Light On the Child's Path Part 5

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G.o.d, who is in heaven, was full of pity for the unhappy people of earth. He loved them so much that he sent his Son to the earth in the form of a child, a baby in his mother's arms. He came to earth to show us how to obey G.o.d--how to live so as to do good in this life and be happy both in this life and in the life to come.

He came as a child, so as to show children how to live. He came like other children, and grew up as other children do, only better and wiser.

When G.o.d sent his Son to the earth, he gave him into the care of two good people who lived in a small town called Nazareth.

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When Jesus came to them, they were in Bethlehem. They had gone there on a journey. There was no room for them in the inn; so they had to stay in a place made for cattle. G.o.d was not ashamed to place his Son in the care of poor people. He was not ashamed to have him born in a stable and cradled in a manger.

A bright star appeared over the place where the young child lay, and by this sign the wise men that came from the east seeking him were enabled to find him.

The Good Shepherd

Jesus once lived on this very same earth on which we live. He walked through grain-fields. He climbed mountains. He noticed the birds and flowers, and watched the fishermen and farmers and shepherds. He used the things he saw to teach lessons to his disciples and others who came to hear him.

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In the land of Palestine, where he lived, sheep-raising was very common. He said at one time: "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me."

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He was trying to show the people that he was just as anxious to help people live right and to keep them from danger as the kind shepherds who watched over their flocks upon the hills of Palestine were anxious to keep their sheep from harm at all times.

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At another time Jesus spoke of the lambs and compared them to children.

Jesus went into meeting-houses and taught the people. Many times he brought joy to the hearts of fathers and mothers by healing their sick children. He did good wherever he went. He was always trying to help those in trouble. He was the best and greatest man who has ever lived.

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Reading and studying about him will help us to stand for the right and to do good, kind deeds.

We are his sheep if we are Christians, and the way we follow Jesus now is by reading the Bible and living a Christian life.

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Jesus gave his life for his sheep while he was here on earth. Now he is up in heaven, but he loves the people who follow him, and is still our Good Shepherd.

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Parable of the Sower

Jesus taught many spiritual lessons by parables, that is, by stories about the common things people could understand.

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One day as he sat by the sea of Galilee, he told the people the parable of the Sower. The sower cast some seed by the wayside, that is, along the edge of the field or road-side. Some seed fell upon stony ground, some among thorns, and some on good ground.

The people did not know what he meant till he explained the lesson to them.

The great sower is Jesus, but all Christians are sowers under him. The seed is the Word of G.o.d. People's hearts are the four kinds of soil.

Parable of the Leaven

Among the stories that Jesus told was the parable of the leaven.

A woman put leaven in the flour as a baker puts yeast in his bread dough. The leaven kept working until it affected all the dough and made it rise and become light.

As the yeast or leaven goes through all the dough, so the gospel of Jesus will go to all the nations in the world.

Each one who believes on Jesus enters the kingdom of G.o.d. The kingdom of G.o.d is righteousness, peace, and joy, which we get when we become Christians.

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Laborers in the Vineyard

Jesus told another parable, a story of the laborers in the vineyard.

You can turn in your Testament to Matthew 20:1-16, and read about the man who hired laborers to work in his vineyard.

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He had agreed to pay the laborers a penny a day. The men who worked all day thought they should receive more than those hired later in the day, but the master paid them all alike. Just so those of us who have been Christians only a short time will receive the same heavenly reward as those who have lived a Christian life for years. Salvation is just the same to all--it takes sin out of our hearts and fills them with the love of G.o.d.

We must not put off getting saved; for Jesus said, "Watch, for ye know not the hour when your Lord doth come." This means that we are liable to die without a warning, and we should always be ready.

The Wicked Husbandmen