Come In Out of the RainUmbrella Object Lesson

By Timothy Brown

Object:    Umbrella (or Umbrella Cards)
Theme:    Importance of reading your Bible
Scripture:    2 Peter 3:18
Note: This lesson is not original with me. I heard it years ago during training with Child Evangelism Fellowship and adapted it for my use. You can use an actual umbrella for the lesson or print the cards on the PDF file. The pictures on the cards were drawn by my son.
Lesson: 
A little boy was frustrated because they were going through the rainiest summer he’d ever seen. Every day when he went out to play, it would rain and he’d get soaked. One day, a friend told him about something he could buy down at the store that would keep him dry while he played. All he had to do was carry it with him and he wouldn’t get wet. He was overjoyed, went in and got his piggy bank and headed off to the store.

What do you think was the object his friend was talking about? That’s right, an umbrella. The boy rushed in the store and asked the storekeeper about something he could carry with him when it was raining and would keep him dry. The storekeeper pointed him to the umbrellas. The boy picked a colorful one and paid the storekeeper. “All I’ve got to do is carry this with me and it will keep me dry?” he asked. “That’s right” was the reply.

When he left the store, it had stopped raining so he headed home. Sure enough, when he got home and started playing outside, it started raining. He grabbed the umbrella and held on to it real tight. The problem was he was still getting wet! “This thing doesn’t work!” he complained. He tried holding it in his left hand, his right hand and any way he could think, but he still got wet. He quickly decided to go down to the store and get his money back.

He stomped into the store and told the storekeeper he wanted his money back because the umbrella just didn’t work. The storekeeper asked him how he used it and the boy told him. “Well there’s your problem,” the storekeeper said, “You have to hold it over your head.”

“Oh, I see now,” said the boy. He thanked the man and ran back outside and held the umbrella over his head and what do you think happened? That’s right, he got wet. 

He was getting angry now. The storekeeper saw him and called him in and showed him how to open it up. His eyes got huge as he watched and finally realized how it worked. He thanked the man and went home holding the umbrella the proper way. He stayed dry all the way home and all the time he spent playing outside.

It is easy to laugh at the little boy because he didn’t know how to use an umbrella but God has given us something far more important to use, and a lot of people don’t use it. What do you think that is? That’s right a Bible. Having a Bible doesn’t do you any good until you open it up and use it. God wants you to open it and read it every day. He says in 2 Peter 3:18 that you and I are to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Will you commit to read your Bible every day?