READ JOHN 1:32-33
When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, he didn’t know what was about to happen. It’s not like God gave John an outline detailing all the things that Jesus would say and do. But that didn’t matter. Read verse 34 again. John still knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah. John recognized that Jesus was the One God sent to save the world from sin and fix our separation from Him forever. And reading passages like this can help us recognize and follow Jesus, too. Because discovering what God’s word says helps us follow Jesus.
Have you ever seen anyone get baptized? What happened? Do you know why baptism is important? If you’re unsure, ask your mom, dad or another trusted adult like your small group leader about what baptism means.
THANK God for giving us His word so we can follow Jesus.
Do you know what the word "opposite" means? Connect the word to its opposite below.
You really know your opposites! According to God’s word, the opposite of wise is foolish. Foolish people refuse to learn new things. Think about how silly that would be. If you refused to learn new things you wouldn’t know how to: tie your own shoes, tell time, ride a bike, swim without floaties, sink a free throw, or read a book!
God wants you to have wisdom and He’s given you His word to know exactly how to do that! He hasn’t left you to figure it out on your own. As you learn new things, God will continue to help you grow your knowledge of Him.
ASK God to help you be wise instead of foolish!
READ PSALM 119:105
What if your Mom made cupcakes for your birthday, but instead of using a cookbook, she threw random ingredients into a bowl? What if your dad planned a super cool vacation, but refused to use GPS and tried to find the destination on his own? Cookbooks and GPS give us instructions to follow so we can eat yummy treats and take super awesome vacations. But you have to read and follow those instructions.
The Bible gives us instructions on how to make the wise choice, how to treat others the way you want to treated and how to trust God no matter what. The Bible is like a light that shows you where to go and what to do in life. Without it, you would be lost.
For this week’s memory verse challenge, write the words of the verse on cards and tape them to a lamp. Say the verse out loud. Then remove two cards and repeat the verse. Continue to remove two cards at a time and repeat the verse until you can say it from memory.
LOOK to God’s word to light your way so you can follow God.
READ PROVERBS 10:14
Have you ever watched a squirrel at the park or in your own backyard? Have you ever seen a squirrel burying acorns in the fall? Squirrels store up food so that when the cold weather comes, they’ll still have plenty to eat through the long winter months.
You can store up knowledge just like a squirrel stores up acorns. When you learn something new, you add to it to the things you already know. For example, you probably learned the "ABC" song in preschool. Then, how to identify each letter and the sound it makes. Then you learned to combine those sounds to read a word and then string those words into a sentence so that you could read an entire story.
Learning God’s word works in the same way. As you learn one thing about following God, you add that to the things you already know about Him. You are storing up knowledge so that you can live the kind of life that pleases God and helps others to know God, too.