Dear Friend,

What is a Christian? What is the Christian life? How do I live the Christian life? These are very important questions. We will find the answers to them in this lesson.

What is a Christian?

A Christian is a person in whom Christ lives. I became a Christian by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. The Bible says, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God…" (John 1:12).

My heart is like a house. The Lord Jesus said, "I stand at the door, and knock: if anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I WILL COME IN…" (Revelation 3:20).

When Christ "knocked" at the door of my heart, I invited Him to come in. What did He do? He came in, just as He said He would, and He has been in my heart ever since. If you have received Him into your heart, you can say, "Christ lives in me!" Say it to yourself right now, "Christ lives in me!"

What is the Christian life?

The Christian life is Christ living His life in me. Christ wants to live His life in me so that others will see Him. Most unsaved people do not read the Bible. How can they come to know Christ? They must see Him in you and me.

How do I live the Christian life?

I live the Christian life by counting on Christ who lives in me. I may want to always be kind and loving to others, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot do it.

What is my problem? My problem is that I am trying to live the Christian life myself. I must count on Christ who lives in me. The Bible says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). The following story will illustrate this.

The secret of victory in the Christian life is to "abide in Christ." How do I "abide in Christ"? I abide in Him by doing what He wants me to do—loving Him, obeying Him, and counting on Him to take care of me.

A great man of God, Evan Hopkins, once explained to his little six-year-old son what it means to "abide in Christ." Little Evan had received Christ as his Savior when he was just six years of age, and his father wanted him to understand this truth of abiding in Christ.

The father called his son into his office. He took a card and drew a circle. Inside he listed all of the things Christ is to us.

Putting the point of his pencil in the center of the circle, he said, "There, son, you see that pencil. I want you to abide in Christ as the pencil is in the circle. Inside you will find everything to make you happy, loving, and obedient. But there are a lot of little doors all around the circle. It is when you go out by one of these doors that you are naughty."

Then he drew little doors leading out from the circle. These doors represented the sins that take us out from abiding in Christ.

Little Evan was so happy to understand this, and he told others in his own language what he had just heard. He carried the card around so he could explain what it meant to abide in Christ, and how he was staying in the circle.

But one day, the little boy came to his father crying. When his father asked why he was crying, his son said, "I have gotten out of the circle." His fear was that he could not get back in.

The father kneeled down with his son and they looked at the card together. The father said, "Now, Evan, tell me what was the door you went out by?" The son showed it to his father.

"Well," said the father, "the way to get in again is to enter by the same door you went out by. And the way to do that is to confess that very sin to God. The moment you do this, God forgives you of that sin, and you come back into the circle and once again you are abiding in Christ." How happy the little fellow was to learn this!

The Lord Jesus wants me to know that He is my special Best Friend. He wants me to do three things so I can really enjoy Him:

Love Him.

This pleases the Lord Jesus! He loves me with all His heart, and He wants me to love Him the same way—with all my heart. The Father Himself is pleased when we love and appreciate His Son.

Obey Him.

I may say, "I really love the Lord Jesus," but the test of my love is this: Am I obeying the Lord Jesus? If I am not, I do not really love Him. Jesus said, "He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me…" (John 14:21).

Count on Him.

The Lord Jesus really is my special Best Friend! There is no friend like Jesus, and He lives in me. I can always count on Him to help me. He wants me to tell Him about all of my problems and then count on Him to help me. The Bible says, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

The story so far…

Some money is missing in Steven’s cabin. His buddy, Pete, may be in trouble, but there is no proof. Maria and Susan heard about it, but don’t know what to do.

Chapter 6
Growing in Jesus

Just then the bell rang for the morning chapel time. Everyone hurried to their cabins to get their Bibles.

Susan turned to Maria and said, "Maybe we can stop by Cabin 8 and get Nancy and Maggie."

"That is a great idea," Maria agreed. "But we need to hurry because we cannot be late."

