The Wrong Bulbs

Bible Reading: Ephesians 2:1-5; 1 John 5:11-13

Ariana pointed to a picture of flowers in the seed catalog. “Mommy, can we get seeds for these?” the little girl asked.

Her mom looked at the picture. “Those are tulips, and they grow from bulbs, not seeds. But yes, we can plant some tulip bulbs.”

“Yay!” Ariana smiled and clapped her little hands.

A few days later, Ariana showed her mother a spot near the back fence. “I planted bulbs here,” she said. “Mr. Jenkins next door was throwing them away.”

“Really?” asked Mom. “Are they tulip bulbs?” Ariana just shrugged in response.

Every day, Ariana checked to see if the flowers were coming up. When the dirt became dry, she carefully watered it. After a couple of weeks, Ariana stood looking at the bare spot on the ground. “Nothing’s growing,” she said sadly.

“Maybe they’re planted too deep. Let’s see if they’ve started sprouting at all.” Mom took a trowel and dug into the dirt. To her amazement, she uncovered two Christmas tree light bulbs. “Are these the bulbs you planted?” Mom asked. Ariana nodded. “Oh, honey!” Mom gave her a hug. “These are light bulbs, not flower bulbs. There’s no life in them, so they will never sprout. I’ll tell you what—we’ll go buy some flower bulbs, and you can try again.”

That evening, Ariana proudly showed her dad where she planted the new bulbs. “The lady at the store said these will really grow, Daddy.”

Dad smiled. “Where there’s life, there’s growth.” Ariana nodded and ran off to play.

“Hey! Our teacher at church said the same thing you just did,” said Emilio, Ariana’s brother, who had joined them. “He said Christians are alive in Christ—alive spiritually—and that He makes us grow in our faith.”

“That’s right,” said Dad. “We can’t expect to grow when there’s no life there. That’s why we need Jesus. Without Him, we are dead in sin—as dead as those light bulbs Ariana planted. They could do nothing to make themselves grow, and we can’t give ourselves spiritual life, no matter how hard we work trying to do good things. Only Jesus can give us life.”

Emilio nodded. “And He helps us bloom and grow!”

-Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Which kind of bulb are you like—a dead light bulb or a live flower bulb? You may do your best to be good, but the Bible says that without Jesus you are spiritually dead, no matter how many good deeds you do. You receive His life when you trust Him as your Savior. Will you do that today? (See “Have You Heard the Good News?” on page 102.) Then you’ll be made alive, and like a flower bulb, you can grow.

Today’s Key Verse:
Ephesians 2:5 Even though we were dead because of our sins, [God] gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (NLT)

Today’s Key Thought:

Jesus gives life