The stupendous super-heroes, Toenail and Leapfrog are at last inside the lighthouse on the shore of Lake Superior. They are following their first clue which told them to, “Find the Light”. Leapfrog is still wearing an old pair of rollerblades, and Toenail is wearing some bright green tennis shoes with super-strong tread! There is a stairway going around the inside of the lighthouse that leads up to the very top, and they decide that the best thing to do is to go up these stairs because the light will probably be at the top!
However, they realize that there might also be dangers at the top of the lighthouse; they have heard stories about lighthouses being infested with huge 10-foot-high caterpillars that wear sunglasses. They began climbing the stairs carefully, trying to not make any noise. It seemed like every step echoed like a frozen pizza falling off a marshmallow! Leapfrog was in the lead, and they made their journey step-by-step without knowing if they would survive the next minute or not. They decided that it would help if they wore disguises, so Toenail suggested that they try to look like giant caterpillars themselves. They put on sunglasses and agreed that now they looked just like the monster caterpillars that they were sure were waiting for them at the top of the light house.
Leapfrog was just two steps from the top of the stairway when it happened! Suddenly, without any warning, a scary piece of dirt the size of a mosquito’s ear fell on Toenail’s nose! He yelled loudly and began jumping up and down like ostrich standing on hot sand! Of course, Leapfrog, who was in front, was terrified by all the noise that Toenail was making. He lost his balance, and his rollerblades began to go backwards. He crashed into Toenail, and they kept going backwards down the stairs. Faster and faster, round and round they went as they went from the top to the bottom of the lighthouse. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they went speeding right out the door of the lighthouse. Leapfrog grabbed the doorknob to try to stop them, but the door pulled shut and the doorknob broke off in Leapfrog’s hand. They went speeding down the bank, across the sand, hit the little rock, went flying into the air, right over the rowboat, and landed with a splash back in Lake Superior! They were sure to drown this time, but Leapfrog quickly analyzed the situation and once again comes up with the perfect solution just in time to save them from certain disaster, he stood up in the lake and found that the water is only 18 inches deep!
Our weary heroes trudged back up to the lighthouse and tried to figure out how they would get back inside because the doorknob had broken off. They finally decided that since Toenail is wearing the bright green tennis shoes with the super-strong tread, he could run toward the lighthouse, jump high into the air, and land on top of the lighthouse. So, Toenail backs away from the lighthouse, gets a good run, jumped as high as he could, and… smashed into the side of the lighthouse about 2 feet above the ground! Toenail decided to try it again…. and again…. and again! After 40 attempts he finally figured out that he cannot jump to the top of the lighthouse, and his face was starting to get sore from smashing into the side of the lighthouse! It was starting to get dark, and they decided to sleep outside the lighthouse, and maybe they could figure out what to do in the morning. Leapfrog leaned against the door to sleep, and the door easily opened when he leaned against it!
They entered the lighthouse, just quivering with excitement! This time Toenail took the lead going up the stairs so that Leapfrog could not roll backwards into him and send them both down the stairs again. Leapfrog held tight onto Toenail’s hair as they made their way up to the top of the lighthouse. They finally reached the top step and paused a moment to work up their courage before going into the top room that contained unknown dangers! Toenail decided to dive head-first into the room so that he could surprise anything that was up there waiting for them. He had forgotten that Leapfrog was holding onto his hair, so when he dove forward Leapfrog dove with him. With a loud crash they both landed on top of each other right in the middle of the room. Our two heroes looked up and cannot believe what they saw! They saw…. Nothing! There were no monsters or giant caterpillars; the room only had the big light in the middle of it! The light was not turned on, and Leapfrog and Toenail were greatly disappointed, they thought that they had traveled far and risked their lives many times for nothing.
But then, they looked out the windows and saw something that made their eyebrows curl up! There was a big boat out on the lake, and it was headed right toward the rocks by the shore! It was almost completely dark now, and the people on the boat could not see the rocks. If Leapfrog and Toenail do not do something, the people on the boat will die! Our heroes sprang into action! Leapfrog wrote a warning message to them on a piece of paper, folded the paper into a paper airplane and threw it out the window. He was shocked when it just gently floated down to the ground and did no good at all. Toenail wanted to run down to the lake and move all the rocks out of the lake, but Leapfrog convinced him that there was just not enough time to move all the rocks. Then Leapfrog had a wonderful idea, they both jumped up on the window ledge and began to sing a song and dance with great enthusiasm! The people on the boat did not seem to notice. Toenail was really discouraged and decided to sit down on the floor and pout for awhile. As he was sitting down, his elbow bumped a switch on the wall and suddenly, without warning, in a heartbeat, you would not believe it, but the big light in the lighthouse lit up with blinding intensity! The boat could see the danger clearly and turned away from the rocks and was saved!
However, Leapfrog and Toenail had forgotten all about the boat because when the light came on, they noticed something that they had not seen before. In the corner of the room there was a salt shaker, and a pepper shaker on the floor. The pepper shaker was full, but the salt shaker was completely empty. Leapfrog got excited and exclaimed, “This is our second clue, we need to find salt to fill up the salt shaker! We need to go and find some salt!”
Application:
In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:
“You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
Jesus says that Christians are supposed to be the light of the world for those who are living in darkness. Most people living in this world without Jesus in their life do not even realize that they are in great danger and heading for disaster, just like the people in our story who were on the boat did not know that they were headed towards rocks that would sink the boat! Jesus said that our ‘good deeds’ are supposed to shine out and light up our world for other people. We do not get to heaven by doing good deeds, the only way to heaven is by believing in Jesus and asking for the forgiveness of our sins (see John 14:6 below), but the good things that we do after we get saved point others to Jesus! Let’s choose to follow Jesus all the time and become the light of Jesus to those around us who are living in darkness!
In John 14:6 Jesus says:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”