When they arrived at the cabin, they saw several girls from that cabin surrounding Nancy's bed. "If you don't make your bed and put all this away, we will lose cabin points," one of the girls said angrily. "And that is not fair!"

"I do not have to make my bed at home, and I will not make it here!" Nancy yelled back.

Susan and Maria looked at each other and shook their heads. "Now I have to figure out what to do," Susan whispered to Maria as she walked over to Nancy's bed.

Susan stepped in between the girls and said, "Good morning, Nancy. I thought I would come by to get you. Let me help you with your bed so we will not be late. You girls can go ahead to the meeting."

Susan began to move several things from the bed into the suitcase. "Oh, how pretty!" she said as she found a string of beads lying on the cover.

"I bought those last night from a boy named Pete," Nancy said. Then she rambled on, "He had so many to choose from, but I thought these were the prettiest.

"Thanks for helping me this morning, Susan. You are a great camp buddy. I guess I should learn how to make my bed so the other girls don't lose cabin points."

Maria had waited for Susan and watched what happened. Susan looked at Maria. As their eyes met, Maria nodded her head with a smile.

Susan turned to Nancy and said, "Let me show you how to make this bed." In no time the bed was made, and Nancy was happy about her neat bunk.

Maria walked over to the other end of the cabin to find Maggie. She thought to herself, "Susan is growing in Christ. She did what Jesus would have done. She was 'walking worthy of the Lord.'

"Oh, dear Jesus, help me to be more like You. Show me what I can do for Maggie to make her happy like what Susan did for Nancy."

Maria went to the other end of the cabin to find Maggie. "Hi, Maggie," she said cheerfully. "You look so nice. You and Miss Amy found some great clothes. That top and those jeans fit you so well and make you look thinner."

"Do you really think so?" Maggie asked excitedly. "I like to wear these clothes. By the way, Maria, I don't want to go home now. Camp is going to be fun. Thank you for being such a great camp buddy."

Maria looked lovingly at her new friend. She was thankful and felt good inside because Maggie was so much happier.

Just then the door opened. "Come on, Susan," Nancy called. "We cannot be late!"

The four girls ran over to the main building for the morning meeting. They arrived just before the doors were closed. Anyone coming in late would have points deducted. The girls quickly found four seats together and joined in the singing.

"Camp songs are so much fun to sing," Maria thought to herself. "I love to sing about Jesus. He makes me want to sing."

Susan leaned over to Maria and whispered in her ear, "I love camp!"

Maria whispered back, "Me, too! And I am so glad that we are here together."

The campers enjoyed the happy singing and the cheerful tone of the meeting. When Mr. Douglas got up to speak, everyone quieted down and listened carefully.

"Boys and girls, I heard that many of you are beginning to live out our camp verse. Would you all say it with me again this morning:

"'That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God' (Colossians 1:10).

"I am proud of the way you have become friends with your buddies so quickly. I also hear you have helped your cabin mates."

Then Mr. Douglas held up a beautiful Bible and said, "At the end of camp, there will be a Bible like this for the girl with the highest points and also one for a boy. The way you are starting out, there will be some tough competion, and you need to keep on trying hard to win these prizes."

Maria's heart was fluttering with excitement. "I want to win that Bible," she thought. "Granny would like that! And I do need one." She looked down at her small Bible that her cousin had given her. It would be so nice to get a new one.

Just then, Maria glanced over at Susan—she saw a big tear roll down her friend's cheek.

Maria looked away at once. An uneasy feeling was growing inside her. Maria knew that Susan also wanted that Bible. She wanted it so badly, it made her cry. And Susan certainly needed one more than she did. Her Bible was a real old one; the back was loose and many of the pages were torn and some were missing.

"Both of us cannot win that Bible," Maria thought. "But I have just as much right to try to win it as Susan does. And I will!" she promised herself stubbornly. But she could not forget the golden verse, and there suddenly seemed to be a hard lump deep inside her that did not want to go away.

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