Follow The Leader
Speaker A: Don't go away, kids. It's story time.
Speaker B: Boys and girls for Jesus. This our earnest prayer.
Boys and girls for Jesus Home at school and playing everywhere we'll tell the world of life in Jesus. He is a life song.
There is a unity Jesus, won't you come alone?
Speaker C: Hi there. Come on in. I'm Uncle Charlie and this is Children's Bible Hours. Story time. Hey, have you ever played the little game Follow the Leader? You know, where you do whatever somebody in front of you is doing? Well, that's what our story is all about today. It's written by Barbara Westberg and is entitled Follow the Leader.
Every kid likes to play Follow the Leader, especially if he's the leader.
Real life life is a bit like this game. Everyone is both a follower and a leader. You follow someone and someone follows you. Now, usually it's fun to be a leader. Makes you feel big and important. However, there are a few exceptions.
Kenny Carson can tell you about times when it's a downright nuisance to have a follower. Just listen to him.
Speaker D: I won't be gone long, Karen. I'm just gonna take these cinnamon rolls to Gramp well's.
Speaker E: Me too.
Speaker D: No, you stay home this time.
Speaker E: But I want to go too. Mother said I could go if you would let me. Please, Kenny. I want to go.
Speaker D: No, not this time. I'm gonna hurry.
Speaker A: Please, Kenny.
Speaker D: No. Now get back in the yard. You don't have to go everywhere I go.
Speaker E: But I want to go. You're mean. I want to go too. I'm going to tell Mother.
Speaker D: Brother. I guess I should say sister. She thinks she has to go everywhere I go.
Speaker F: Well, Kenny, come on in. It's nice to see you.
Speaker D: Mother sent these cinnamon rolls to you, Grant.
Speaker F: Well, how nice of her. She knows I love her. Rol.
No one can make them quite like your mother.
Speaker D: That's what my dad says.
Speaker F: Come on out in the kitchen, Kenny. Let's have one while they're hot.
There we go.
What have you been doing lately, son?
Speaker D: Mostly I've been chumming around with Butch. His folks just moved into a house just down our street.
Speaker F: Oh, yes. I met Mr. Nelson, Butch's dad, the other day at the hardware store. Here. Here's your roll. I believe Butch was with him. He's a bit older than you, isn't he, Kenny?
Speaker D: Yes, sir. He's 15.
Boy, has he ever been around. His dad was in the army until last spring. He's lived in Spain, Idaho, Washington, D.C. hawaii and I can't remember all the other places.
Speaker F: Oh, that Sounds exciting. However, I imagine he's glad to settle down and make friends.
Speaker D: I guess so. Only Butch says this is a rinky dink town. He says he misses all the excitement of the big cities. He claims there's nothing to do around here.
Speaker F: Well, now, I never noticed you having any trouble finding something to do, Kenny.
Speaker D: Oh, I managed to keep busy, but it really isn't very exciting. Butch says.
Speaker F: Oh, more company. Say, that's nice.
Well, hello, Karen. Come on in. Kenny is here, too.
Speaker E: I know he is.
Speaker D: Oh, Karen, Mother's gonna be mad at you.
Speaker E: She is not. She said I could come with you, so I did. I followed you way behind so you couldn't see me.
Speaker D: She thinks she has to go everywhere I go and do everything I do. Gramps, she sure is a nuisance.
Speaker F: Well, I reckon that that's the highest compliment she could pay you, Kenny.
Speaker D: Compliment? Funny compliment.
Speaker F: Oh, she looks up to you, Kenny. You are her example.
Speaker D: She looks up to me, all right. I can't get out of her sight. She follows me like a shadow. Every time I sigh, she sighs and says, me too.
Speaker F: Well, then you better be careful how you sigh.
Speaker D: Oh, I'm careful enough.
Speaker E: Me too.
Speaker F: You're a cute little tight, Karen. And how old are you now?
Speaker E: I'm five.
Speaker F: Five years old. You'll soon be making more friends and won't be following Kenny so much.
Speaker D: I sure hope so.
Speaker E: Me, too.
Speaker D: Oh, come on, little. Me too. We've got to go home. After dinner. I'm going to go over to Butch's and you're not going, understand that right now.
Speaker E: But, Kenny, I want to go, too.
Speaker D: No. Goodbye, Gramps.
Speaker F: Goodbye, children. Thank you for bringing the roads over, Kenny.
Speaker E: Me too.
Speaker F: Oh, yes, thank you too, Karen. And especially thank your mother.
Speaker E: Goodbye, Gramp.
Speaker F: Goodbye.
Speaker G: Sure wish there was something to do around this rinky dink place.
Speaker D: Well, Butch, we could go over and watch them tear down the old wing of the hospital. They're using a crane with a big steel ball on it to knock the bricks loose.
Speaker G: Yeah, I know how they do it. I helped tear down a building in D.C. really?
Speaker D: You helped?
Speaker G: Sure, I helped. My uncle was a foreman on the job. He let me sit up in the cab of the crane with him.
Speaker D: Man, that's really neat. I don't suppose we could do that here.
Speaker G: Nah, you've got to have inside connections to do that.
Speaker D: Let's go over and watch anyway.
Speaker G: Guess we might as well. Nothing else to do.
Speaker A: Kenny.
Speaker E: Kenny, wait for me. I've got a rock in my shoe.
Speaker D: Oh, no.
Speaker G: Oh, yeah. It's that little sister of yours? Does she go everywhere you go?
Speaker D: Just about. I told her to stay home this time.
Speaker G: We could run off and leave her.
