Taking Root: Devotional Stories about Conversion (The Lord’s Garden)

The picture of a plant taking root is used in the Bible to teach us the idea of conversion. When someone’s heart is turned from himself and his sinful ways to faith in Jesus and devotion to God, it is like a plant which starts to shoot out roots into rich soil so that it can live and take nourishment. There is no way for a plant to have life unless it takes root, and there is no way for a person to have spiritual life unless God turns him or her out of the way of death and into the way of life.

The stories in this book have to do with plants taking roots. But as you read through them, you will not run across tales of flowers, leaves, and dirt as much as you will about spiritual plants in the garden of the Lord. They are stories about how God gives people new spiritual life by rooting their hearts in the grace of His Son Jesus Christ. Read these stories and take the time to ask God about causing your heart to take deep root into the life-giving soil of Jesus.

Contents

Introduction

1. A Little Girl’s Sin Found Out
2. The Pickpocket’s Story
3. A Change of Heart
4. Martha’s Bible
5. “What Shall It Profit?”
6. God’s Word Satisfies
7. A Mocking Discussion of the Bible
8. Shusco the Indian
9. Afraid to Go Home
10. The Gift
11. Trying to Enter by the Wrong Door
12. Jack and His Master
13. A New Year’s Start for Eternity
14. Clean Within
15. The Bird in the Church
16. A Search for Atoning Blood
17. “Can I Become a Christian?”
18. Little Johnny’s First Bible
19. More about Johnny
20. True Safety
21. A Sermon in the Woods
22. Debra’s Plan
23. The Conversion of a “Good Girl”
24. A Sunday School Student
25. Torn in Half
26. “Led by the Spirit of God”
27. Afraid to Swear Alone
28. The Sailor’s Bible
29. “What If It Had Been You?”
30. An Unexpected Change
31. The Good One Bible Did
32. Prayers for Salvation
33. The Watchword
34. Songs in the Night
35. The Siberian Leper
36. Rebecca’s Refuge
37. The Mathematician Confounded
38. The Hour Alone with God
39. Protection through Prayer
40. The Sleepless Night
41. The Story of Emilia
42. The Saints’ Everlasting Rest
43. An Attentive Daughter
44. A Woman Set Free

About the Series

The Lord’s Garden is a series of devotional stories for children. The stories are based on true happenings, gleaned from a variety of sources, and rewritten for contemporary readers. Each story accompanies a passage of Scripture, and is intended to illustrate that particular biblical truth. Some stories are shorter, some longer. However, all will capture the attention of children, and hopefully their hearts. Every story begins with a Scripture verse and ends with questions for understanding the story, further points to think about, and directions for prayer.

Diana Kleyn is a member of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the mother of three children, and has a heart for helping children understand and embrace the truths of God's Word. She writes monthly for the children's section in The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth magazine, and is co-author with Joel R. Beeke of the series Building on the Rock.