A group of kids lived across the river from a small Christian Camp. They have never been to the camp, but were curious about what happens at the camp, and curious about God. One night they saw a campfire in the woods at the edge of the camp. They decided to go and investigate the campfire. They got in their rowboat and crossed the river and quietly crept up to the campfire. At the campfire, they found an older camp counselor sitting by the fire and they started a conversation with him.
The kids asked the camp counselor what is so special about going to camp, and why is God so important to the people at that camp.
The camp counselor, named Dave, says he will tell them a story about how God uses a camp activity to teach campers a significant truth about Himself. The kids are eager to hear the story, so Dave begins:
“One of my favorite camp activities is canoeing. It is very important for young people to get out into nature and see part of God’s amazing creation. The life we live these days is too focused on our phones. We spend our days staring at the screen and fully occupied with all the activities that are offered on our phones. Now, I am not saying that everything about cell phones is bad, but God did not design us to be focused on our phones constantly. It is good to put the phones down sometimes and to pay attention to the world that God has made for us.
Spending some time in a canoe is a good way to focus on the world that God has created. The phones get put away, because if the phone falls into the water, it is ruined. God could have made this world very dull and boring, but He made it spectacular! While in a canoe, a person can look down into the water and see fish swimming below, they can look on the surface of the water and be amazed by the water bugs that can skate on the surface of the water, and they can observe the plants growing in the water, such as water lilies.
By the shore, they might see a great blue heron fishing, or sandhill cranes searching the shoreline for food, or maybe if they are very quiet, they might see a deer coming down to the water for a drink!
On sunny days turtles like to climb out of the water onto logs to sun themselves (remember, they are cold-blooded), and one of the favorite things that the kids like to do is to paddle very carefully and see how close they can get to the turtles before they jump off the log back into the water.
Of course, there are many other things to see while in a canoe, such as eagles soaring in the sky, the beauty and warmth of the sun, the fantastic shapes of the clouds, and the beauty of the trees and bushes growing by the water.
All these things in nature show us a glimpse of the imagination and creativeness of God. We do not worship the things in nature, we believe in and worship God who created all the wonderful things in nature. Everything in the universe points to God! Nature is too complex and wonderful to have just happened by chance, there must be a creator! God made the wonderful, beautiful things in nature to give us a clue that He exists and that He wants us to know Him!
In the Bible in Romans 1:18-23 it says:
But God shows His anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
Creation points to God, and we need to pay attention and learn about God and get to know Him.
Dave invited the kids to keep coming back each evening to his campfire, and he will tell them more stories of how God uses various camp activities to draw young people to Himself!