Walk Well the Winding Way: Ordinary Objects to Demonstrate Extraordinary Truth

By Rev. Jim Barnes

Here are fifty-two lessons for a full year of study and contemplation, each using an ordinary, everyday object to demonstrate God's truth about the world in which we live.

You may see things quite differently after reading these lessons about mousetraps, maple syrup, credit cards and perfume. A bowl of fruit might never look the same to you, and pears might never taste the same again.

Taught in a simple conversational style, each lesson is accompanied by relevant verses of Scripture, a beloved hymn and a brief prayer, presenting a well-rounded, full lesson to help each reader live triumphantly in this often dark and difficult world.

Whether used for personal devotions or as a vehicle for a weekly discussion group, Walk Well the Winding Way will at times pique your curiosity or give you a chuckle, but in every case, it will draw you nearer to God as you journey with Him along life's road.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781641143967

Book preview

Foreword

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it, for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. (Psalm 24:1)

This is a premise often overlooked today in a society far more concerned with the secular than the sacred. We know that God resides in the churches; we aren’t as certain that we can find him in the office, on the football field, or, too often, even in our homes. But the Psalmist states his case clearly: The world is the Lord’s and EVERYTHING in it.

That being so, we can find the Lord in the context of everyday, ordinary objects, things that we touch and handle, think about, see and read, for they too belong to the Lord, and as such, provide rich teaching for our daily lives.

It is with this simple understanding that this book is undertaken: to demonstrate the presence of God in all things, for the blessing of all who are willing to seek, for surely in the seeking, there will also be finding.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the members and friends, both past and present, of First Baptist Church, Brentwood, New Hampshire.

You captured my heart in 1987; you continue to hold my heart today. Thank you for your loving care and ongoing support.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

How to Use This book

Fifty-two lessons provide a lesson each week for a year.

These lessons can be used in worship, as object lessons for adults or, in some cases, as sermon illustrations.

The lessons can also be used as personal devotions. The scriptures referenced can be the basis for Bible study, in a discussion group, or as memory verses to be learned. Perhaps encouragement and comfort will be blessings gained through the hymns and prayers.

Hopefully, the objects themselves will be reminders of the lessons and, as such, will be ongoing reminders of humanity’s struggle and God’s grace and faithfulness.

Pastor or layperson, however you choose to use these lessons, my prayer is that God will reach you and teach you, guiding you to walk more closely with Him.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the following congregations for their patience in allowing me to test the truth of these lessons upon them during worship:

Chocorua Community Church, Chocorua, New Hampshire

The Baptist Church of Franklin, Franklin, New Hampshire

First Baptist Church, Brentwood, New Hampshire

Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, New Hampshire

I also owe a debt of gratitude to the following individuals who offered the blessings of support and encouragement during the compilation of these lessons:

Rev. Gary Andy

Cheryl Barnes

Peter Johnston

Tammy Johnston

Becky Riley

Rev. Jim Smith

Week 1

The Old and the New

Theme: Exciting new things can emerge from old, useless things

Object: A can of Play-Doh

Scriptural Truth: 2 Corinthians 5:17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!

Life Lesson:

In the 1930s, a Cincinnati-based soap company called Kutol Products expanded its product line to include wallpaper cleaner. Their doughy detergent was a great way to remove soot from wallpaper; you simply formed some of the Kutol into a ball and then rolled it over the surface of the wallpaper to remove the soot caused by coal-burning stoves. People everywhere used it; it worked, was inexpensive, and easy to apply.

After World War II, however, far fewer people used coal stoves for heat, and more people were installing easy-to-wash vinyl wallpaper, so the need for Kutol dropped dramatically.

In 1949, the company’s owner was killed in a plane crash. His widow inherited the business and hired her twenty-five-year-old son, Joe McVicker, to run the firm. Not long afterward, McVicker was diagnosed with leukemia. He was dying, and the company had a huge inventory of wallpaper cleaner that hardly anyone needed. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy.

