reaches the EAR when we HEAR and then goes to the HEART when we obey it. This is what happened in the days of Ezra. “And the-rest of the people . . . separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God” (Neh. 10:28). God is looking for people today who will not only be HEARERS of the Word of God with the EAR, but DOERS from the HEART.
Rev. Elmer L. Wilder— Illustrated by Gladys Bowman
May 2, 1948 T elling A bout T eamwork
May 9. 1948 T he H eart W ith A n E ar
May 16, 1948 C atching A T hief
Objects: 25 toothpicks bound to gether with a rubber band. Lesson: Did you ever see a good ball game where there was no teamwork? No, I am sure you never did. You have to have teamwork in the game of life, too, if you want to win.
Objects: A paper heart as large as visibility requires. (In the middle of the heart draw the picture of a large ear. Just below the “V” in the heart and above the ear print an “H.” Below the ear near the heart’s point, print a “ T” . Fold the part with the “ H” backward just above the ear, and the part with the “ T” just below the ear.) Lesson: I want to show you a word picture today. You will recognize it as being the picture of an ear. I did not print the word out for you as I am sure you know that E-A-R is the way to spell it. Please keep in mind the way it is spelled throughout the les son. When looking at this ear, I am reminded of the time when Ezra opened the Book of the law and read to the people. It states, “And the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law” (Neh. 8:3). God has given ears that we might use them in hearing.
Objects: Ten apples, a knife, a pic ture of a house, and a picture of a church. (If apples are not in season, substitute some other fruit or vegetable. Put the house on one end of a table, the church on the other end and pile the ap ples in the center.) Lesson: How many apples does one have to steal to be a thief? “ If he stole even a piece of one apple, he would be a thief.” Correct. Do you know that God wants one- tenth, or a tithe, of all we possess? The Lord intends that these amounts shall be given out through the church—for the purpose of taking the gospel to peo ple in foreign fields or at home, who do not know the Lord Jesus as their Sav iour, and for meeting the needs of His children who are in want. There are ten apples in the center of the table. We will separate them. One of them is the Lord’s, for He commanded, “ Bring ye all the tithes into the store house, that there may be meat in mine house” (Mai. 3:10). Some people forget the little ■\yord “ ALL” in this verse. They give to God only a part of their tithe. Perhaps one will say, “I can’t go to church unless I have a new pair of shoes. I will buy them out of the tithe because they will make it possible for me to go to God’s house to worship Him.” There goes part of God’s tenth! (Cut a slice from the apple.)
As long as these toothpicks have team work and allow this rubber band to bind them together, it would be very difficult to break them. One, alone, can be broken easily. But, notice, the rubber band pulls the toothpick back as soon as I start pulling one away. This bundle of toothpicks reminds me of the people of God, who are bound to gether with the cords of love. A church which is bound together with the love of God will stand against all the powers of Satan. As long as the rubber band holds them together, the toothpicks stand. (Stand them on end.) They have to stand together or they fall. They have to have teamwork. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusa lem to rebuild the walls, it was neces sary that there should be teamwork. First, there had to be the teamwork with God. Unless the people worked with God and did the things He wanted them to do, their work would be useless. Then, too, the people had to have teamwork with Nehemiah. He could not do all the work by himself. Not only did they have teamwork, but they were bound together with the cords of loyalty to their leader and of trust in God. On numerous occasions the enemies tried to break the teamwork of Nehe miah and his workers, but they were un successful. The work progressed, and the walls were completed. God is looking for people in this day who are willing to do teamwork ,and re main bound together with the cords of love. When He finds them, He uses them for His service.
We will unfold this paper and see what we find. Above the ear we see a large “H.” Remember how to spell EAR; with an “ H” in front of it, we have the word “ HEAR.” Again I am re minded of Nehemiah 8:2, “And Ezra the priest brought the law before the con gregation both of men and women, and all that could HEAR with understand ing, upon the first day of the seventh month.” Here we find that the people of God were using the EAR to HEAR God’s message. It is very good to listen to the Word of God, and then go and obey it. In James we read, “ Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1 : 2 2 ) . We unfold this paper further and find a letter “ T.” Adding this to what we al ready have found, we have the word H-EAR-T. The paper is now heart- shaped. This shows how the truth
Someone else says, “ I must buy a class pin to wear to show that I am a member of the “ True Blue” Sunday School class. That would be a good way to spend my tithe.” Cut a second slice from the apple.) Or perhaps there is to be a banquet at the church. Since the money that T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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