In the lesson today from Exodus it says that the Israelites had journeyed to the wilderness where they camped in front of the mountain.  There, Moses had a conversation with God!

And here is Uncle Floyd and Barabas.  This Father’s Day weekend they are camping too, in the woods, on top of a mountain with a view out across the valley below!  And it is a beautiful evening in June.  Ahhhhhh . . . !  Summer vacation!

Uncle Floyd is busy stirring his world famous baked beans cooking in a pot over the campfire. 

“Uncle Floyd?” asked Barabas.  “What kind of trees are these?” 

“They are hemlocks.  I reckon they are close to 100 years old.” 

“Uncle Floyd?  Do you think that Native Americans used to live here where we are?”

“Yep!  They probably looked out over the valley just like you are.”  And Uncle Floyd added some more ingredients to the beans he was stirring.

“Uncle Floyd?” Barabas asked a third time.  “How does God decide what we should be doing here on earth?”

“Hmmm.” thought Uncle Floyd as he laid the spoon down.  “I reckon that is a hard one.”  He went over and stood next to Barabas and together they looked out across the sky at the setting sun.  They stood there quietly for awhile.  Mountains are good places to have conversations about God!

I believe,” said Uncle Floyd, thinking as he spoke, “I believe that God sends us all out to do the same job.  He expects us all to show care and love to the people around us.  It just gets complicated when the people around us are not so lovable.”

“What about in a war?” asked Barabas. 

“I reckon God expects the same of us whether we are a soldier in a war, or a president of a country or a janitor in a church or a student in second grade at school.”

“Sometimes I get really angry with Sam when we play.  He gets so bossy and talks too much.”

It was quiet again.  They heard a flock of crows fussing about something across the valley.  And the moon was just becoming visible in the approaching darkness.

“Sometimes,” Barabas added “I don’t feel so lovable myself.”

The good thing about Jesus is that we DON’T HAVE TO BE LOVABLE for Him to love us.  In today’s lesson from Romans it says “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” So if God can love us when we are unlovable, then we must do the same for others.

Uncle Floyd and Barabas talked about this.  Then Barabas said that next time they go camping, maybe he would invite Sam to come along.  “He IS my friend after all” said Barabas.

Uncle Floyd put another log on the fire, wiped his dirty hands on his jeans, added some more spices to the baking beans and stirred.  “It’s probably a good thing that we only eat these beans when we are far out in the woods.” smiled Uncle Floyd. “Cause only Jesus could love us the way we’re gonna smell later.”   

THE END

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