Noah’s Ark

"Can you help me line up my Noah's ark animals, Liam?" asked Liam's little brother Ethan. He looked at their sister. "You can help too, Maelie.""Okay." Liam sat down at the table. "Anthony is such a pain," he said as he placed the toy elephants side by side. "He's always talking about his soccer team. Who cares?" Maelie picked up the pigs. "He's that new kid in your class at church, right? He can't be worse than Mia. She thinks she's so great just because she gets good grades in everything! She won the Bible trivia contest at church last month and is still talking about it." Maelie set the pigs down. Liam grinned. "Hey! You better not leave your pigs next to Mrs. Noah. I'm sure she won't like the smell!" Maelie giggled. "I wouldn't have liked to be Mrs. Noah--living in a boat full of smelly, noisy animals! They probably fought all the time too." "I like animals," said Ethan. "They didn't fight, did they, Mommy?" Mom smiled. "I like to think they all got along--and Noah's family too. You'd think they'd be so thankful to be safe on the ark that they'd gladly put up with bad smells and loud noises--and also each other, even though I'm sure it wasn't easy to be stuck on a boat together for so long. But we aren't always like that with our family members, are we?"Liam and Maelie looked at each other. "We're getting along just fine," Maelie said, confused."I was referring to a different family," Mom replied. "Like Noah and his family, we've also been saved. Jesus has saved us from sin and death, and all those who trust in Him are part of God's family. Yet I've been listening to you grumble about your family members and complain about things Anthony and Mia do that annoy you. But don't we all do annoying things at times? We're blessed to have lots of brothers and sisters in Christ--everyone who knows Him is one of His children. Instead of grumbling, we should be thankful to be part of God's family and to have eternal security in Jesus. We should love one another as He loves us." -Tanya Ferdinandusz