Using a Thimble to Catch a Waterfall

I spent the day yesterday with three sisters in the faith planning a summer camp program on the life of Christ. Don't worry, all they asked me to do was come up with some fun games, so the children will be doctrinally safe....

At the end of his gospel, John remarked that the whole world would not have room for the books that could be written about what Jesus did. We agreed with him more than once as we attempted to confine the life and work of our Lord to twenty-four specific bible lessons. An entire summer was already spent on his parables, so we agreed not to include those. We also agreed that an in-depth exposition on the end times and Christ's return would probably be over the heads of the youth we will be serving.

You might think, then, that it would be a relatively easy matter to briefly introduce Jesus Christ, but if our experience is any guide you would be wrong. Hours of work had already gone into producing an outline of his life and teachings. The hard part was limiting it to the time available. Hence the title of today's post. When Paul wrote of knowing nothing but "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" [1Cor 2:2]he was still talking about an awful lot of knowing.

What do you think is the main thing to share about his birth and childhood, let alone the prophesies that foretold it all? What do you consider the foundational knowledge to impart about his relationships here on earth, or his teachings, or the miracles he performed? What do we most need to communicate to others about him as our Savior?

If you only had four short opportunities to tell someone about what Jesus taught his disciples, what would you emphasize? Which of his miracles are the 'most important'? Thank God we don't have to figure it all out. We have God's word, and a lifetime to get better acquainted with him. Even in our own lives all we can really do is keep sticking that thimble in the rushing waters of his amazing power, and drink as much and as often as we can.

My prayer for the children this summer is that they will get a taste of that sweet living water. I pray that they will thirst for more, and enjoy an eternity of dipping their own thimbles into the vastness of God's glory.