Speaker D: I suppose so, but I'm afraid she'd get lost. We're several blocks from home. I guess we'll just have to let her tag along.
Speaker G: Boy, I'm glad I don't have any brothers or sisters to bug me.
Speaker E: Tie my shoe. Kenny.
Speaker D: I told you to stay home. Does Mother know you're here?
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker E: She sent me over to Butch's house to tell you to come home in an hour.
Speaker D: Well, you've told me. Now you can go home.
Speaker E: But I don't know the way, Kenny.
Speaker D: Oh, great. Just great.
Speaker G: Well, let's get going.
Speaker E: You didn't tie my shoe, Kenny.
Speaker D: Tie it yourself, you big baby.
Speaker E: Wait for me, Kenny.
Speaker D: You keep up with me. I'm tired of waiting.
Look at the bricks flying. Guess this fence is as close as we can go.
Speaker G: When my uncle turned on that building in D.C. he found all kinds of things.
Speaker D: Valuable things.
Speaker G: Some of them were. I sure would like to get inside and look around.
Speaker D: It would be fun. But I guess we can.
Speaker G: I don't know why not. There's so much going on inside, we'd never be noticed.
Speaker D: But that sign says stay out. Danger, Hard hat. Area workers only.
Speaker G: I know what it says. I can read. See that open gate over there? All we have to do is walk through it. If we act like we know what we're doing, no one will even question us. It's just a matter of acting like we have business inside.
Speaker D: Well, I don't know.
Speaker G: Well, then you just stay here with your little sister. I'm going to look around inside.
Speaker D: Then I am, too.
Speaker E: Me, too.
Speaker D: No, you can't go. Karen. You just sit right here on the grass until I get back. I'll give you a quarter if you stay right here.
Speaker E: Let me see it.
Speaker D: See, here it is. Now, stay right here. I'll give it to you when I get back.
Speaker E: Well, okay.
Speaker G: Come on, Karen. Let's go.
Speaker C: Karen sat patiently until the music of an ice cream wagon made her wish she had money so she could buy some ice cream. Hey, maybe Kenny would give her some. Quickly, she slipped through the open gate, calling for him.
Speaker A: Kenny. Kenny.
Speaker F: Little girl.
Speaker H: Hey, little girl, you aren't supposed to be in here. Quick, get out of here before you get hurt.
Speaker E: But I want my brother. He has my quarter.
Where is my brother, mister.
Speaker H: Your brother? Quick, you've got to get out of here. Here, I'll carry you.
Speaker C: Phew.
Speaker H: That was Close. That brick would have hit you if I hadn't picked you up. It would have killed you. You have no business in here, little girl.
Speaker E: But Kenny is in here. Butch, too.
Speaker H: Then I'll have to find them. You stay right here outside the fence, and don't you move until I get back.
Speaker E: Yes, but where is the ice cream man?
Speaker H: He's gone. Now, you sit still and I mean it.
Speaker E: Yes, sir.
Speaker D: So that's the story, Gramps. Now I'm grounded for a month.
Speaker F: You followed Butch and Karen followed you. That's the sum of it, eh?
Speaker D: Yes, sir.
Speaker F: Well, you're lucky the man who brought you home didn't call the police. You were trespassing, you know. And you should be thankful God was with you, even though you were doing wrong.
Your dad said Karen came within inches of being killed. You boys probably did, too.
Speaker D: I told Karen to stay outside the fence.
Speaker E: But you didn't.
Speaker D: No, I didn't.
Speaker F: Kenny, when you follow someone, it's important who you choose to follow. Not only for your sake, but because of those who are following you.
You know, we're each one following someone, and we have someone following us. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth the 11th chapter of First Corinthians, verse, I believe, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Speaker D: Paul was following Christ and the people were following him, huh?
Speaker F: Fr. Yes. Yes, that's right. Paul was a follower of Christ and a leader of the people.
Speaker D: I was a follower of Butch and a leader of Karen.
Speaker F: But you didn't pick a very good leader, did you, Kenny?
Speaker D: No, I'm afraid not. You know, Gramps, from now on, I think I'll follow Jesus.
Speaker F: That's a very good idea, son.
It sure will save you lots of trouble.
Speaker E: Me, too?
Speaker F: Yes, ma'am, you too.
Speaker B: Following Jesus severed day by day Nothing can harm me when he leads away Sunshine or shadow water Before Jesus the shepherd is my all in all I have a shepherd One I love so well how he has blessed me Tongue can never tell on the cross he suffered shed his blood and I that I might never in his love confide Following Jesus ever day by day Nothing can harm me when he leads away Sunshine or shadow water Before Jesus the shepherd is my all in all.
Speaker I: Are you a good leader and a good follower? Perhaps you're saying, hey, Uncle Charlie, I'm just a kid. I'm not a leader. Well, do you have younger brothers and sisters? Then you are a leader. They're watching you and will often follow your example. And of course, all of us are followers. The Apostle Paul said that he was a follower of Jesus Christ and of course that made it possible for him to be a good leader as well. One way to follow Christ is to read the Word of God faithfully. And to help you do just that, we publish a daily devotional called Keys for Kids. I'd love to put you on the mailing list to get it regularly. It's free for those living in the US and Canada, $2 per book for those overseas to help with postage expenses, a scripture to read for each day, an interesting story, often exciting one, and much more. Ask for Keys for Kids and send that request to Storytime, PO Box 1001, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49508. That's Story Time, PO Box 1001,' Grand Rapids, Michigan. The zip is 49508. Storytime is a listener supported production of CBH Ministries because God loves Kids. Goodbye now. Thanks so much for listening.