The next story was an adventure story about looking for treasure! The Professor could hardly wait to read it to the kids.
“One morning there was a mysterious note on my pinewood derby car. The note said:
Find a hidden treasure!
- Start by the wooden box by the flagpole by the river
- Cross the river
- Drive north to the next town
- Drive west to a tall oak tree
- Drive south to a hole in the road
- Drive east to a gas station
- Drive north to a river
- The hidden treasure will be in a wooden box with an X on the lid
It sounded like a great adventure, so the young girl got into her pinewood car and drove down to the river. There was a wooden box on the bank of the river. The girl looked at the directions, and they said to cross the river, so she drove into the river. The pinewood car floated in the water, but the wheels just spun in the water and the car did not move. The girl laughed and said, “If the Professor was here, he would say, “Ooops!” The girl thought for a minute, then she got out of her car and held onto the back of the car and began to kick her feet in the water. Slowly the girl pushed her pinewood car to the other shore.
The girl got back into the car and began to drive north. In a very short time, she reached a town and looked at the paper for the next direction.
The girl turned the car to the left and drove straight west. There was no road going that direction, so she just drove across the fields. She drove a long way without seeing any trees. She wondered how long she would have to go before she saw trees, and she also wondered how she would know which tree was an oak tree. She did not know very much about trees. All she knew about oak trees was that acorns grow on oak trees. She was looking from side to side looking for trees and not watching where she was going. Suddenly her pinewood car crashed into a huge tree! She got out of the car and suddenly acorns began falling and hitting her on the head! She said, “Ooops!” She had found the oak tree.
There was a chip of wood missing from the front of the pinewood derby car, but there was no other damage, so she turned to the south and began driving down a road. The road was rough, but there were no big holes. She was speeding along when it happened…suddenly there was a huge hole in front of her! The car was going too fast to stop! The hole was bigger than the car and it was deep! The car landed in the bottom of the hole and there was a sign lying on the ground. The sign said, ‘This is a big hole’.
The girl drove her car out of the hole and turned east and drove until she found a gas station. The man in the gas station came out and wanted to fill the gas tank, but he could not find a gas tank on the wooden car. The man was so disappointed that he sat down on the ground and cried! The girl tried to comfort him, but he was so upset that he could not stop crying. The girl left the man at the gas station and began driving north.
She drove for a while and then realized that everything looked very familiar. She was right back to where she had started! She drove to the edge of the river right next to the wooden box that marked the start of the adventure. She saw that the wooden box had an X on the lid! She had been right next to the treasure when she started! She opened the box and there was a chocolate candy bar! The candy bar had melted, but she carefully opened the wrapper and licked the chocolate out of the wrapper. It tasted great, but it was messy, and her face had chocolate on it by the time she was finished!
Professor Ooops Lesson from the Bible:
The Professor had a special treat for the kids, he gave each of them a candy bar. These candy bars were not melted, so they were not messy, but they tasted so good!
The Professor then taught them more about the God.
The biggest treasure in the whole world is be forgiven and have Jesus living in your heart. In our story, the treasure the girl was looking for was right beside her when she started. In the same way, Jesus is close, He is not far away!
In the Bible in Psalms 145:18 it says:
The Lord is close to all who call on Him yes, to all who call on Him in truth.
In the Bible in Psalms 34:18-19 it says:
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
We do not need to go on a long journey to search for Jesus. He is near, all we need to do is realize that we are sinners who need to be forgiven and believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross to pay for all the sins of the world. When a person believes and prays and asks Jesus to forgive them and to come into their life and take control, Jesus forgives us and moves into our heart at that very moment.
In our story today, the girl ate the treasure and then it was gone. We do not have to worry about Jesus leaving us, ever.
In the Bible in Hebrews 13:5 it says:
Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
Jesus is the greatest treasure! He is close, believe and ask Him to come into your life, He will never abandon you or leave you!