April 15 – Thoughts About God For My Grandkids

April 15

 

Bible Reading: Luke 15:1-10

 

Topic Summary:

 

In these verses we discover a wonderful thought.  Angels celebrate when people get saved.  Imagine, the day you accepted Christ…the halls of Heaven were filled with the sound of praise.  Angels broke out in celebration…because you got saved.  Maybe we forget sometimes…just how wonderful it is.  Maybe we need to join that angel choir…and give God praise for saving us!

 

Thoughts about God for My Grandkids:

 

Distance is measured in feet.  Volume is measured in gallons.  Weight is measured in pounds.  And, sound is measured in decibels.  Here is the decibel level of some common (and some not so common) sounds…

Sound                                         decibels (dB)

Large meteoroid or comet                300-315

Earthquake                                                  235

Atomic bomb                                       240-280

Krakatoa volcano eruption                       180

Rocket taking off                                 165-180

Howitzer cannon                                        175

.357 magnum revolver                              165

Shotgun                                                        160

Cap gun                                                       155

Fireworks                                             145-150

Jet airplane taking off                        120-150

Human scream                                           129

Balloon popping                                         125

Baby crying                                         102-120

Ambulance siren, rock concert, thunder 120

Car horn, jack hammer                              110

Sporting event crowd noise             105-130

Subway, power mower                        90-100

Busy traffic, Alarm clock                               80

Vacuum, washing machine                        70

Normal conversation, refrigerator        50-60

Mosquito buzzing                                         40

Whisper                                                          30

Rustling leaves, normal breathing            10

You begin to feel pain in your ears when a sound reaches 120-130 decibels. Any sound above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss.  The loss is related both to the decibel level and the length of the sound.

In 1883, the Krakatoa volcano, in Indonesia, erupted. The sound the eruption made was so loud that it ruptured the eardrums of people 40 miles away.  The sound of the eruption travelled around the world four times and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.

According to Guinness World Records, the record for the loudest scream is held by a school teacher named Jill Drake (London, England, 2000).  Also, according to Guinness, the largest gospel choir ever gathered was in the Philippines on May 22, 2016 and consisted of 21,262 participants.  Now, we don’t know how loud they were singing.  But, if each person sang at 100 decibels…then if you put them all together they would be singing at…well, it must have been pretty loud!

 

But I don’t believe that any of those are the loudest sounds ever made, the loudest sounds in creation.  The Bible says that there are “myriads upon myriads” of angels in Heaven.  What in the world (or Heaven) is a “myriad”?  Technically, the word “myriad” means 10,000.  However, when the term “myriad upon myriad” is used…it is basically saying that the number is too many to be counted, beyond imagination (Revelation 5:11).

Jesus said that when “a sinner repents” (a person accepts Jesus as their Savior)…“there is joy in the presence of the angels of God”.  Now, I cannot prove it…but I can suggest it…that what that means is that when someone gets saved…the angels give praise…and that could get just a little bit loud.  Myriads upon myriads of angels…shouting and singing praise to God.  Add all of those voices up…and the decibel level will be off the chart!

Now, look again…why are the angels giving praise?  Because a sinner got saved.  Did you see that?  A sinner got saved.  Do you realize that there was a day when you caused the angels of Heaven to break out in praise?  The day that you accepted Jesus…angles took notice and gave God praise.  Praise for saving you.

Let me ask you something.  If angels think that God deserves praise for saving you…don’t you think that you should give God praise for saving you?  Yes.  Yes, again.  And, again.  And, again.  In fact…Yes, forever!  Don’t ever, ever stop giving God praise…for saving you.  It just may be, if I have my choice, that when I get to Heaven…the very first thing I’m going to do is give God praise for saving me.  Then, it is very likely, that I am going to give God praise for saving you.  I’ve prayed for you to accept Jesus since before you were even born.  And get this…I know that you’re still young, but one day you are going to have children of your own…and Granddad is already, right now, praying for them to be saved.  There is nothing in the world, nothing in life, more important than accepting Jesus as your Savior.  So, join the angel choir, and Granddad, and give God praise…for saving you!  All I’ve got to say is…you had better bring your earplugs with you to Heaven.  Because we are going to raise the roof!!!

 

Love you more than bunches and bunches,

Granddad