"Aaron"

"The Stone that Loved Miracles too Much"

Once upon a time, many years ago, there lived a stone very pretty stone having interesting lines on quartz and feldspar and other minerals named Aaron. Now Aaron was a small stone that you could easily hold in your hand and he lived in a deserted desert area beside a small cliff near a small sea called Galilee.

Now , before I tell you more about Aaron’s story, I have to first explain that stones can actually hear each other. For while sound travels poorly through air it travels very well though the earth. Remember the seeing on old westerns the Indian who would put his ear to the ground to hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Even though they were too far away to hear through the air, the ground carries the sounds of the footsteps much better and much farther. Well because of this all stones can keep in close communication and they just love to pass on what they witness. (explain what “witness” means) Yes, it seems that stones are the witnesses of the world or in other words the gossips of the ground.

Anyway, since Aaron lived in a desert, he rarely saw anything he could pass on to other stones so like so many other stones that live where no people, he spent his life listening to the stories the stones who did live near people passed on. Now over the years Aaron listened to many stories but there was one type of story that Aaron became fascinated by and they were stories passed on by stones that witnessed miraculous events. Yes Aaron loved to hear about miracles. He loved the story of how the great stones of Jericho were thrown down without the armies of Israel even touching them. He was thrilled by the story of how Jonathon killed 20 mean in battle with only one sword and his favorite of all time was the story passed on by his Aunt Bethany who actually got to see heaven. So I think you all get the picture, Aaron loved to hear about miracles and he loved them so much he rarely listened much to any other story being shared by his relatives. If there wasn’t a miracle involved, Aaron pretty much was not interested.

Now one day, Aaron was doing his normal thing just laying out there in the desert listing for a new story that might be about a miracles when he heard the footsteps coming at a distance. A few hours later a single man came into view and walked right past Aaron stopping in the shade of the small cliff that Aaron lived near. The man sat down in the shade and took a drink from a small pouch he carried in his belt.. Aaron did not see people very often and had never been this close to one so he was curious what type of person this might be. Aaron watches the man closely but could find nothing particularly special about him. He wore normal clothes, was not very good looking and did not have any food with him. He did have the small pouch of what Aaron assumed must be water. He assumed this because he learned from stories passed on by his relatives that people often made their settlements near wells since they needed water to live. The man also seemed tired and after a few more minutes the man laid down and fell asleep. Normally a stone seeing a man for the first time would have immediately have passed the story on to another stone but Aaron did not because there just didn’t seem like their was anything special about the man. But over the next 40 days Aaron was to learn that he could not have been more wrong.

The next day when the man awoke, he drank some from his pouch and then got up, waked around a bit, and then came back to foot of the cliff. There he knelled for a while with his head bowed and Aaron notices that his mouth moved a little like he was talking to somebody but Aaron could not hear any words so he figured than man was praying. He had heard somewhere than men did that from time to time. After a while the man once again he sat down and started staring out into the desert. After staring for a while, the man eyes dropped to the desert floor and focused on Aaron. Aaron suddenly felt a little creepy because he was not used to being stared at. He got even more worried when the man reached out and picked Aaron up. Whoa! He said to himself.. “Now this is weird!”. Aaron hoped the man would not try skipping rocks on the desert floor. Aaron had heard of small people called children who loved to throw rocks into water and other places and he hoped this person was not one of them because bouncing across the desert floor and crashing into other rocks and cactuses would surely hurt. But the man did not throw Aaron but rather intently looked at him for a moment, rubbed him with his fingers for a time and then put him in his pocket. (I guess Aaron became the first pet rock.)

For the next 5 weeks, the man stayed at the base of the cliff and each day pretty much did the same thing. Got up, drank some water from the small pouch, prayed, walked around, played with Aaron and stared out at the desert. After about a week, Aaron began to wonder how the little pouch of water never seemed to run out. Surely the man had emptied it by now . He also started to wonder how long the man was going to survive because the man had no food and Aaron had learned from listing to other stones that people normally ate food every day. By the end of the fifth week, the man was really looking hungry. Aaron hoped the man wasn’t saving him for desert. He really didn’t want to see the inside of a man the hard way. But despite his little worries, Aaron was really getting excited because this man was becoming something of a miracle himself as he continued day after day to stay healthy despite having no food. Wow Aaron thought, I am finally witnessing a miracle myself.

