(from last time)
Flash and Spark Plug ran to the lawn mower and took off as fast as they could! The young Iguanodon didn’t want to lose his new friends, so he ran after them, and the Mom Iguanodon ran after the young Iguanodon!
It looked like Flash and Spark Plug were going to get caught, but at that very moment the lawn mower went into a grove of trees! Then it happened! Smoke began pouring out of the lawn mower’s motor, the lawn mower began to shake like a marshmallow roasting on an open fire, Flash began to scream, and the turbo charger began to make a noise like an ostrich singing in the rain.
The lawn mower stopped beside a quiet lake that was filled by a large waterfall. The air was moist from the waterfall and there were lots of green bushes, flowers and trees growing around the pond. Flash and Spark Plug wondered where they were, and where they had just come from, nothing made sense. All they were trying to do was to go across town to mow a lawn, and everything was going wrong. Most of all, they wondered how they had been able to see a live Iguanodon, that dinosaur should have been extinct many years ago!
While they were talking about these things there was a noise behind them, and Flash turned around and screamed! Right behind her there was a small creature about 18 inches tall, it was kind of cute. Both Flash and Spark Plug realized that it was another dinosaur, but a very small one, they thought it was a baby. It was so little and cute, they kids wanted to feed it. So, Spark Plug picked a handful of flowers and offered it to the little creature. Then it happened! The little dinosaur did not start eating the flowers, instead he jumped past the flowers in Spark Plug’s outstretched hand and snapped at his nose! The little jaws with little sharp teeth just barely missed Spark Plug’s nose, he yelled and jumped backwards and fell down! The little dinosaur bit into the toe of Spark Plug’s shoe and tried to bite through it and get to those yummy toes! Spark Plug shook his foot vigorously and the little dinosaur lost his grip on the shoe and went sailing through the air and landed in the grass. Both Spark Plug and Flash ran to the nearest tree and jumped into the lower limbs just as the little dinosaur with a roar came running back at them!
Flash said, “I hope that dinosaur cannot climb trees! It appeared that the little dinosaur could not climb the tree, but he could jump surprisingly high, so the kids climbed higher into the tree and then sat down and tried to figure out what to do. They could not understand why such a little dinosaur was so vicious and why it did not eat the flowers that Spark Plug had given to it. Flash said, “We need to get the tablet off the lawnmower so that we can figure out what it is and figure out what to do. Spark Plug broke off a stick and told Flash to throw it as hard as she could into the bushes and maybe the little dinosaur would go to see what made the noise, then he would jump out of the tree, get the tablet, and quickly get back to the tree. It was the best plan they had, so they did it! Flash threw the stick at far as she could, and it made a lot of noise when it hit the bushes, but the little dinosaur never took its eyes off the kids. But the noise of the stick did something else! It scared a little rabbit out of the bushes and it began running across the open area between the bushes. The little dinosaur began chasing the rabbit and Spark Plug jumped out of the tree and ran to the lawnmower and grabbed the tablet and ran back to the tree. The little dinosaur heard Spark Plug and quit chasing the rabbit and ran after Spark Plug! He tossed the tablet up to Flash and jumped up and grabbed the lowest branch. The little dinosaur jumped and bit into the heel of Spark Plug’s shoe and got pulled up into the tree with him. The kids were so scared because now the mean little dinosaur was in the tree with them! The dinosaur let go of Spark Plug’s shoe and tried to bite his hand, but the little dinosaur’s feet couldn’t hold onto the tree branch and it fell to the ground. The little dinosaur was not hurt! It got right back up and began jumping as high as it could, trying to reach the children!
Flash used the tablet and snapped a picture of the little dinosaur while it was jumping. Flash asked the tablet to identify the dinosaur and the tablet thought for a moment, then said that the dinosaur was a Compsognathus (COMP-sog-NATH-us), one of the smallest dinosaurs, but a meat-eating dinosaur! This explained why the dinosaur was trying to eat the children! Flash and Spark Plug did not know what to do next, they could not get out of the tree without being attacked by the Compsognathus, so they sat there, and sat there, and sat there. Finally the sun began to get low in the sky and the Compsognathus went into the bushes. Flash and Spark Plug could not believe it, but was the dinosaur really gone or was he just hiding in those bushes hoping that they would leave the safety of the tree. They waited about 20 minutes longer and then made a plan! They would quietly get down from the tree and then quickly get to the lawnmower without making any noise. A short distance in front of the lawnmower there was a bunch of trees, maybe if they drove the lawnmower into that clump of trees, they could leave this place!
At first the plan seemed to work, they got out of the tree without any problems and then quickly and quietly ran over to the lawnmower. They were looking all around, but they could not see the Compsognathus. Then they started the lawnmower and of course that made a lot of noise. Flash and Spark Plug heard running feet and suddenly six Compsognathus’ burst out of the bushes, and they all looked hungry! Flash got the lawnmower moving as fast as it could go, but the Compsognathus’ could run even faster! The dinosaurs were getting closer and closer, but the trees were getting closer too! Would Flash and Spark Plug and the lawnmower get to the trees in time, or would they get eaten? Then they noticed something else! Right on the other side of the trees was a steep drop-off right down into the lake! If they did not get eaten by the Compsognathus’ they would fall down the cliff into the lake, if the fall did not kill them, then they would probably drown in the lake! Things were not looking too good, then it happened! The lawnmower went past the first trees. Smoke began pouring out of the lawn mower’s motor, the lawn mower began to shake like a marshmallow roasting on an open fire, Flash began to scream, and the turbo charger began to make a noise like an ostrich singing in the rain. And…
What can we learn from this story:
In the Bible in the book of Matthew chapter 7 verses 17-20 Jesus says:
“A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
In the story today, the Compsognathus at first appeared to be cute and loveable. The kids wanted to feed it and play with it, but the actions of the Compsognathus showed what kind of a creature it really was. It was a meat-eating dinosaur who did not love anyone, it just wanted to kill and eat. It’ actions showed what kind of creature it really was, it was not cute and loveable, it was a killer!
In the Bible verses above, Jesus compares people to the fruit on a fruit tree. Apple and cherry trees might look quite a bit alike, but when they have fruit, there is a big difference between an apple and a cherry. In the same way many people talk like they are good people and might even call themselves Christians, but their actions will show what kind of people they really are.
Many people try to fool other people just like the Compsognathus fooled Flash and Sparkplug by his cute appearance.
There are people who go to Church and act like Christians, and they fool everyone they see at Church, but these same people act totally different when they are with their families or at school or at their job. Their actions when they are not at Church show what kind of person they really are. Remember that God sees you all the time!
Please remember that we can never get to heaven by acting good, you can only get to heaven by believing in Jesus and giving your life to Him and asking Him to forgive your sins. But the verses above teach us that if we have truly given our life to Jesus, then our action should be different than they were before, we should want to live in a way that pleases Him (and other people will notice the change in your behavior).
In the Bible in the book of John chapter 14 verse 21 Jesus says:
“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
The proof that you are really a Christian is that you want to obey Jesus and try your best to always obey Him. By reading your Bible and attending a good Church you will learn how Jesus wants you to live. You will not be able to obey perfectly, we all still struggle with many sins, but Jesus is always willing to forgive us and help us do better.