In December, 1954, McVicker got a phone call from Kay Zufall, his sister-in-law, who ran a nursery school in New Jersey. She told him that the clay that her students were using to sculpt Christmas tree ornaments was too thick and hard for their little hands to handle. She had gone to a hardware store and purchased a tub of Kutol Wallpaper Cleaner. She found that it was softer than clay, non-toxic, and it didn’t stain. It worked great. On a whim, McVicker sent a few tubs to the Cincinnati School District, and it was a hit.

After receiving some experimental radiation treatment, McVicker’s leukemia went into remission. With a renewed sense of purpose, he began to tinker with his wallpaper cleaner, having the detergent removed, adding coloring and an almond scent. He decided to market the new product as Kutol’s Rainbow Modeling Compound.

Don’t call it that, his sister-in-law told him. It’s dough and you play with it. Why not call it Play-Doh?

Since 1955, over two billion cans of Play-Doh have been sold.

Joe McVicker took an old, established product, made obsolete for its original purpose, and redeveloped it into a completely new entity with an even better use. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come. That is essentially what can happen in our own lives when we take stock of where we are and realize that what we are doing in life is wasteful, useless, or hopeless.

It is when we know that we need to change that we can be changed.

There is hope. Hope that we can start fresh and new, with renewed energy and purpose, like wallpaper cleaner turned into a toy. That is the new life that we are promised when we commit ourselves to Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into our lives and make us brand-new, a new creation.

Companion Verse: Titus 3:15 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.

Hymn of Inspiration: Take My Life and Let It Be (v. 6)

Take my will and make it Thine

It shall be no longer mine;

Take my heart

It is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Frances Ridley Havergal

Prayer for Change: I thank you, Lord, that you are a God powerful and loving enough to bring change to my life. Help me today to change, in order to love you more and serve you better. Amen.

Reflection:

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Week 2

Sweet-Smelling You

Theme: We are to be a fragrance for God

Object: A bottle of perfume or aftershave

Scriptural Truth: 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

Life Lesson:

The cosmetic and toiletries industry spends millions of dollars advertising its products and makes billions of dollars per year in an effort to keep us smelling sweet.

Think about it: deodorant soap or body wash along with perfumed shampoo in the shower, followed by a healthy dose of deodorant or body powder to keep those underarms dry and odor free. Next, for a man, a healthy splash of aftershave, while a lady might spritz on a bit of perfume or cologne. And don’t forget the hairspray!

Hopefully, that will do the trick, so out the door you go, to face the world and not stink it up. Our society demands this business of marinating ourselves in one sweet-smelling fragrance after another. It won’t do to have BO!

The Apostle Paul reminds us that we, by our attitudes, are to be a sweet fragrance for God: For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. Paul wasn’t so much speaking of our physical beings, of whether we showered or bathed before coming out to church this morning, but of our attitudes toward Him and toward one another.

Just as our body odor might be off-putting to those sitting around us at the ballgame, so too our anger, attitude, or lack of belief might keep others away from us at the school concert.

How we present ourselves to those nearby goes a long way toward determining the people who want to spend time with us. No one really wants to be around someone who is forever complaining, whether about a spouse, children, or the pastor.

As we interact with one another, let us put forth the fragrance of God rather than some worldly stench, so as to win others to Christ by that same fragrance, for that is the fragrance of Christ who loves you.

Companion Verse: Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Hymn of Inspiration: Cleanse Me (v. 2)

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;

Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within.

Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;

Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

J. Edwin Orr

Prayer of Hope: Cleanse my mind and heart, O God. Make me a sweet smelling fragrance of your love. Amen.

Reflection:

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Week 3

Trust in Him

Theme: In God We Trust

Object: A U.S. coin

Scriptural Truth: Psalm 56:4b In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?

Life Lesson:

1862 was a desperate time for our nation. The Civil War had begun a year earlier, and Confederate forces were