I bought a brand new box of pencils this week. Something funny happened when I took them out of the box. The pencils reminded me of you! You want to know why?

• First they were brand new. I look at you and realize it wasn’t too long ago that God created you – brand new. You are growing fast – and have learned so much, but to me – you are still pretty new!
• I have some other pencils here too. What is different about these pencils? They are colored pencils. The colored pencils reminded me of you too --- because your personalities are so colorful. Each of you is different. Because you are different I can tell you apart from each other.

Do you see what is inside the pencils? Yes. It is lead or the color stuff that makes the pencil work. What is inside leaves a mark on paper, doesn’t it? What is INSIDE is the most important part.

Guess what. That lead inside the pencil?...it reminds me of you too! Because ….
YOU leave a mark everywhere you go. 
• The words you say can be good words or bad. That leaves a mark.
• Your actions can make people happy or sad. That leaves a mark.
• You can help others or hurt others. That leaves a mark.
It is what is inside of you that will determine the marks you leave.
• Sometimes when we are angry we may do something we shouldn’t.
• When we are encouraged by a scripture from the Bible, we may determine to do something good.
• When you have the Holy Spirit (Jesus) inside, HE helps you determine/decide the right things to do – not to make mistakes.

See what is on the top of the pencil? It is an eraser. The eraser reminds me of you, too (and of me, too). 
What do you do with the eraser? 
• When you make a mistake – you can use that eraser to remove it. 
• You and I make mistakes - not just on paper but in life, too. Life mistakes are called SIN. The Bible tells us, “…all have sinned.” (Romans 3:23)

JESUS is the eraser for our lives! 

• We must realize we have made a mistake (sinned) 
• Our life eraser is called forgiveness. “If we confess our sins HE is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us (erase the sin) from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
• JESUS will erase our sins! 
• After we erase a mistake on our papers, what do we do? We redo it in the correct way. When we ask God to forgive our sins, he does erase them, but we also make every effort to correct that mistake in our life and do it right the next time -- learning from our mistakes.

One thing you have to do is keep the point of your pencil sharp. It gets dull if you don’t. We use a sharpener for our pencil. 
• Our life sharpener is the Bible – God’s Word!
• The TRUTH that is in the Bible will sharpen us.
• BECAUSE --- Every Word in the Bible is…Absolutely True!

You are the one that guides your pencil to make marks on your papers. But - YOU need someone to GUIDE you every day. God’s Word says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all you ways acknowledge HIM and HE will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father,
You have created each of these wonderful children. We know they will make mistakes that they want erased from their lives. We pray that each of them will trust in Your Son, Jesus, to be their Personal Savior and to erase the sins/forgive them and keep them sharp. We pray they allow you to guide the marks they make in life each day. 

In Jesus Name we pray,
AMEN

So boys and girls, whenever you use a pencil, think about the lesson you’ve had today. Ask God to guide you……..and do your best to guide your pencils. 

(Give the children their pencil and their hug!)

Copyright 2010  Emmalea Butler
GreatAdventureClub@embarqmail.com

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