The missing piece...

We had such an awesome Bible lesson today that I just had to share! I truly hope this will inspire someone; maybe help someone to "see" that the missing piece is Jesus....

Devotion - God-Shaped Hole
Mark your Bible with the Bible Memory Verse, and read before lesson: Psalm 16:11
Timmie and Kylee were two 4-year-olds who were friends. Timmie and Kylee were playing together one day. They decided to put together a new puzzle. The puzzle was pretty easy. They were having a lot of fun. But, then, Timmie had a hard time. He couldn't find the one big piece that went right in the middle of the puzzle. He tried many pieces, but none of them would fit into that spot. He tried to force a piece in by pressing it in really hard - but that didn't work- it wouldn't go in the hole because it was the wrong shape. Finally he got so flustered that he just stopped and watched Kylee for a while, hoping she would find the right piece. Soon Kylee had put the last piece in...all except that missing piece. Now what would they do? The puzzle looked funny with the big hole in the middle. It wasn't complete. So they got busy looking around the house for the missing piece. After a little while Timmie decided to go look in the original box. There it was! He ran back with a big smile on his face, and filled in the missing piece. Finally it was complete! They took it to mom. She was so proud of them. She put plastic over their puzzle, and hang it up to show their hard work. How happy they all were. I hoped you liked the story. But there's something we can learn from the story. It tells us something about the way God made us. You see, people are a lot like puzzles. We all have an empty place in our heart too. Sometimes people look for a bunch of different things to fill up the empty spot in their hearts to make them happy. They want their family to fill up their heart. So they spend lots of time together. And, that's great! We all need our families. And it is important that we spend time with them. But, they still can't fill up the empty hole in our hearts. Or - maybe they try to get a lot of friends to fill up the empty hole in their heart. So they find people that they have things in common with, and people they like to be around, and they make lots of friends. But, sooner or later....those friends disappoint them. The friends are not perfect. And, the friends cannot fill up the empty hole in their heart either. Sometimes people just try to buy all kinds of toys to fill up their heart. They think the more toys they have, the happier they will be. When all of the pieces fit together, they do start to feel happy - at least for a little while. But, then they realize these things really don't make them happy...not deep down inside. Something is still missing. They feel empty because there is still a big hole in their heart, and they haven't found the right piece that fits. And other people try to fill up their heart with doing all kinds of fun things. They live for good times. They go from one fun activity to another. But after a while, they just get tired. They find that these fun things don't make them happy for long either. Just like in Timmie's puzzle, when there was a big piece right in the middle that was missing, they feel empty inside. Do you know that there is someone who can fill that hole? There's only one person that can fill up the empty hole in our heart. God is the only one who can fill up the empty hole in our hearts. If God is missing in our lives, there's going to be a big, empty hole in our heart. You see, that is how God made us. He made us so that we would not be complete without him. We can try to look for happiness by getting a lot of toys. We can try to make ourselves happy by having a lot of friends. Or we can stick around our family and do lots of fun things with them to try to make us feel happy. Or we can go from one fun activity to another, filling up our day with fun. And all of these things are good things. But, if God is not the most important one in your life, there is a big piece missing. If you don't have God in your heart, you will feel empty inside. You won't be complete without God. Some people waste a lot of time looking for other things to fill them up, when the only piece that will fit in the empty hole in their heart - is God. You see, the hole has the shape of God. Nothing else will fit. So, no matter how hard you try, nothing else will work to fill that empty hole. So, won't you ask God to come into your heart? Let him fill you up and make you complete. How do you do that? Well, the answer is found in the Bible: John 3:16 says: (Read verse) If you are really young, and don't understand everything about Jesus yet, just know that God loves you very much. If you keep seeking God, and praying to him, you will understand more as you grow up. If you have already heard about Jesus, you know that God loved you so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay for your sins. When you believe in him and ask him to forgive your sins, and turn from your sins, he will come and live in your heart. When you are ready to make him your leader, and make him the most important one in your life, you are accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. And, He will send his Spirit to come and live in your heart. He will lead you and guide you, and help you live right and please God! He will fill up the big empty hole in your heart and give you real peace and lasting joy. And on top of all that, he promises that you can live with him forever in heaven! That's right - he promises that you will never really die. If you want to make Jesus your leader, say the prayer in the right-hand column. If you don't understand everything yet, no worries...just say the simple prayer below on the left side. God will teach you more as you grow up.
Here's a simple prayer for all of you who don't understand everything yet. Dear God, Thank you for loving me. Help me learn how to follow Jesus. Please help me understand more about you as I grow up. Thank you for caring about me and helping me learn about you. In Jesus' name, Amen.					You can pray this prayer if you have decided to follow Jesus: Dear God, I believe that you sent your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay for my sins. I am sorry for all the wrong things I have done. Please forgive me for all the wrong things I have done. I am to turn from my sin, and ready to let you be my leader from now on. Please fill the empty hole in my heart with your Holy Spirit. Thank you for forgiving me and coming to live in my heart. Help me to obey you in everything. In Jesus' name, Amen! http://biblekidsfunzone.com/devotions/Godshapedhole.html