Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore. The He told them many things in parables, saying: “Consider the sower who went out to sow.” Matthew 13:2-3 HCSB
I recently had the privilege to teach a class of teenagers. The lesson was on the sin offering and the guilt offering that God required of the Israelites. To illustrate the need to be clean and pure like God, I presented the group with two forks, one that was clean and one that was dirty. I then asked them which fork they would like to use to eat with. Of course they selected the clean fork. I used the forks as a way to illustrate that God desires for us to be spiritually clean and pure just like He is. We must be clean and pure if we want to spend time with Him in heaven. Our sins make us unclean and we need an offering or sacrifice as a way of paying the price for our sins. Because Jesus is our unblemished sacrifice, we no longer need to sacrifice a goat to pay the price for our sins. Through Jesus we are made clean and pure. No matter how hard we try to be good, we cannot be good enough to be clean and pure in God’s eyes. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can have a
right relationship with God.
Jesus constantly used parables to make a point and teach people spiritual principles. A parable is a brief story for the purpose of making or illustrating a point. Many teachers could learn a few things from observing how Jesus taught. Instead of lecturing, He often used parables to illustrate His main teaching points.
Challenge: Use stories to illustrate what you are trying to teach. Stories and parables can be very effective in teaching your children spiritual principles. Thank God for the many different parables and stories in the Bible that help you understand what Jesus was trying to teach.