A friend of mine was asked by a friend (of hers) how to continue sharing faith with her children during the summer. My friend shared an idea which she calls "The God Box". She has a shoe box in to which she places a variety of objects, mostly odds and ends and other things found around the house. She asks her children to take out one of the objects and explain how God is like the object. "God is like this eraser, erasing all our mistakes." God is like this stick of glue, holding us all together." God is like this pair of glasses, helping us to see things clearly."
A parable is a succinct story, either in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, lessons, or a universal truth. In the parables found in the Bible, which remain some of the best known stories in the world, Jesus too used common objects to teach his disciples about the Kingdom of God. "The Kingdom of God is like this pearl", "The Kingdom of God is like this mustard seed", etc. One obvious characteristic of the parables we find in the Bible is the presence of a prescriptive subtext; suggesting how a person should behave or believe.
Quite often Jesus' parables are about ordinary men and women who find surprising things happening in the midst of their everyday lives. Although these parables seem like simple memorable stories, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teaching of Jesus. They may refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor's door, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging; yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. Take some time to think about one of your favorite simple Bible stories, and then find an item for your mental shoe box.
A parable is a succinct story, either in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, lessons, or a universal truth. In the parables found in the Bible, which remain some of the best known stories in the world, Jesus too used common objects to teach his disciples about the Kingdom of God. "The Kingdom of God is like this pearl", "The Kingdom of God is like this mustard seed", etc. One obvious characteristic of the parables we find in the Bible is the presence of a prescriptive subtext; suggesting how a person should behave or believe.
Quite often Jesus' parables are about ordinary men and women who find surprising things happening in the midst of their everyday lives. Although these parables seem like simple memorable stories, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teaching of Jesus. They may refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor's door, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging; yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. Take some time to think about one of your favorite simple Bible stories, and then find an item for your mental shoe box.
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