Long ago a girl named Lucy lived by a coast where her father was the captain of the life boat crew.  It was a wild coast and was always windy and often storms would come sweeping in from the sea.  Lucy loved to watch the sea birds that nested on the cliffs and tried to chase away the foxes that raided the nests and ate the eggs and chicks.

She was not very successful and the sly foxes would run away and hide when they heard her coming and shouting at them.  Lucy would sit on the veranda for hours and wish she had longer legs so that she could run faster and catch those pesky foxes!

The day came when it was her birthday and she climbed out of bed and ran into the kitchen, and there in the middle of the table was a big brown box.  It was heavy and in it was her present!  She opened the box and there was a pair of the most splendid binoculars that you have ever seen!  Lucy was thrilled and ran to the bedroom to hug her Dad!  "Oh, thanks Dad!" she cried and rushed out to try them.

But when she tried them out, they made everything small.  "They're no good!" she shouted, not realizing that she had used them the wrong way round.  "Try them the other way," called Dad.  "Silly me," she said as she peered through the lenses the right way.  But now everything was blurred!

"They're useless!" Lucy shouted and her long suffering father had to climb out of his warm bed and brave the cold wind.  Dad said, "You must focus them if you want to use Binoculars."  He showed Lucy how to turn the focus wheel and suddenly the blur was gone and all was perfectly clear.  "I can see birds," she said excitedly, "And they are sitting on their nests as if they were right at my feet!"

Her father hugged her and said, "A Bring 'Em Near is like the Bible.   When you read the Bible and do what it says, it makes God real and brings you closer to Him.  Since you have asked Jesus into your heart, God now wants you to learn to know Him, and trust Him to help you live a good life.  The Apostle Paul tells us this when he said: "For I know Whom I have believed."

Lucy squealed with joy and shouted "It's the best present of my whole life.  I love you Dad, and I will remember what you said every time I use them!"  And so Lucy spent many happy hours watching birds and chasing away those hungry foxes.

One day she sat on the cliff-top watching birds flying in from the sea as a bad storm approached.  She suddenly saw a distress rocket burst in a shower of red stars.  Luxy peered through her binoculars and there was a ship and it was sinking!  She ran to their house and shouted to her father: "There's a ship and it's sinking - you must launch the lifeboat!"

Her father rang the bell and the life-boat crew came running from their cottages.  They launched the life-boat down the runway and rowed out to sea.  Lucy prayed hard as the little lifeboat was battered by huge waves but at last they reached the sinking ship.  She watched through her binoculars and held her breath as her father's sailors helped passengers and crew over the side and into the life-boat.  They were just in time!

She gasped as the ship slowly sank and disappeared beneath the waves.   Lucy felt sad but whispered, "Thank you Jesus!" when her father waved to to show her that they were all safe and sound.  She cheered as the life-boat eventually reached the jetty and the passengers thankfully made their way ashore.

Later they sat close to the fire to warm themselves.  "You see," said her Dad, "I told you those Bring 'Em Nears are just like the Bible.   "How so?" she asked.  Dad replied, "When we focus on the Bible and do what it says we are drawn closer to God.  It is like what Paul said in that verse we read last night: 'For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day' (2 Timothy 1:12b)."

Her Dad went on, "You prayed that God would keep us safe when we rescued the passengers and God heard your prayer and brought us all safely back."  She nodded her head and thought for a minute.  "I understand," said Lucy, "Focussing on God helps me draw close to Him and keeps me safe just like I focussed on the birds and chased away those naughty foxes!"

Sometime later, Lucy received a special award from the owners of the ship in recognition of her sharp eyes in seeing the sinking ship and calling out the lifeboat.  She came home and proudly place her award with her precious binoculars.

That night she thanked God for His goodness and asked Jesus to always help her focus on the Bible so that she could learn all about God and please him all her life.  And she did!

And every boy and girl needs to focus on God so that they can draw close to Him and trust Him to keep them safe.  And then you can thank God for His goodness, and ask Jesus to help you focus on the Bible so that you can learn all about God and please him all you do.

I hope you will!

God bless.