Uncle Jeff came into the room where Sarah was curled up on the couch reading.
“Oh, hullo Uncle Jeff” said Sarah uncurling herself, “where have you come from?”
“I’ve just been out fishing”, said Uncle Jeff, “And I’ve brought some fish for your mother. And what are you reading there?”
“This is a book that our Youth Pastor gave us all to read,” Sarah said, “But it’s a bit hard to understand. Or per’aps I’d better say, it would be awfully hard to do!”
“Well, tell me about it”, said Uncle Jeff, “And we’ll see if we can sort it out for you a bit better….tell me what the hard bits are….”
“Well”, said Sarah, “It’s all about the things that Jesus said when He was here on earth, and it’s starting off with what is called ‘The Sermon on the Mount’. The first one says, ‘You are happy if you are poor’. I don’t think I’d be happy if I was poor!”
“Well, the first thing we have to understand is that the word ‘happy’ here really means that things will work out for the best”, said Uncle Jeff, “and that if we are poor it is referring to realising that we are not good enough to face God without confessing our sins to Him first. People who think they are good enough on their own to be in God’s kingdom can never get there. It is only through what the Lord Jesus did for us….He said He is the way you know”.
“Yes, I remember that verse”, Sarah said. “Well, what about the next part when it says you are happy when you are hungry? All I think about when I’m hungry is what I’m having for dinner!”
“Yes, but see that it says that if you are hungry you will be filled, and that is referring to spiritual food, not food on the table!”
“Oh, I see,” said Sarah, “That means when we read the Bible we will feel satisfied inside. But you know Uncle Jeff, I sometimes think I never remember anything I read!”
“Well, it’s like this,” Uncle Jeff said, “When you put a sieve under the tap, it doesn’t hold any water, but it does stay clean! So even if you don’t remember much, reading the Bible helps your thoughts to stay clean.”
“Well, what about the next part that says you are happy when you weep? How does that make sense?”
“This simply means that unless we weep over the bad things we have done, we will never ask God’s forgiveness for them. It is only when we do this that we will be truly happy deep down inside us”.
“That’s right” Sarah said, “I can remember when I did that, it felt like a big burden was lifted off my back, and I felt so happy”.
“That’s great”, said Uncle Jeff, “Does that help you to understand what your book was getting at now?”
“Yes, it helps me see that it DOES make sense after all”, Sarah said.
“Well, how about we go and make a start on cleaning that fish for tea then”, Uncle Jeff said, “And we can leave any other questions until afterwards!”