On the 41^st day since the man had come Aaron awoke to the sound of conversation. It was early in the morning and the man was already up and he was talking to somebody. Aaron could not see who it was since he was still in the mans pocket. He tried to look out a small hole he found in the mans pocket but he could not get a clear view of who was talking. As he listened he heard the unfamiliar voice say “if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” .. the Son of God, Aaron thought ,, the Son of God? .. was this man the Son of God. Aaron new who the son of God was, he was the creator and every stone knew who his creator was. Could this man be he? Well if so it would explain how he could live without food. ? But then Aaron thought, ut ..oh . If he is he might just change me into bread and then I would get eaten. .. but then again .. that would be a cool miracle .. Aaron thought for a minute and decided it would be worth it to be turned into bread .. He was about say “ Go for it” . .when he hear the man who held him refuse and say; “ It is written that man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”. Aaron was disappointed yet somewhat relieved and thought may be he is not the Son of God after all, but what happened in the next few minutes changed for as Aaron peered out the small hole in the mans pocket, suddenly Aaron was no longer in the desert but was now on top of a tall spire that was on top of a large building in a large city.

Aaron now was shaking a bit because he did not heights as the voice of the new comer came again. This time he said ”If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written that He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands so you will not hit your foot on a stone. “ .. Now Aaron knew the man who held him was the Son of God for only he had angels. Aaron had learned that from Aunt Bethany. He stopped shaking and couldn’t wait for the man would jump and the angels flew in for the rescue. This was going to be the best miracle he had ever heard of. ….. (pause) .. but the man did not jump, instead he said. “It is also written do not put the Lord your God to the test.” .. Aaron was now really disappointed and even got mad .. C’mon God he thought .. show him you can do it .. blow him away man…but the Son of God was silent.. Aaron was still fuming when he looked back out the hole in the man pocket and saw that they were no longer on the buildings steeple but were now on the very top of a huge mountain overlooking all the kingdoms of the world.

As he calmed down a little he heard the voice of the tempter one more. This time he said “ Look at all these kingdoms and their splendor. If you bow down and worship me, then I will give them all to you. .. The man responded quickly as if he did not even need to think about his reply and said “Away from me Satan for it is written worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” . An then all was silent for it seemed the tempter Satan had left. After a few minutes of silence Aaron felt the hand of the man reach into his pocket and grab him. The man took Aaron out of his pocket and set him top of the mountain where he stood. As he did angels appeared all around then. They fed the man and then took him away leaving Aaron alone again but this time not on the floor of the desert but at the top of the world. A Aaron looked over the earth that day from his new perch he wondered why God had not called for angels when the tempter was around and why he had not changed Aaron and friends into bread when he was hungry. Why did he hold back on the miracles and wait until the tempter was gone.

Aaron thought about the mans words he had said to the tempter and after careful thought came to this conclusion. God does not do miracles just because someone wants him to prove he is there in some test. We are not supposed to test God. And God does not do miracles when he has already provided a way for people to have what they need for the situation they want a miracle for. That day, Aaron began to realize that he was too interested in miracles and he needed to listen to more than just miracles. He began to listen to the stories shared by his relatives about people and what they had learned about God and life in other ways full well knowing that God was behind it all not just the amazing stories of miracles. That day Aaron gained the view from a mountain top in more ways than one.

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Kids, are you like Aaron? Do you hear the stories of miracles at church but don’t see God in everyday life. Much of what we need to believe Jesus is actually God is provided through God’s words as recorded in the Bible. The Bible also teaches us how to live so we are less in need of miracles. I encourage you to read Gods word and find the miracle of God talking quietly to you through it and to recognize each day that what you are given is truly given by God not though miracle but through the system of life he created and those he cares for you through like your parents.