Horton, the Faithful

Have you read the story "Horton Hatches the Egg" by Dr. Seuss?   There's an elephant named Horton...and a lazy bird named Mayzie.

Mayzie was sitting on her egg and she basically got fed up.  She said, "I'd take a vacation, fly off for a rest if I could find someone to stay on my nest."

Then, Horton walked by and Mayzie asked Horton to stand in for her...saying, she wouldn't be gone long.  So, Horton agreed...and Mayzie flew off for a beach trip to Florida.

Well..........Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.  Mayzie is kickin' back on a "va-cay", while Horton is still sitting on the egg.  Winter comes.  Snow and icicles form on Horton's ears.  But, good ol' Horton stuck to his job of egg sitting.

He said, "I'll stay on this egg and I won't let it freeze.  I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephant is faithful 100%!"

In the Bible, Galations 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is:  love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

So, faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit!  In our story, Horton was certainly faithful, wasn't he?  He stuck to his word.  He said it.  He meant it.  He did what he said and kept his promise.

That's whta God wants in our lives too.  When we tell a freind or our parents something, then we should be faithful to do it.  More importantly, when we tell God that we'll do something (like read our Bible or memorize verses), the nwe need to remember Horton the elephant and do what we said. 

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant because we should be faithful 100%!"

(At the end of the children's sermon...I passed out Rice Krispie treats reminding the kids to "stick with their promises"...nothing is sticker than a good Rice Krispie treat!)

Lord, thank you for the children.  Help us all to "mean what we say" and "say what we mean".  Help us to be faithful to Your mission and not to our own agendas.  In Jesus name, Amean.