Category: Short Stories

Short Christian Stories

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Short Story: The Boy with the Harmonica

Harmonica

Jaden couldn’t believe the amazing gift his father had given him: his very own harmonica! He quickly mastered the implement and loved playing it.

He began playing it all day. He played it early in the morning before anyone else woke up.

“Stop it!” His brother groaned, rolling over in bed, but Jaden didn’t care. He kept playing.

He played it next to his other brother while he was studying. “Stop it!” His brother pleaded, but Jaden just kept playing. It was kind of fun to annoy him.

He played it instead of doing his own studying and chores, not caring if he got anything else done. Playing the harmonica was all that mattered.

He played it during lunch, making it impossible for anyone to talk at the table. He kept playing, hoping someone would notice how great of a player he’d become.

Jaden finally stopped when he heard his father’s voice summoning him.

“Jaden,” his father said quietly, “why do you think I gave you the harmonica?”

Jaden thought for a minute. “Because you knew I’d like it?”

His father smiled. “Why else do you think?”

Jaden wasn’t quite sure. He looked at his father questioningly.

“I gave it to you to bless others with music. Music can make people smile. It can help pass weary hours. But do you think you’ve used it as a blessing today?”

Jaden thought of his brothers’ reactions. They hadn’t seemed blessed. “No-oo,” he admitted.

His father nodded. “Remember, son, your gift is to bless others, not to serve yourself, annoy your brothers, or get attention. Okay?”

Jaden nodded. He needed to remember the purpose of his gift.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)

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Short Story: Truly Free?

eagle

“I wonder, is it possible live in a free country and yet not really be free?”

John nodded. “Sure. Some of our fellow college students are enslaved to tons of debt. But not me. I’ve been working like crazy to stay financially free. Two side jobs and all these scholarships. No wonder I’m so tired.”

“So you’d say you’re completely free then?” John’s friend and co-student probed.

“Of course I am. What kind of question is that?”

His friend, Jason, smiled. “I’m not so sure, John.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, if you’re completely free, prove it.”

John squirmed. “How?”

“Be perfectly good for one day. That means you do and think and say everything you should, and nothing you shouldn’t. Deal?”

John thought about the challenge. He considered himself a good person, but he wasn’t sure he could meet that mark. Maybe if he tried…

“All right, I’ll try. You’ll owe me an apology tomorrow when I pass your little test.”

With that, John turned and headed towards his house. He no sooner entered than he discovered some of his favorite collector items were missing from his room. “Braden!” he screamed, anger filling his whole body. Before he knew it, he’d given his brother a piece of his mind. In the middle of his outburst, he remembered Jason’s challenge. Was he really acting the way he should right then?

Just then, his mom told him to take out the trash. “Why is that always my job?” he muttered to himself. Oh dear. Was grumbling really right?

His evening continued in this manner. John was shocked to discover how often he fell into thinking, saying, and doing things he shouldn’t, even though he was trying so hard.

The next day, he sought out his friend Jason on campus after his first class of the day. “We’ve got to talk.”

Jason smiled as he listened to his friend’s struggles. “You aren’t surprised, are you?” John asked.

Jason shook his head. “Not at all. I just thought maybe you needed to see that slavery can be inside as well as outside. But now that you see it, there’s hope. That is, if you’re willing to face it and receive the freedom offered.”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” John 8:34 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 (ESV)

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 1 Peter 2:16 (ESV)

—

As we get ready to celebrate the incredible freedom we enjoy in our country, it’s a great time to talk with others about the even greater spiritual and eternal freedom offered through Jesus Christ. Jesus died to pay the price for our freedom from sin’s consequences, His power is present in the believer’s life to help us live free from its grip today, and one day He will rescue those who trust Him completely from sin’s influence to live forever in a perfect world in Heaven. This gospel tract is an easy one to give out that has the freedom theme. If you have more questions about how to be made free from sin and its consequences, please write me and check out this free study of the Gospel of John.

 

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Short Story: A Blessing on Every Wave

shells

Hannah sat thoughtfully on the shoreline, just close enough to the ocean for the waves to reach her feet, keeping her cool on the hot summer day. As one wave splashed around her, she noticed a beautiful shell left behind. Instinctively, she grabbed the shell and turned it over in her hands. It was beautiful–an amazing tiny gift that had she not noticed might have slipped back out to sea or been trampled underfoot by one of the many people running in and out of the water.

On the next wave, Hannah noticed another shell–a different kind, but equally amazing. Soon, she had to take her hat off to hold all the shells she’d found. These tiny treasures arrived on every ocean wave, yet Hannah realized she’d never noticed or appreciated them before. Looking around her, it seemed no one else was noticing them either. Could these beautiful gifts have become so taken for granted no one even saw them anymore but rather trampled or ignored them?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

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Story: I’ve Told You What to Do

spilled milk

“I don’t know what to do!” Jenna cried for the 10th time in between her sobs. She sat surrounded in the kitchen by spilled milk. Such a mess! What, oh what, was she to do? If only she knew!

“Wipe it up with the rag right there,” her mother’s voice called out yet again.

“But then I don’t know what to do!” Jenna cried.

