Aim: To help the children: to realize that God has put more use and value in things than we usually think of; to appreciate God’s greatness and their own value; and to choose to be useful and to trust and follow Him.
Verse Illustrated: Genesis 1:31a God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Presentation: Show banana and discuss, show banana stem picture. Discuss many uses for things and God’s creativity and provisions. Encourage the children to be open to Him and useful.
Attention Getter: Here is something you should all recognize. (Show banana). What is it? Yes, this is a banana. It is a very tasty fruit and it has a lot of potassium in it that is good for us, so it is a valuable food. Can you tell me how it grows? On a stem with great big leaves. Yes. Can you think of other uses for the stem or the leaves?
Lesson: There are many other uses for the banana plant. You know, God made His creation useful, and He would not make a big plant like the banana that can only do one thing! Besides producing bananas for us to eat, which is really important, consider this:
- The leaves help put out fires. That’s right. They are a natural fire truck! They have a lot of water in them, so in some areas where they grow, when there is a fire, people cut the leaves down and run to throw them on the fire! They explode sending out lots of water and help put the fire out.
- The leaves serve as a good umbrella. They are so big, they work well. Children can cut a leaf off and cover themselves with it if they get caught in the rain when they walk home from school. The banana plant keeps growing.
- The leaves make a good wrap for cooking certain foods, like steamed pudding.
- The stem is good for making paper and fine cloth in Japan and rugs in Nepal.
- The stem makes different types of boards and paper. In industries, people chop it, soak it, wash it, beat it, dry it, press it and trim it – and get a useful product!
- Do you see anything here that looks like a banana? (Show banana bark picture). Where? Yes, this is banana bark. Would you have expected that? I wouldn’t. But God gave people many talents and He put things like banana stems on earth – and this is what some people have come up with to earn a little money.
Application: God made His things useful. Look around and you may find things right under your nose that are more useful than you first thought! He made you, too. Are you useful to Him? or to others? Of course! There are many ways we can be useful. A good place to start is to believe in Him and to know Him as our Lord and Savior. Then He will show us what to do.*