Better Than Toys

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, September 4.

By Andrew McChesney

S

everal friends gathered around Mariah at school on Monday.

“What are you doing after school?” one asked.

“Can we come over to your house to play?” said another.

Mariah shook her head. “Not today,” she said. “I have so much to do today.”

Nine-year-old Mariah was a busy girl in Pond Inlet, a small town located on an isolated island in the Canadian Arctic. She was in the fourth grade, and every weekday she went to school. Afterward she did her homework and helped her parents around the house. On Sabbath, she and her family worshiped at home by reading the Bible and watching online sermons.

But Mariah’s friends really wanted to play with her. On Tuesday, the children gathered around her again.

“What are you doing after school?” one asked.

“Can we come over to your house to play?” said another.

Mariah shook her head. “Not today,” she said. “I have so much to do today.”

The same thing happened on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. “But when can we come over to your house to play?” a friend asked.

“How about on Saturday?” said another. “You must have time to play on Saturday.”

Mariah’s eyes lit up. She did have free time Saturday. “You can come over to my house and join our Bible study,” she said.

Her friends looked confused. They had not read the Bible. But they wanted to spend time with Mariah, so they agreed to come over on Saturday.

On Sabbath, a few friends showed up at Mariah’s house to join her and her parents in reading the Bible. The young visitors looked confused when they heard Mariah read. They had not heard about God.

After reading, Father turned on the computer, and the small group watched an online sermon by a Seventh-day Adventist preacher. Again, the small visitors looked confused. They had not heard a sermon, and they did not understand some of the things that the preacher said. Afterward, they asked Mariah to explain.

“What did he mean when he said that?” one asked.

“Or what about when he spoke about that?” said another.

Mariah tried to explain the sermon in really simple words. When she finished, her friends seemed to understand.

“Thank you for inviting us to your house,” one said as she left.

“Yes, thank you so much!” said another.

At school on Monday, several children asked Mariah’s friends what they had done at Mariah’s house on Saturday.

“We read about God in the Bible,” answered one.

“And we watched an interesting sermon,” said another.

The classmates also had not read the Bible or watched a sermon, and they wanted to know more.

“What did you read?” asked one.

“What was so interesting about the sermon?” said another.

Mariah’s friends did their best to repeat what they had learned about God.

Mariah smiled as she listened. She felt good. This was better than playing with toys. She would welcome her classmates into her home every Sabbath.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a church and community services center to share God in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where Mariah lives. Thank you for planning a generous offering.