“I’ve told you what to do. Wipe it up with the rag.”

“But then I don’t know what to do!” Jenna sobbed yet again.

“I’ve already told you what to do, Dear. You don’t need to know all the other details yet. I’ll guide you step by step. But start with what I’ve already told you.”

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (ESV)

“…For this is the will of God, your sanctification:” 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV)

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Short Story: Deal with the Mess

“Just stuff it in the closet!” Johnny heard his mom call out. They were all frantically cleaning the house for company.

Johnny opened the closet door cautiously. It was stuffed to overflowing with other things they’d just “stuffed in the closet” before. He shook his head. What a mess!

He knew it wasn’t just the closet either. The basement, garage, and other closed-off places all needed hazmat suits to enter. They were running out of space to stuff; what would they do then?

“What are you doing?” Johnny asked his mom. The hallway was filled with stuff—stuff he hadn’t seen in what felt like forever. Where had it all come from?

“We are cleaning out the closet…and the then the basement and garage,” his mother replied, wiping sweat off her forehead.

“Ummm, Mom, it looks worse now. We can’t even walk through the hallway.”

Mom sighed. “I know. Facing the mess is no fun, and it does look worse. But it’s the only way to get it all better. We need to deal with the junk, not just hide it. And then once we do,” she added with determination, “we’re going to keep dealing with it instead of trying to hide it.”

Mom’s organizing project seemed to take forever. The whole house, not just hideaways, felt overrun for a time. But then, order—true order—arrived. Johnny could find his toys again…and his roller blades. In the end, it had been worth it to not just hide everything away.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (ESV)

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Short Story: Purposefully Hard

Boy school

“Why does it have to be so hard?” Josiah moaned, burying his hand in his head. This particular assignment felt like it was just too much. How was he ever supposed to complete it? He wanted to just give up.

Josiah wished he could find a way to transport himself somewhere else. He wanted to escape this challenge. He saw his brothers outside playing, and wished he could join them. Why was he stuck with this task?

“Do you want to learn?” Josiah’s father’s compassionate voice interrupted his thoughts.

Josiah looked up. “Yes, I do,” he replied. “But why can’t we do the assignments we did last week? They were easy enough.”

“Because if you kept just doing them, you wouldn’t keep learning. I have to make it hard for you to learn.”

“This hard?” asked Josiah.

Josiah’s father looked at him lovingly. “Will you trust me to give you the assignments you need?”

Josiah sighed. He didn’t like this assignment at all, but he knew he could trust his father. It helped knowing that there was a purpose to the hard.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3 (ESV)
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Short Story: New Pathways

“Why are you heading down this path?”

It was a good question. To be honest, Will wasn’t quite sure. The path was well worn–one he’d traveled often whenever he wanted to head down to the river for a swim. But he’d never really stopped to think about why he’d chosen it.

“It’s just the path I take to the river,” he mumbled.

“That doesn’t make it the best path,” Joshua pointed out. “There’s all kinds of dangers on this path: snakes, poisonous plants–I could go on. There’s a much better way to get to the river.”

Joshua pointed as he spoke to a barely visible path in the distance.

“But that path is hardly a path!” Will objected.

“That’s just because you haven’t traveled it much,” Joshua replied. “Make yourself travel it every day instead of this one, and it will become a solid path over time too. Come on, Will. New pathways might be hard to forge at first, but it will be worth it in the end to take the better route.”

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Short Story: Merrily Misguided

Everyone aboard the Vapor seemed happy as could be. The band played loudly, people danced, and food abounded.

From a nearby boat on the river, Bryant watched with a tinge of envy. How easy it seemed those on the Vapor had life! Why couldn’t his life be more like that?

But all was not as it seemed on the Vapor. Merry men were at the moment, but they knew not that their boat was being driven by a great evil straight for a steep waterfall, over which none could survive. The men and women on the Vapor would have longed for Bryant’s small row boat that was heading in the right direction if they only knew their peril. Would no one stop to think about where their boat was heading in the end?

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked….But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. Psalm 73:3, 16-19 (ESV)

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Short Story: When All Is Not Bright

All is calm, all is bright...[1]

Ada found herself mouthing the words to the Christmas carol, but wondering in her heart why life didn’t feel calm or bright. Somehow, presents, family gathering, and as many cookies as she wanted still left her heart anything but calm.

Joy to the world...[2]

It’d been a hard year, filled with loss and health struggles. Ada felt exhausted after trying to do all the Christmas things. She didn’t feel joyful. Now, hearing happiness all around her made her only feel sadder somehow. And she felt bad about feeling bad; she had so many blessings too.

Ada walked towards the back of the room, in search of another cookie. On her way, she tripped.

The world went black.

Ada opened her eyes, not to the room filled with carolers, but to a dusty road. She squinted. There, in front of her, was a young couple. They looked like they belonged in a Nativity play, only more authentic.

“We’re almost to Bethlehem, Mary” Ada heard the man say.

“The baby’s coming, Joseph,” came a faint reply from the clearly pregnant woman by his side. She looked even more exhausted than Ada felt, like she’d been on a very long journey. “We’ll have to have him away from home.”

