VBS and Being "Elisha"

This coming week our church is having vacation Bible school. It will be an evening affair, running four days, Sunday through Wednesday. In the past we've had a significant number of kids from outside the immediate church family attend VBS; a good number who do not regularly attend any church.

At the urging of my wife, I signed up to help. I get to be Elisha. I'll put on the robe and beard and tell the Bible story. The costume will not be historically precise, but the effect will be there, and we'll have fun with the kids and with God's help, perhaps sow some seed that will later bear fruit in their lives.

I remember going to VBS as a child. There were the stories, the songs, the crafts, and the treats. I am not able to measure how VBS impacted me personally and spiritually. Perhaps the biggest impact was the reinforcement of the things we learned at church about the stories of the Bible. How many relatively little things like that added up over the years until that time when at the University, I found myself believing.

Now I realize how much time and effort went into those VBS sessions I attended as a child; how much those adult teachers and helpers gave of themselves on our behalf. More then a few of those teachers and helpers have since departed this world, and gone on to their reward.

Only eternity will tell what the real impact of next week's VBS will be. I pray it will be far beyond anything we can hope or imagine. For after having done all we can do in that time, the ultimate results are in His hands. Glorify Thy Name Oh LORD!

~ The Billy Goat ~