When you complete the crossword puzzle, use the letters in the colored squares to discover a secret message!
Across
- Climb this if you want to go down the slide.
- Don’t try to eat a banana while you climb across these.
- _______ is time to play.
- You’ll find these on the playground—and on cars!
- A great place to build a castle or dig a hole
Down
- BONUS—already filled in
- Playing with friends is ___!
- Can you give me a push on the _____?
- It’s easy to go down one, but you’ll have to use the ladder to climb back up.
Did you discover the secret message?
That’s right—“God cares about you!” He cares about how you feel, what you think, and what you do. God knows when you do good things—like when you tell the truth, do nice things for others, or obey your parents. But he also knows when you do things that are wrong—like when you lie, do mean things to others, or disobey your parents. God calls those bad things sins, and he says that sins must be punished.
But the good news is, your sins don’t keep God from caring about you! A long time ago, God sent his Son, Jesus, to earth to take the punishment for all the sins in the whole world—including yours. God did this because he loves you!
The Bible says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son [to die on the cross], that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Then Jesus came back to life three days later. He promised to save a place in heaven for everyone who truly believes in him. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . I go [back to heaven] to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).
Do you believe that Jesus died because of your sins? Do you trust God to forgive you if you ask him to? You can tell him with words like this:
“Dear God, I know that I’ve sinned lots of times. I do believe that Jesus died because of my sins. I want to be forgiven and live with you forever in heaven. Thank you for caring so much for me that you sent Jesus to die for me!”
God cares about you! You’ll never make a better discovery than that!