Uncle Jeff was driving back from the camp complex where the meetings had been held, with Sarah, Bobby, and Betty.                                                                                                                               “What did you do for your activities, Betty?” Sarah asked her little sister.                                                                                                                                    “Oh we all coloured a paper Noah’s Ark, then cut it out and made it up,” said Betty. “It wasn’t all that easy either.”                                                 “I don’t suppose it was easy for Noah either, to make the ark,” said Bobby.                                                                                                                                “No, I guess it wasn’t,” Sarah said, “Can you  imagine what it was like to get all the animals into the ark? Just think of hauling an elephant inside!”                                                                                                                          “Haha,” said Bobby, “Imagine getting giraffes in too!”

“Well, can either of you older ones remember what the main speaker was talking about this morning?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Yes, it was about the lamp that Moses had made in the wilderness, that was to go in God’s tent,‘ said Bobby, “The tent was called the tabernacle.”.

“He said lots of things about the lamp,” Sarah said thoughtfully, “I never knew it meant so many things.”

“That’s why it’s important to think about them,” Uncle Jeff said, :”Everything in the Old Testament part of the Bible has a matching part in the New Testament.”                                                                                “Really?” said Sarah, “I didn’t know that!”                                                          “Yes,” said Uncle Jeff, ”That’s why God told Moses to make it exactly to the pattern He gave him, because it was all a picture of something in heaven”.

“Ooh,” said Betty, “Was Noah’s Ark a picture of something too, Uncle Jeff ?”

“Sure was,” he said, “What do you think it might have been a picture of Bobby?”

“Well, it saved Noah and his family and all the animals in it from being drowned,” Bobby said after thinking for a while, “ So I guess it was a picture of how the Lord Jesus saves us.”

“That’s right,” Uncle Jeff agreed, “But let’s get back to the lamp. It had seven branches all decorated up beautifully. Why do you think there was one tall one in the middle with six others around it?”

“Well, the Lord Jesus is in the middle of His people,” Sarah said.

“That’s right,” Uncle Jeff agreed, “What does a light do?”

“It chases the dark away,” piped up Betty.

“How does Jesus chase the dark away from us then?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“He said He was the light of the world, “ said Sarah, “There is no darkness in Him at all anywhere, and He never stops shining.”

“Yes, that’s true. He said too that we must be lights in this world showing others how to live right. What makes those old fashioned lamps keep burning brightly?”

“I know!” Bobby said, “They’ve got a wick down in some oil inside them and the wick has to be kept trimmed all the time or else the light gets dull”.

“So what do you think that means?” said Uncle Jeff, changing gear as they came to a hill.

“I guess it means that we are like the wick that needs to be trimmed too,” Sarah said, “When we get into bad habits, God needs to trim us up.”

“Do you think it would be pleasant for the wick to be trimmed?” asked  Uncle Jeff.

“I wouldn’t like to be trimmed,” said Betty.

“Ho ho, you sure don’t like it when you have to go to your room for being naughty!” Bobby chortled.

“You too!” and Betty gave him a poke.

“OK, OK,” said Uncle Jeff, “What was the lampstand made out of?”

“Pure gold”, Bobby said.

“What did the preacher say that was a picture of?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“It was a picture of how the Lord Jesus was God’s Son and just like Him,” Sarah said.

“Yes, and what else does it show us about the Lord Jesus?”

“He was beautiful,” Bobby said.

“Yes, and He lasts for ever.” Sarah added.

“Then gold costs a lot of money,’ Bobby said, “And I guess it means that Jesus is just the bestest person there has ever been!”

“Well done!” Uncle Jeff said as he turned into their street, “What was one last thing the preacher said about the lamp?”

“It kept burning all night till the morning!” Betty said.

“I was going to say that!” Bobby said.

“What does the morning mean then?”

“Well, the morning is like when Jesus comes back again, and the night has gone” Sarah said, “And we have to keep shining for Him until He comes back again!”

“That’s dead right,” Uncle Jeff  said as he turned into their driveway, and pulled up, “Now it’s up to us to remember all these things and all be little lights for Jesus. .Let’s go inside now and find something to eat!”