The Ugly Little Blue Bus was still going west on Route 66.
The group was in California traveling through the Mojave Desert. The end of the trip is close, but not today! Today they are going to Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch near Helendale California.
Elmer and his dad spent decades traveling in southern California collecting things. They went to Ghost Towns and abandoned mining camps and picked up all kinds of things that people had left laying on the ground when they left the area. When Elmer’s Dad died, Elmer inherited thousands of old bottles and other assorted things.
In 2000 Elmer decided to do something with bottles. He welded together metal ‘trees’ and put bottles on the trees. Other pieces of junk decorated the top of the trees. Since then, Elmer has made hundreds of bottle trees and his ranch has become a tourist attraction on Route 66.
The group had a great time exploring Bottle Tree Ranch. The sunshine coming through the colored bottles was beautiful, and the wind blowing across the end of the bottles made sad-sounding music.
That night around the campfire, the Leader held up an empty pop bottle.
He told the group that we can learn at lot from bottles. When a bottle is empty it can be made into beautiful artwork. When air blows across the top of an empty bottle, a sad-sounding music can be made (the Leader blew across the top of the bottle so the group could hear the music). But bottles are not made to be empty, bottles are made to be filled! The Leader held up another pop bottle that was full.
People are a lot like bottles, people are made to be filled with God. Many people choose to leave God out of their life. Their life might look good on the outside, but they are dry and empty on the inside, and it is very sad. It is very much like the empty bottles at the Bottle Tree Ranch they are dry and empty, and the wind makes sad music as it blows across the bottles.
In the Bible in John 10:10 Jesus says:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Fun and excitement without God in your life can last for a short time, but to truly have a full and satisfying life here on earth, you must have God in your life, and after this life if you do not have God in your life, you face punishment for eternity.
To get God into your life, you need to:
- Believe in that Jesus is the Son of God and came to earth as a person, who was both human and God, to live a perfect life and die for your sins.
- Decide that you want to have a change in your life and live the way God wants you to live (this is called repentance).
- Pray and ask God to forgive your sins because Jesus has paid the penalty for sins, and ask God to help you turn from your old life and live for Him.
In the Bible in John 3:16 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.
Life with Jesus is not easy some of the time, but it is the only life that is worthwhile both now and for eternity!