Camp Joy

I had a great time spending a few evenings at Camp Joy this week.  I spoke to the kids three times.  The theme this year is “He Is The King Of The Jungle”  The first night we looked at the garden of Eden.  God is our king because he created all things including me.  Adam & Eve chose to be their own king however and plunged the world into sin.  God, in his great grace chose to cover their sin.  In Genesis 3 God promises to send a redeemer.  We know that Jesus is the redeemer who offers us everything we do not deserve, namely salvation.  The second night we saw David trust God to be his king who was powerful enough to defeat the giant, Goliath.  When we trust God to be our King there is nothing to fear.  The final night we saw an 8 year old boy become king of Judah.  In spite of his father’s and grandfather’s extreme sin, Josiah chose to follow God.  While fixing up the temple, the priest found the book of the law.  It seems very odd that a priest could be serving in the temple without ever having read the law of God.  When they found the book of the Law, it was read to the nation and Josiah continued to reform the nation from idol worship to worship of the one living God.  Josiah was able to change the patterns of behavior but not the heart of the people.  After his death, Judah once again was lead astray by idolatry and soon found themselves overcome by the Babylonians. We must read, study and apply God’s word not is simply to modify our behavior.  If faith is simply about a list of things we don’t do, faith will quickly evaporate.   We read God’s word in order that we might know the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. 

Each night we considered the following question.  What would your answer be?  He is the King of the Jungle,  Is he the King Of me?