The Professor, Shane, and Shelly were on their way to adventures in the flying bus! The Professor was hoping to find God! He knew a lot about God but did not know God personally. This adventure is the Professor’s Quest for God!
The Professor wrote on the wall of the flying bus the things that he has learned. So far, the Professor has learned:
- The beauty of nature points people to God. Nature so is awesome it just could not happen by chance, God created it.
- God has a plan for everything and everyone. God has a time for everything in His plan.
- God is kind. He shows His kindness to all people. No one deserves God’s kindness because we are all sinners. God’s greatest kindness was sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay for our sins.
It was time to head for another adventure. The Professor started the motors of the flying bus and then started the big propeller on the roof. The flying bus went up in the air and then Shane started the front propeller, and the flying bus began its journey. Shelly asked, “Which way shall we go?” The Professor said, “Let’s follow that baby eagle!” He immediately pushed two of the heavy boxes to the right side of the flying bus and the bus turned right and followed the medium size bird. After a while Shelly said, “I do not think that bird is a baby eagle, it is just an ordinary sea gull! I think that it is leading us to the ocean!” The Professor said, “Ooops!” Sure enough, in a short time they could see the shore of the ocean, and when they got to the shore, they saw a young man in a uniform who was waving to them with great excitement and motioning for them to come down to him.
Shane turned off the front propeller and the Professor slowed down the propeller on the roof, and the flying bus landed gently beside the man in the uniform. The man was very excited, “He said, “My name is Mac, and I am a sailor in the navy. I am supposed to be on an aircraft carrier, but I was late getting here this morning, and they left without me! Can you help me?” Shelly said, “Of course we will help you, we will take you out to your aircraft carrier on the flying bus.” Mac got on the flying bus and soon they were on their way out over the ocean. Then it happened…two fighter jets came flying from the direction of the aircraft carrier and they did not look happy at all! Mac said, “They must have seen the flying bus on their radar and think that we might be an enemy! We have to let them know that we are friendly, we have to do something fast!” The Professor sprang into action! He grabbed a big stick and put a white cloth on the end of it! The Professor said, “I will raise a white flag and surrender to them.” Unfortunately, the Professor lost his grip on the stick and it went into the big propeller on the roof! The propeller spun the stick and cloth around a few times the then it went flying toward the first fighter plane! The stick and white flag went into the left jet engine on the fighter plane and that engine began to smoke and caught on fire! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shane said, “We have to put out the fire in that engine!” Shane grabbed a water hose and began spraying water into the big propeller on the roof. The propeller made the water go flying in all directions, and some of the water hit the fire in the fight plane engine! The Professor decided to help! He grabbed a spray can and said, “I will spray the water in this can into the big propeller on the roof and help to put the fire out!” The spray can did not have water in it…it was a spray can of blue paint! The blue paint went into the propeller and went flying toward the second fighter plane. The blue paint covered the windshield of the plane so much that the pilot could not see where he was going! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Both planes turned around and flew back to the aircraft carrier.
About an hour later the flying bus arrived at the aircraft carrier. The Professor said, “I will land the flying bus right in the middle of the aircraft carrier, all the sailor and pilots will be so impressed!” It did look impressive, until the last second! Just before the flying bus landed in the middle of the aircraft carrier there was a sudden gust of wind! The wind blew the flying bus toward the line of parked planes, and the back bumper of the flying bus hit the nose of a fighter plane and bent the nose crooked! The Professor said, “Ooops!”
The captain of the aircraft carrier was mad! He said to Mac, “You missed the boat when we left this morning! Justice must be done; you will be punished! You will work in the kitchen peeling potatoes for the next two months!” Mac said, “Yes sir, that is fair. I made a big mistake and missed the boat. I am sorry that it happened, and I accept my punishment. The captain then said to Professor Ooops, “You damaged three of my fighter planes! It will cost a lot of money to fix them, and the pilots are very upset! You will clean the runway with toothbrushes!” The Professor asked, “Can I use toothpaste too?” The sailors gave the Professor a big barrel of toothpaste and a toothbrush. Shane said, “I have an idea.” He asked the sailors to bring all their toothbrushes and lots of tape. Shane taped hundreds of toothbrushes to the tires of the flying bus. Shelly spread toothpaste and water all over the runway. Shane and Shelly drove the flying bus up and down the runway! All the toothbrushes on the tires made the toothpaste and water foam up and the runway got slippery! Shane and Shelly got out of the flying bus and started sliding on the runway. With a running start, they could slide for a long way, it was great fun! The sailors and pilots saw how much fun Shane and Shelly were having and they joined in and started sliding on the runway too!
The captain heard all the laughter and came out to see what was happening! He started laughing and said to the Professor, “Your two friends have paid the penalty for your mistakes. Justice has been done, you are forgiven and free to go!” Then the captain went down to the runway and began to slide in the toothpaste too!
Mac said, “This reminds me of what Jesus did for us! It was impossible for us to pay for our sins without help, just like it was impossible for the Professor to clean the whole runway with his toothbrush. The Professor needed help, and his two friends came up with a great idea and did the punishment for the Professor. In the same way, all people were helpless to pay for their sins, so God sent His Son Jesus to come to earth, live a perfect life, and die on the cross to pay for our sins. The captains showed that he was satisfied that the punishment was complete by telling the Professor that he was forgiven and free. In the same way, God showed that He accepted the payment Jesus made for our sins by raising Jesus from the dead three days later. Now we can have our sins forgiven!”
The Learning Corner:
Today’s story is about justice. Justice demands that when someone does wrong, they must pay a penalty.
- When a child disobeys their parent, they get punished.
- When a student does not do their homework, they fail the class and must take summer school.
- When a person drives too fast, they get a ticket and must pay a fine.
- When a person steals, they go to jail.
When a person sins, they deserve punishment. All of us sin every day, all of us deserve punishment. The problem is that no person can pay for their sins. If Jesus had not come to earth and died on the cross to pay for our sins, then all people would have to be punished forever in a terrible place. The Bible describes this place as a lake of fire!
In the Bible in the book of Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 it says:
“And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
The Book of Life is where God records the name of everyone who has believed in Jesus and asked Him to forgive their sins. If you name is not in that book, you will be punished in the lake of fire forever.
If you have believed in Jesus and asked Him to forgive your sins, then He has forgiven you completely and removed your sins and He has erased your sins from His memory!
In the Bible in the book of Psalms chapter 103 verses 11-14 it says:
“For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He as removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. For He knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.”
In the Bible in the book of Hebrews chapter 10 verses 16-7 it says:
“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ Then He says, ‘I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.’”
God’s holy nature demands justice, every sin that has ever been done has to be paid for. God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to live a perfect life and die on the cross to pay for all the sins that have ever been committed. You have a choice! You can believe in Jesus and pray and ask Him to forgive your sins, or you can choose to ignore what Jesus did for you and pay for your sins in the lake of fire forever.
Professor Ooops still has not figured out how easy it is to have a relationship and friendship with Jesus, but if you have never prayed and asked Jesus to forgive your sins, this would be a great day to do this.