Spring Is Sprung

SPRING IS SPRUNG

Mooster: Oh what a beeeeeyoutiful day! We’ve been having so many pretty days! Sooooo much better than the constant cold weather. Are you kids enjoying being outside?  ………. Me too! I love it!

Moe: Hi Mooster! Hi kids! Oh man what a beautiful day! Except….I have been feeling a little yucky the past couple days. I think it’s because I ate too much chicken.

Mooster: Oh that’s too bad, Moe. Why are you eating too much chicken? Did your mom get a special from Kentucky fried or something?

Moe: Um, no …not Kentucky fried.

Mooster: Zaxby’s? Theirs isn’t usually too greasy. Is it the grease?

Moe: Uh no….I don’t think the chicks were greasy.

Mooster: Chicks? You are eating baby chickens?

Moe: Well, actually, they are called peeps. You know…the kind that comes in Easter egg baskets?

Mooster: Moe, you ate all your Easter candy already?

Moe:  Yeah. And my mom’s. And my dad’s. They didn’t want theirs – they are on a diet.

Mooster: oooooh Moe, really? No wonder you haven’t felt well.

Moe: Well, I figured it’s spring! New beginnings and all that – so I thought since I’m a year older than I was last Easter I should be able to hold more candy! But I don’t think it works that way.

Mooster: Um, no, it doesn’t. And while spring is a season of new beginnings, it doesn’t mean you can suddenly eat a lot of junk and not get sick. Can you think of OTHER new beginnings that might be better examples for spring?

Moe: Ummmm…..probably anything that doesn’t contain sugar….groannn….My other problem is allergies! Every spring….ahhhhh-choo!

Mooster: Spring does cause people with allergies problems. Kids – can you help us out? Why would allergies be worse in spring? What do you see at this time of year coming up out of the dirt? ………..yep you see new plants! New leaves! New flower shoots! And with all that comes pollen – which makes some people sneeze. But new life is seen in the sprouting plants!

Moe: Oh oh oh – I know where the Bible talks about that!! Isaiah 61:11  For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Mooster: Very good! Kids- what’s another thing that you might think of when you think of spring? Does anyone think of water?

Moe: Oh yeah! Springs of water come up out of the ground! They form creeks and ponds.

Mooster: You bet! I even know a song about that. Do you want to help me sing it?

Moe: Sure!

                   I’ve got a river of life

                   Flowing out of me

                   Makes the lame to walk

                   And the blind to see

                   Opens prison doors

                   Sets the captive free

                   I’ve got a river of life

                   Flowing out of me!

Spring up oh well

                   Down in my soul

                   Spring up on well

                   And make me whooooole

                   Spring up oh well

                   And give to me

                   That life abundantly

Moe: That song isn’t just talking about water. What else is it talking about?

Mooster: Living water! Kids – do you know Who the Living Water is? …….. that’s right! It’s Jesus!  When we ask Jesus Christ into our lives to be our Savior, He brings us the living water of eternal life. That living water of Christ can set people free from their bondage to sin. Christ’s salvation offers to us new life – we are like new flower shoots. The old man dies when we get saved and the new man springs forth through the abundant life in Jesus Christ. That song is really cool for helping us remember all those things!

Moe:  Hey, when I think of spring, I think about all the new baby animals that are born. They are so cute! The only problem is that sometimes people are allergic to animals too. Ahhhhh-choo!

Mooster: Oh are you allergic to animals too?

Moe: Not really, but it was a good place for a sneeze.

Mooster:  Oh brother! Anyway, new baby animals are another sign of spring, you are right, but they are also a good reminder of what happens when a person gets saved.

Moe: That’s true. Our pastor told us that newly saved Christians are like new babies. The apostle Paul wrote about that in the New Testament. He said new Christians have to learn and grow spiritually just like new babies have to learn and grown physically.

Mooster: That’s right! The Bible is compared to milk and meat for the Christian’s spiritual body. Moe, can you live on candy?

Moe: Um…no I guess I can’t. I can’t even eat too much of it. I’ll get sick. Ugh….like this week! I have to have real food to stay healthy.

Mooster: Exactly! But sometimes Christians think they can live on candy…just coming to church when it’s convenient for them – once a week or once a month or once a year. But if you only ate a good meal once a week, you’d be pretty puny woudn’t you? What if you only ate candy?

Moe: I wouldn’t be a very healthy monkey if I ate like that.

Mooster: Nope – and Christians who only go to church once in a while are not usually very healthy spiritually. That’s dangerous because the Bible says Satan is roaring about like a lion – seeking whom he may devour! He can easily confuse a starving Christian with things that sound good but aren’t really truth.

Moe:  Oh yeah – we learned in school how lions will pick out the weak or sickly from a heard of animals. I guess that’s true in our Christian life too, isn’t it? If we don’t grow spiritually, we become easy prey for Satan to lead us away from God.

Mooster: Absolutely true! Kids – if we want our new spring plants to grow, we water them and give them fertilizer for food and make sure they have lots of sunlight. What do you think we should do as Christians to make sure we grow and stay healthy spiritually?

Yep – we need to pray and sing hymns, and we need to read our Bibles and go to church whenever we are able! We want to grow into healthy, mature Christians for God.

Moe: I know a song for that!

Read your Bible pray every day

Pray every day

Pray every day

Read your Bible pray every day

And you’ll grow, grow, grow

And you’ll grow, grow, grow,

And you’ll grow, grow, grow

Read your Bible pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow.

Mooster: Yep, and the opposite is true, too!

Don’t read your Bible, forget to pray

Forget to pray

Forget to pray

Don’t read your Bible, forget to pray

And you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink

And you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink,

And you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink

Don’t read your Bible forget to pray and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.

Moe:  Wow. We sure did cover a lot of things that go with the Bible and with spring. I guess that’s why Easter time and spring are such good pictures of the Christian life.

Mooster: Yep! Just like Christ rose from the dead, if we know Him as Saviour, we will one day rise to heaven. Just like a seed falls to earth and dies before it can bring forth a new plant, we much die to our sins in order to grow in Christ. Just like baby animals need milk to grow, we need to read the Bible to grow. Just like healthy animals can form a group and protect the herd from attacks from lions, so Christians need to grow strong spiritually so they can fend off attacks from Satan. God has given us lots of examples in nature of what we need in our spiritual lives.

Moe:  Well….I know peeps are a little sugar version of a baby chick, but I definitely need to lay off the sugar if I want to stay healthy. I think I’ll offer the rest of my candy to my brothers and sisters. They are better at not eating everything all at once than I am.

Mooster: That’s a good idea, Moe. Boys and girls – as you enjoy springtime, let’s all be reminded of the many ways spring is like our Christian life!

Bye!!!