March 1932
129
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
umor K ING ’S BUSINESS
perhaps some of you have planted them. No, it was not beautiful when you put it down in the earth—but wait! Could anything beautiful come from the little brown bulb? Ah, yes, when we re member that our Heavenly Father is con cerned even with little, brown, ugly bulbs. For a time you waited and nothing seem ed to happen at all; that is, nothing that you could see. But after a while, a little green blade or shoot was seen peeping up above the earth-bed. Each day the little blade seemed to grow taller and taller, and soon it became a lily stalk with cool, green leaves. Surely our Heavenly Father was good to give even this beautiful green plant! But this was not all. One day you noticed a bud, a lily bud. How eagerly you watched your lily plant then! Your watchfulness and care were soon rewarded—your lily bud had burst into blossom: The little brown bulb had become your beautiful Easter lily, shed ding forth the rarest of perfumes. Again the Lord Jesus spoke of the lilies and said, “Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” What a transformation—from dark, brown bulb to beauty surpassing the costly robes of a king! Yes, a miracle has been wrought by our Heavenly Father, and if He cares for the lily fair, which can shed its beauty only a few days, how much more shall He care for and provide for you, His dear children for whom He gave His only begotten Son? The Heavenly Father who changed the ugly, brown bulb into the most beautiful of flowers can also change the lives of boys and girls. He wants to make us all “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” As the little lily blade shot upward from the dark earth, so we must turn our faces heaven ward to the Lord Jesus. Believe on Him as the One who died on the cross to be your Saviour, and the change Is wrought. “Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.” His blood washed all our sins away, and in His sight we be come as beautiful and pure as the lily fair, shedding forth the perfume of His love and grace. , But the lily has yet another message. The Heavenly Father called forth the lily flower from the dark earth. Some day the Lord Jesus, will call us unto Himself, and then what a transformation! His Word says that we are to be like Him. The change in the lily plant was truly wonderful as it emerged from the dark, ugly bulb, but how marvelous will be the transforma tion in us who are so dear to His heart, when we awake in His likeness! “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). N So shall we “consider the lilies of the field” at this blessed Easter season, and let them speak to us a message from our Heavenly Father.
The Resurrection Story B y A n n a L. D e n n is
[This is the resurrection story as it is given by Mrs. Dennis in her story-telling class at the Bible Institute. She begins by shozving a spray of apple blossoms. — E ditor .] I s n ’ t t h is spra y of apple blossom beau tiful? Where did it first grow? Did the Lord God plant it there in that first garden just to be beautiful? It was planted there to provide fruit to eat, and to talk to people with listening hearts. Did you ever hear its story? You must listen for a long time, for the flowers grow into fru it; the fruit is taken from the trees; then the leaves drop to the ground and the tree sleeps all through the long winter. At last wake-up time comes, when God calls. The fruit trees and flowers, birds and butterflies, and everything tell us the same sweet story at wake-up time, “Be cause I live, ye shall live also.” And al though this beautiful story has been told ever since the Lord God planted the first garden, still people have not heard, because they have not had listening hearts. So our Heavenly Father sent the Lord Jesus to tell this story to us. He was always doing things to show us His great love, but there was one thing He came to do. It must be done at the right time and in the right place and in the right way. At last the time came. It was spring time—it was wake-up time; the flowers and trees were bloortiing; the barley was just beginning to form into heads; the birds were singing their sweetest songs. Yes, it was wake-up time. And it was the right place—it was in Jerusalem. It was Passover time. The city was filled with visitors, and the green hillsides about the city were dotted with tents. The Lord Jesus and His friends ate their last supper together in the company room built on the roof of a home in Jerusalem. When the supper was over, they went across the roof, down the steps, out into the crowded streets of the city, gay be cause of Passover time—past the quiet temple they went, past the little brook, Kidron, and on to the garden without the city gate. Then the Lord Jesus left His friends and went on farther into the shad ows to talk to His Father. Soon torches could be seen bobbing out of the city gate. Yes, it was Judas leading the Roman soliders on to find the Lord Jesus. Now, because it was the right place and the right time and the right' way, the Lord Jesus let them take Him and cause Him to suffer that night. And the next day, He died on the cross for you and me. Two rich men, Joseph and Nicodemus, obtained permission from the rulers to care for His body; so, with a great many pounds of spices and pure white linen, they lovingly prepared the body and placed it in the new tomb in Joseph’s garden. The
Bible says that the women who loved the Lord Jesus stood and looked on, and we know they must have longed to help. As they came from the tomb, a great stone was rolled against the outside door of the tomb, and in the quiet of the evening, the little group went back into the City. The next day was the great feast day of the year. It was a happy, glad day for every one in Jerusalem except for those who loved the Lord Jesus. For them, it was a long, sad day. When the time came that they might do so, the Bible says the women brought spices and prepared them. At last the day came that they might visit the tomb with their spices. It was early in the morn ing that the women left the city and hur ried toward the tomb—very early, before the sun was up. As they walked along, they said one to another, “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” But when they entered the garden and [Continued on page 148] The Heart of the Lily The heart of the lily is golden and fair And tells every one of the kind Father’s care, Its petals are white, and the purity show That, washed in His blood, every sinner may know. And just as the lily blooms sweetly today, So we, like the flowers, may go on our ' way And show to the world that the Christ in our hearts A sweetness and strength and great beauty imparts. —S elected . Consider the Lilies [Have an Easter lily and a lily bulb. A lily may be drawn on the blackboard, or the'children may cut out a lily plant from white and green paper and mount it on gray paper.] The pure white lily with its calyx of gold always blooms for us at Easter time, reminding us anew of our Father’s love and care. The beautiful lily was once a dark brown bulb ( show bulb, speak of color, size, etc.) with no beauty at all. You have seen the bulbs before, haven’t you? And
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker