[The Children's Chapel]
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                 Tree Trouble! by Steven WilsonText Version

          "Quick!" said Ruth to her brother Luke. "We've got to help
     Uncle Reuben."

          "Oh no!" said Luke, munching on a falafel. "This is going to
     be painful. I just know it."

          Ruth handed her brother a long stick and said, "Follow me!"
     She ran from the house and Luke hopped after her, fighting to get
     his sandals onto the right feet.

          "But where are we going?" he called out, finally securing
     his footwear. "And what are the sticks for?"

          "You'll see!" she shouted back as she sped up the hill
     towards Jericho. The two children were always rushing out to help
     Uncle Reuben. He was the local administrator and that meant if
     ever there was any trouble, he had to sort it out, and there was
     certainly trouble this morning.

          Ruth and Luke raced through the streets of Jericho until....

          "Aaargh!" They crashed, sliding into a large crowd of
     people, all of them seemingly fighting with each other.

          "Ouch!" said Luke as an old lady started to bash him on the
     head with a watermelon.

          "Sorry!" said Ruth to the lady and pulled her brother to the
     ground. They began to frantically crawl between the legs of the
     crowd.

          "Ouch! Ooh! Ouch!" said Luke as people kept missing Ruth but
     treading on him. "I knew this would be painful."

          Finally they crawled out from the crowd at the base of a
     large, gnarled sycamore tree. The tree was nearly forty feet high
     with a short trunk and spreading branches.

          Uncle Reuben was standing at the foot of the tree,
     scratching his hairy chin and looking up into the branches.

          "What's the problem, Uncle?" asked Luke, feeling bruised but
     wondering what all the panic was about.

          "He's the matter," said Reuben, pointing up into the tree.

          There perched in the branches was a man. He was short, podgy
     and far too old to be climbing trees.

          "He's refusing to come down! He says he's going to stay
     there to get a better look."

          "We've brought sticks," said Ruth helpfully. "We could get
     him down with these."

          Their Uncle looked down at them, shaking his head.

          "No!" he said. "I don't think that would be very kind, and,
     besides, I've tried everything. I've tried reasoning with him.
     I've tried shaking the branches. I've even tried climbing up to
     get him, but I just can't budge him. It'll take a miracle to get
     him out of that tree."

          At that moment, the crowd cheered as a man walked along the
     road. But instead of walking past, he turned to the tree. The
     crowd parted. He was serene and calm. He looked up into the
     branches and said, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay
     at your house today."

          Instantly, and without the slightest grumble, Zacchaeus
     climbed down from the branches and embraced the man.

          "Wow!" said Luke, amazed at how easily the man had got
     Zacchaeus out of the tree. "That was a miracle!"

          "You bet!" whispered their Uncle as Zacchaeus and the man
     walked off into the crowd. "That was Jesus, and he's the world's
     greatest miracle."

     THINK!
          Why do you think Zacchaeus didn't want to come down from the
     tree? Would you wait up a tree to see Jesus? Does God sometimes
     expect us to do things that other people might not like?

     REMEMBER
          You can wait for Jesus anywhere!

     A VERSE TO LEARN
          Jesus said: "Any of you who does not give up everything he
     has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33 - NIV).

     LET'S PRAY

            ****************************************************
                   Dear Lord, help me me not to be afraid
                        when people are unkind to me
                         because I believe in you.
                     Please teach me to hear your voice
                       above the shouts of the crowd
              and to be brave enough to follow you anywhere.
                        In the name of Jesus. Amen.
            ****************************************************

     CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
          Luke, chapter 19, verses 1-10

     ---------------
     Used by permission. Copyright © 2006 by Steve Wilson. You may NOT
     re-post this story without permission from the author.

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