Bible Sticks

Two of my favorite verses are found in Colossians chapter three. The first is verse 17: "And whatever you do". I love the way it starts out. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." In other words, whatever you do, do something that will bring glory and honor to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The second verse, found in verse 23, starts out the same way! "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." In other words, whatever you do, do your very best because you are doing this for the Lord, and the Lord deserves nothing but the very best! So whenever I do anything, I do it to bring glory and honor to God, and I do my very best for Him. I have discovered that when I do this, He will take it beyond anything I can ever imagine. I would like to share with you one way He has done this in my life.

I am always trying creative ways of teaching the young people at our church. They might remember it a little longer, if I could carve something in a stick. My cousin Mary had her wedding at the Kenwood Christian Church (Disciples) earlier that year. I remembered banners hanging around the sanctuary. Each banner had the name of one of the twelve apostles, plus a symbol representing that apostle. That memory inspired me to carve a stick using the same idea.

I bought a 3' x 1 1/4" dowel rod. After I measured it, making sure I had enough room for all twelve apostles, I started carving. The title was first. I started with a ball at the top with a strap coming down from it. A wood-burning tool was used to make the strap look leathery, and then I carved in the title The 12 Apostles.

For another idea, I saw in a publication an illustration of the Ten Commandments. I decided that would be a good stick to carve, with a picture for each commandment. When the commandments were first given to Moses, they were not written on paper but carved in stone. To help remember that, I found a spray paint that looks like blue stone granite. The top of the stick looks like a stone pillar with ivy growing. The title is carved into the pillar. I then used Roman numerals to separate the commandments, each one painted like stone. Most of the commandments were rather simple ideas. I shortened the wording to make sure they would fit. The First (I) Commandment: Have no other gods. The picture is of a little boy bowing down before the cross. The Second (II) Commandment: Have no Idols. I tried to use the same little boy in each illustration. He is bowing down to an idol, illustrated by the many idols that you find in America today: a ball bat and football (sports), a diamond ring (wealth), a home (possessions).