Away from home? Ada thought. Wasn’t Christmas all about being home for Christmas? Yet come to think of it, that first Christmas had Mary and Joseph away from their home in Nazareth…and Jesus leaving His home and glory in Heaven to become a man.

Ada watched, memorized, as a band of Roman soldiers passed by on the road. The other travelers so clearly resented them. I guess everything wasn’t merry and bright when Jesus came, Ada decided. In fact, hadn’t God used a census and taxes, of all things, to have Jesus born in Bethlehem? And didn’t the Roman occupation allow for the Gospel to go forth like it couldn’t have otherwise, as it brought a common language and passable roads to the whole empire?

The thought occurred to Ada that maybe God was using the tough things in her life–the things she resented–too. She couldn’t see how, but then, could the Jews back at Jesus’ birth?

Ada rubbed her head and closed her eyes for a second. Where was she anyway?

When Ada opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dark field. A smelly, woolly thing–was that a sheep?–brushed up against her. She could dimly make out the shape of men–they must be shepherds–nearby. Suddenly, an bright being–an angel!–appeared overhead.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,”[3] the angel said.

The angel said more, but Ada didn’t get to hear it.

She’d blinked, and found herself back in the room of Christmas caroling. No one had noticed her fall in the back of the room. The group was still singing Joy to the World.

Joy to the World. After her dream, Ada knew the joy of that first Christmas wasn’t because life was easy, people were home for Christmas, or there were presents under the tree. It didn’t come from lights or even cookies. Jesus didn’t save the people from the hardships of life. Not from the Romans. Not from tough situations. Mary’s life didn’t become easy because of Jesus’ birth. Mary would one day have to watch her son die. The joy the angel spoke of was because a Savior had been born.

Jesus came to save us from sin and death. He brought eternal life to those who would receive Him. That life means knowing God now, in life’s sadness and challenges, and one day for all eternity in Heaven, where the world will truly be bright, as the suffering and death sin brought will be completely wiped away forever.

Ada realized that her days didn’t have to be “merry and bright,”[5] but because Jesus came, Christmas, and every day, could be filled with a joy that can exist anywhere–even in a dirty stable. A joy that came from knowing that Heaven, not Hell, was her eternal destination. A joy that can only be found by believing on the Savior that has been born.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (ESV)

[1] Silent Night

[2] Joy to the World

[3] Luke 2:10b-11, ESV

[4] Joy to the World

[5] White Christmas

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Short Story: Distorted Views

window

Ava walked silently through the town, deep in thought. She’d had a hard day—or maybe I should say a hard month or even year. Nothing had gone the way she wanted. She’d sprained her arm—it was wrapped in a splint under her coat, effectively rendering it hard for her to do much at all. Except walk. She was hoping this walk would help clear her head and lift the fog from her heart.

She paused at the first home she passed, stealing a glance in the window as she did. She saw a little boy laughing and a mom pulling a plate of steaming hot cookies out of the oven. The scene looked so warm…so inviting.

There aren’t any cookies back at my house…and I can’t bake them with this arm, Ava thought to herself. She sighed and walked on.

The next home she passed looked strangely like one from her early childhood. Almost exactly like it, actually. She ventured a longer look inside this time and gasped at what she saw. There was a little girl who looked remarkably like she had, playing with her brother and sister, giggling and laughing. The scene brought back a rush of memories of the fun she used to have with her siblings—siblings that had long since grown up and moved out. If only she could go back in time…

“Ava, what are you doing?” The voice came, not from within the house or her head this time, but from next to her. Her friend Ella stood by her side.

“Just remembering,” Ava replied. “This window—it’s like a glimpse into my past.”

“A distorted glimpse,” Ella replied.

“What do you mean?” Ava inquired.

“Did no one warn you about the windows in this town?” Seeing Ava’s silence, Ella hastened to continue. “They’re coated with a special substance that distorts what you see. They only show the good, not any of the hard or the bad. Take this home, for instance. You see a scene that reminds you of happy moments from your childhood. But you don’t see all the times you and your siblings quarreled, or the hard days you had then too. Like the time you broke your back, remember?”

Ava remembered. She’d had to rest for weeks. The past hadn’t always been easy. “I wish my life could be more like that glimpse I saw in the house over there,” she muttered, pointing back to the home with the fresh cookies.

“You mean the distorted glimpse you saw,” Ella corrected. “If we could look through true glass into that home, we’d find it has struggles too. Is that the Jones’s house? I think the husband just lost his job. You can’t escape hardships, Ella. They come in different shapes and sizes, but we all have them.

“But here’s the deal. You can spend the rest of the day pining after distorted pictures through the windows, or you can head back home and see about making some beautiful memories yourself. Just because you can’t move your arm doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Ava asked. She still wasn’t 100% convinced.

“Like lose to me at a game of chess,” Eva replied with a laugh. “You don’t need two hands for that!”

“That’s true,” Ava replied with a laugh that a few minutes ago had felt impossible. She turned around from the town with the distorted windows back to her reality. She was glad she’d made the positive memories she had in her early childhood, and she wanted to go on making beautiful memories today in this new season, with life’s new challenges…and blessings.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)