(from last time)
It was an awesome moment, and they had a lot to think about, but soon they noticed that the bicycle/time machine was laying on the ground. They got on the bicycle/time machine and Shelly’s kitten came running out of the darkness and joined them. Shelly turned the crank on the side of the time machine, and they began pedaling. The Professor shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear!
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the cloud of dust disappeared and….
They were headed right towards a huge bonfire with a group of people standing around it! Shelly screamed! Shane yelled, “Whoa!” The Professor said, “Ooops!” The bicycle/time machine crashed into a table and a huge container of wine went flying into the fire. The wine exploded into a ball of fire that shot up into the air! All the people around the fire ran for their lives! Shane and Shelly hid under the table, and the Professor went flying and landed in a camel corral! As the herd of camels came charging across the corral toward the Professor, the Professor said, “Ooops”! The Professor yanked open the gate of the corral and ran! Unfortunately, he forgot to close the gate, and the herd of camels ran through the gate and thundered off into the desert!
The people were mad at the Professor and threw hundreds of marshmallows at him. Shane whispered to Shelly, “Look at these people! They are dressed up like very important people, do you think they kings, or teachers or scientists or bus drivers?” Shelly answered, “I’m not sure who they are, they don’t resemble any Bible story that I remember.”
After the Professor was completely buried in marshmallows, the well-dressed people came back to the fire and began to talk. One of them said, “The special star in the sky is a message! It tells us that the time for the King of all kings to be born! This person will be a savior for the world!” They all agreed that the world needed a savior, but they disagreed about what they should do about it. Some wanted to follow the star and find the new king who would save the world, others wanted to spend the rest of their lives telling others about the king who would save the world, and others did not want to do anything except to watch the star and dream about what might happen.
Shelly whispered to Shane, “Do you think that these could be the wise men who traveled to visit Jesus after he was born?” Shane answered, “I am not sure, I thought there were three wise men, but there are a lot more than three people here.” Shelly said, “The Bible never says there were only three wise men, let’s listen and see what happens.
After much talking, the wise men decided that some of them would follow the star and the rest would stay behind and tell other people about the great king and savior that was going to be born. Then one of them said, “I’m hungry, let’s eat!” The Professor jumped out of the pile of pile of marshmallows and yelled, “I’ve got some marshmallows!” All the wise men charged toward the Professor with pointed sticks in their hands. The Professor shrieked “Ooops” and ran as fast he could into the desert. The wise men did not pay attention to the Professor, they wanted to roast marshmallows.
As the wise men were finishing their meal of marshmallows, they heard pounding footsteps! They turned around and looked and here came the Professor running out of the desert as fast as he could. The Professor screamed, “Ooops! I’ve got camels!” The whole herd of camels was chasing the Professor! The chased him right into the corral and then the wise men shut the gate of the corral and captured those camels! Meanwhile, Shane and Shelly threw a rope to the Professor and they were able to pull him out of the corral just before the biggest and meanest camel bit him!
The group of wise men who were going to follow the star and find the King of Kings, decided that they should take gifts to the new king, but what kind of gifts would be good to give to a baby King? After much talking the wise men decided to take three gifts
- Gold – because every king should have a lot of gold, it is a sign of royalty
- Frankincense – because incense was used when people worshipped God, this coming savior of the world would be the Son of God
- Myrrh – myrrh was used as a burial spice when kings and great people die, and someday this King of Kings was going to die to save the world!
The Professor yelled, “Why don’t we give the baby a slinky?” The wise men looked at the Professor like he was out of his mind! Shelly whispered to the Professor, “Be quiet! Slinkys won’t be invented for almost 2,000 years; they have no idea what you are talking about.”
Shane said, “I have a great idea! I know what every child wants: Chocolate!” Shelly yelled, “That is a great idea! Let’s get one of the camels and load it up with all the chocolate that it can carry!”
Shane caught one of the camels and he and Shelly got boxes and boxes of chocolate from the building down the street that had a sign that said, ‘Free Chocolate Warehouse’. It took them all night to tie all those boxes of chocolate onto the back of the camel, they finished just as the sun rose. Yes, the sun rose, and it was extremely hot that morning. After a couple of hours all that chocolate started to melt and run down the side of the camel. The Professor said, “Look, we invented a chocolate-covered camel!” The other camels were jealous, they wanted to be covered in chocolate too!
The big, mean camel looked at the Professor and there was fire in his eyes! The Professor said, “Let’s get out of here!” The Professor, Shane and Shelly ran to the bicycle/time machine and Shelly turned the crank. They jumped on the time machine and began pedaling as fast as they could! The camel charged at the Professor! The Professor said, “Ooops!” The camel ran faster and came alongside the Professor and opened his mouth and bared his teeth! Just as the camel was about to bite the Professor, the Professor shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the cloud of dust disappeared and….
Application:
We do not know much about the wise men who saw the special star in the sky that announced the birth of Jesus. We know that they studied the stars and seem to have some knowledge of God’s Word (the Old Testament in the Bible), but we do not know how much they really understood about who Jesus was and what he was going to do. Did they understand that he was the Son of God and that he was going to die on the cross to pay for the sins of the world? We do not know if they understood this, but they did choose gifts to give to Jesus that describe His purpose for being born on this earth.
- They gave gold – this was the gift to give to a king! Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! In the Bible in the book of Revelation chapter 19 verse 16 says, “And on His (Jesus) robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, and LORD of LORDS”
- They gave incense – this was the gift to give to God! In the Bible in the book of Colossians chapter 2 verses 9-10 says, “For in Christ (Jesus) lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So, you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”
- They gave myrrh – this was a gift to give to an important person when they die (myrrh is an expensive spice used at that time when burying the body of a king, hero, or other well-known person). In the Bible in the book of John chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
The gifts that the wise men brought to the baby Jesus showed that he was King of Kings, God Himself in human form, and that His purpose in coming to earth as a baby was to one day give His life on the cross to pay for the sins of the world. Because Jesus died for us and then rose from the dead, we can have our sins forgiven and start a new life in Jesus.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, take time right now to pray (talk to God), admit that you are a sinner and believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins and then rose from the dead. Ask for His forgiveness and start a new life with Jesus in charge!
If you made this decision just now, please write a comment on this webpage, I will pray for you.