A RaySOP's Fable - Racing and Replacing

This week’s Ray-SOP’s Fable is a story that represents our need for Jesus to step in and pay the penalty for our sin because we are unable to do so by ourselves.

Focus Verse: John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Fable:*

“Hey LeAnn! You can’t catch me!” Shouted her older brother, Ryan.

Ever since the car accident two years ago, LeAnn had not been able to walk, but she still had a really fun way to get around. LeAnn had a really fast electric wheelchair!

Ryan took off out of the yard, and then down the sidewalk toward the end of the street. About the time that Ryan was going to reach the finish line, LeAnn whizzed past him in her wheelchair.

“Hey! Not fair!” Ryan joked.

LeAnn replied, “It’s not my fault that I’m the fastest, but I’ll race you down to the Potter’s house to give you another chance.”

“No, LeAnn. You know that we’re not allowed to go that far down the street. Besides, Mr. Potter doesn’t like us playing around the flowers in his yard.”

“Awww … isn’t that cute … my big brother is actually just a big chicken!” LeAnn laughed out loud as she took off down the street toward Mr. Potter’s yard.

Ryan chased after his little sister to try to catch her by the wheelchair handles and stop her before she got into trouble, but LeAnn really was too fast for him. When she got in front of Mr. Potter’s house she looked over her shoulder to see where her brother was. This caused one of her wheels to come off the sidewalk- flinging her and her wheelchair into one of Mr. Potter’s prize-winning flower beds!

Luckily, LeAnn was fine, but her wheelchair had ripped up several valuable flowers in the crash. Mr. Potter heard the noise and ran outside to see what had happened. He was really angry! He demanded that LeAnn work in his garden until she had paid off the price of the flowers that she had destroyed. Ryan knew that his little sister was not able to work in Mr. Potter’s garden, so he offered to take her place. Ryan paid off his little sister’s debt by working for Mr. Potter for the next two Saturdays.

Questions to Ask:

1. Who’s fault was it that the flowers were destroyed?

2. Was LeAnn able to pay for what she had destroyed when she disobeyed?

3. Who worked for Mr. Potter to pay for the flowers?

4. Do you think LeAnn was thankful that Ryan saved her from her punishment?

Application:

According to our focus verse, God sent Jesus to us for a specific reason. Young people, remember that everyone has been like LeAnn at some point in their life. None of us are perfect, because all of us have sinned. In our story, Ryan paid for LeAnn’s sin because she couldn’t pay for it herself. In real life, Jesus died on the cross to pay for everybody’s sin. Jesus was able to pay for your sin because He was God’s Son, and He never did anything wrong. Jesus was perfect!

*BLOG NOTES:

Special thanks to Lynda Ray for the illustration this week!

This lesson was originally written by Micah Ray for Master Ministries in Milford, OH. By permission, it has been excerpted and adapted from the Master Clubs Beginner Leader Guide. Master Clubs is a tremendous and thorough discipleship program for 3 year olds through sixth graders. If your church is not one of the 600+ churches already involved in Master Clubs, please look into their program at www.masterclubs.org.