the nets down again and see what happens.”

“Um, Lord,” said Simon, “We’ve been doing that all night. No luck. But if you say so, we’ll try it.” So they pulled out farther. Simon and Andrew let down the nets, and they couldn’t believe it! Fish started jumping into the nets! They were getting so heavy that they had to call to James and John for backup! Pretty soon, there were so many fish in both boats that the boats started to sink!

They were so shocked that Simon said, “Get out of here, Lord! I’m not worthy! I’m a sinful man!”

Jesus replied, “Don’t worry. You’ve been catching fish all your life. Now you get to fish for people.”

Once they got their boats on shore, they left everything behind and followed Jesus. But He had some more people in mind to invite to join His little group of students.

The Jews hated tax collectors. They had a horrible reputation for taking more money than they were entitled to, and the citizens resented it. A guy named Levi was sitting at his tax booth, dealing with angry Jews day in and day out. They didn’t dare disobey him in case they might get in trouble, but they didn’t like him. At all. So it was probably a bit of a surprise when a Jewish rabbi with a small group of followers came along and said, “Hey Levi, come on!” Levi left everything and joined Jesus’ growing group.

But before leaving, Levi hosted a big party for Jesus at his house and invited a bunch of his tax collector friends. The Pharisees saw what was happening, and they were upset. They didn’t think Jesus should associate with such horrible thieves as tax collectors. But Jesus said, “Whoa, dudes! Chill! If you’re healthy, you don’t need a doctor! The good guys don’t need to turn their lives around, so I’m here to help the sinners to turn!”

Levi turned his life around. He followed Jesus, and he became known as Matthew. Simon became known as Peter. James, John and Andrew got to keep their names (although Jesus nicknamed James and John the Sons of Thunder). More followers joined their group, and Jesus taught them to follow God, to love others, and to spread the good news that people can be saved from their sin!

ΙΧΘΥΣ

The Greek word ichthys, or fish. It was used by early Christians as an acronym for the Greek words Ίησος Χριστός, Θεο Υός, Σωτήρ, or "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior."

© 2014 Steven Sauke

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Funniest Promise Ever

“Look around. Look to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west. I will give everything you see to you and your descendants. In fact, you’ll have so many descendants that counting them will be like counting grains of sand! Go ahead and explore the land. I’m giving it to you.”

Many years had passed since God had made this promise to Abram, and he was getting older and older. He still didn’t have any kids, and it’s kinda hard to have descendants without kids! He was getting impatient!

As the years passed, God made another promise one clear, starry night. “Look up at the sky. See all those stars? Try and count them. Trying to count your descendants will be just as hard!”

Abram believed God’s promises, but time was moving on, and Abram and Sarai were getting old! Finally, Sarai decided maybe God needed some help. She suggested that Abram take her Egyptian slave Hagar as a wife as well. Hagar had a child, and they named him Ishmael (which means “God hears”). Abram was 86 years old when Ishmael was born! But God was clear…Ishmael was not the child He had promised.

More years passed. Ishmael was now 13, and his dad Abram was 99. God appeared to Abram again and said, “You’re gonna be the father of many nations. In fact, let’s not call you Abram any more. Your name is now Abraham.” (Abram means “exalted father”, but Abraham means “father of many.”) “Many nations will come from you, and some of your descendants will even be kings! Your wife Sarai also gets a new name. Let’s call her Sarah. She is gonna have a son. Those kings I mentioned will also be her descendants!” Sarai and Sarah both mean princess.

That was it. Abraham started cracking up. He was splitting his sides! He was laughing so hard that he fell over, and the tears came. Did God know how old he and Sarah were?! People don’t have babies when they’re that old! That’s just silly! Then he said, “What about Ishmael? You could give him that blessing.”

So God said, “True, but Sarah will have a child. Since you thought that was so hilarious, you get to name him Isaac, which means ‘he laughs’! I will also make Ishmael the father of many, but Isaac will be the one who gets the blessing, and his descendants will be the ones I promised you. In fact, Mr. ‘He Laughs’ will be born a year from now!”

A little later, Abraham was hanging out at the entrance to his tent, when he looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He got up and hurried over to them and invited them to stay a while. It was hot, and they looked like they had been traveling. Then he hurried back to his tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Make some bread for our guests!” He ran over to his herds of cattle and picked out a calf, which he told a servant to cook. When everything was ready, he brought the bread, veal (calf meat), milk and cheese to the guests, and they ate. They asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

“Right over there,” Abraham said, pointing to the entrance to the tent.

Then one of the guests said pretty loudly, “I’ll be back in a year. By that time, Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah didn’t want to seem rude by laughing out loud, but she could hear the conversation. She thought that was the funniest thing she had heard in a long time! Pffffftttt…a child?? Seriously?! Did they know how old she was?? “How could that happen when I’m all worn out and way too old to have children?” she muttered to herself.

Then the guest, who turned out to be the Lord, said, “Hey, why did Sarah just laugh and ask how that could happen when she’s old? Is there anything that is too hard for the Lord? I’ll be back next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Now Sarah was scared. He wasn’t supposed to have heard that! She said, “Huh? I didn’t laugh!”

“Uh, actually, you did,” said the Lord.

Sure enough, just as God had promised, Sarah finally got pregnant. Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90, when the promised child was born. Just as God had commanded, they named the baby “He Laughs.” Sarah said, “Who would have guessed that I’d be this old and nursing a child? I’m laughing with joy, and everyone who hears about this is gonna laugh too! God has brought me laughter!”

“Look around. Look to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west. I will give everything you see to you and your descendants. In fact, you’ll have so many descendants that counting them will be like counting grains of sand! Go ahead and explore the land. I’m giving it to you.”

Picture Source: http://hdwallsource.com/sea-stars-9002.html

“Look up at the sky. See all those stars? Try and count them. Trying to count your descendants will be just as hard!”

Picture Source: http://hdwallsource.com/stars-wallpaper-2282.html