The Dead Stick

Bruno frowned and kicked at a stone as he walked home from school. As he approached Mr. Burk's house, he saw his Sunday school teacher working in the yard. "Hi there, Bruno," said Mr. Burk. "How are you today?""Not great," muttered Bruno. He shuffled his toe in the dirt. "I'm always getting into trouble at school." He sighed. "Since I've been coming to your Sunday school class, I've been trying to change and be good--but I just can't seem to do it. Today I had to stay in at recess because I talked back to a teacher."Mr. Burk leaned on his rake. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said.Bruno shrugged. "Like I said, I'm trying to do better, but I guess it's hopeless.""Oh, no, no, no!" said Mr. Burk. "It's not hopeless. I think you're just depending on the wrong things to help you." He picked up a small dead branch that had fallen from a tree. "I was going to plant some fruit trees out back. I'll water them and put fertilizer around them, and soon they'll bear juicy peaches and apples for me to eat." He held up the dead branch. "Why don't you help me plant this one?"Bruno laughed. "That's a dead stick. You know it won't grow anything."Mr. Burk looked at the stick. "True," he said. "A dead stick can't produce fruit. And you know what, Bruno? You may be like this stick--you don't have true life either if you haven't trusted Jesus as your Savior. Have you done that?""Well, no, I…I…" Bruno stammered. "I thought if I just went to church and read the Bible and did stuff like that, I'd be all right.""You said you want to do better, but you need Jesus for that," said Mr. Burk. "Even if you read the whole Bible and go to church and pray, you can't produce good fruit unless you have spiritual life that only comes through Jesus. You need Him to free you from sin and give you the power of the Holy Spirit so you can live in a way that shows others His love." Mr. Burk smiled at Bruno. "Would you like me to explain how you can receive real life through Jesus?"Bruno looked at the dead stick lying on the lawn and nodded.–Mary Rose Pearson