(from last time)
Shane yelled above all the excited voices, “Let’s go out into Jerusalem and tell everyone the good news about Jesus rising from the dead!” So, they began pedaling around the city. Ahead they could see a group of people and Shane said, “Let’s go tell those people!” As they were pedaling up to that group of people, the kitten jumped onto the Professor’s head. The Professor said, “Ooops!” He accidentally 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 City of Jerusalem disappeared and….
Shelly screamed, “Look out for the big boulder!” The Professor said Ooops!” The bicycle/time machine ran into the side of the big boulder and stopped very fast! The Professor, Shane, and Shelly looked around them and the first thing that they noticed was that the big boulder was at the bottom of a mountain. The second thing they noticed was that the ground was shaking and there were rocks falling off the mountain. “Earthquake!” yelled Shane. They all hid behind the big boulder so that no rocks would fall on them. But this earthquake did not quit, it just kept going and going. Also, they noticed that it looked like there was a storm on top of that mountain! There were dark clouds swirling around the top of the mountain, there were flashes of lightning in the sky and more flashes of lightning hitting the top of the mountain. The noise of thunder was very loud and just kept going and going. Also, there was another noise! They did not know what this noise was, but it was louder than the thunder and scarier than the thunder! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shane whispered to Shelly, “Where do you think we are? Is this another story from the Bible?” Shelly answered, “I don’t know. I do not remember anything this scary in the Bible. This is like being in the middle of a bad dream!”
The earthquake kept going, and the thunder, lightning, and the other noise kept going. After awhile Shelly noticed that she could hear another noise. It sounded like people yelling, screaming, and having a party. She looked behind her and noticed that out in the desert there was a huge camp with thousands of people, maybe even a million people! The people were dancing, yelling, and screaming. Shelly yelled, “Look at all those people out in the desert! They look like they need help! We should go and see if we can help them!” Just then Shane yelled, “Look at that!” He was pointing back toward the mountain! An angry looking man was standing on a rock ledge looking down on all the people in the camp. Suddenly he began running down the side of the mountain, and he looked angry! Shane said, “Let’s hurry and warn the people about that man, he looks dangerous!” The Professor said, “Shelly you had better turn the handle on the time machine, just in case we have to get out of here fast!” So, Shelly turned the handle, and then the Professor, Shane, Shelly, and the kitten all got on the bicycle/time machine and began pedaling as fast as they could toward the people in the camp! The angry man was close behind them!
When they got to the crowd of dancing and screaming people, they were going so fast that they could not stop! They went out of control right into the middle of the camp and Shelly yelled, “Look out Professor, we’re going to run into a …. cow?” Sure enough, it was a cow! And the bicycle/time machine ran into it at full speed and there was a loud clanging noise! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shane said, “Cows don’t make a clanging sound when you hit them. What is wrong with this cow?” Shelly said, “It’s not a real cow. In fact, it looks like it is made from gold!” Shane asked, “Why is there a cow made from gold in the desert?” Shelly answered, “This is a Bible story, I recognize it now! That mountain with the storm and earthquake is Mount Sinai where God was meeting with Moses to give him the 10 commandments. That angry man must be Moses!”
Just then Moses came running up, and he yelled at all the people! He said, “How dare you make this cow idol out of gold and dance around it and worship it? Only God Himself should be worshipped! God would have destroyed you for this, but I begged Him not to destroy you! I was so angry that I broke the stone tablets that on which God had written the 10 commandments.” Moses was so angry that he took a big hammer and broke that golden cow into little pieces. Moses kept pounding and pounding the little pieces of gold with that hammer until all the gold was just powder. Moses then took all the gold powder and mixed it with the people’s drinking water. Moses then said, “Drink the water that has your filthy gold mixed into it! God is disgusted with your behavior and so am I! Never ever worship anything else besides God. God should be the most important thing in your life!”
The people had no choice except to drink the water with the gold powder in it. It tasted terrible! The next day Moses said, “I’m going back up to the mountain to meet with God again! Maybe He will give me another copy of the 10 commandments! This time make sure you behave yourselves!”
Moses began running back to the mountain! He was going right toward the Professor, Shane, Shelly, and the kitten on the bicycle/time machine! The Professor said, “Ooops!” and tried to pedal faster to get out of the way. Moses was getting closer, so 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 Moses, the crowd of people, and Mount Sinai disappeared and….
Application:
Read the story of the golden cow idol. It is found in the Bible in the book of Exodus chapter 32.
Why do you think God and Moses were so angry in this story? It was because the people were worshipping a cow statue from gold.
What does it mean to worship something? When someone or some thing is the most important thing in your life, if your whole life revolves around that person or that thing, then you are worshipping that person or that thing.
God says that only He should be worshipped, He should be the most important person in your life!
In the Bible in the book of Luke chapter 4 verse 8 Jesus says, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
Unfortunately, people worship many other people or things.
Some of the things that are worshipped are:
- famous people,
- athletes,
- money,
- clothes,
- friends,
- sports,
- video games,
- youtube,
- things money can buy,
- the list goes on and on.
Who or what is the most important thing in your life? If it is not God, then changes need to be made.
God needs to be the most important in your life. If something else is more important than God, you need to ask forgiveness, and change!