Children’s Lesson 21

FOLLOWING THE RULES

The RuleBook we must follow if we are going to be on Godā€™s Team is called THE BIBLE.Ā Ā How do we do this?Ā Ā Ā Read it. Believe it. Do it.

Godā€™s Words are recorded for us in the Bible.  It needs to have an important place in our lives because it shows us how to win and how to live happily ever after, as a story ending might say. 

We need to read or listen to Godā€™s words as often as we can so that we can learn from them and so that we can know what to DO and what NOT TO DO.  Otherwise, we will not know the directions that God has asked us to follow. 

When we read or listen to the Bible, we need to make sure we understand it. We have so much information available that can help us with understanding what the Bible teaches, but the most important helper is the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God lives inside you and is there to help you to understand His Word.  We also have Christian people who are older and more experienced that we can ask questions and get their opinions. We have study books that have been written from the authorā€™s opinion that can help us to understand better. We can look anything up on the internet, but you have to be very careful not to believe everything on the internet any more than you should believe everything a professing Christian tells you. We have devotionals available to us like our Game Plan, and we have our parents and Pastors who we can ask questions.  It is so important to take advantage of these things to help understand what we are reading.  Just remember, if someone tells you something, it HAS to go along with what the Bible says.  The Holy Spirit can help you to know if what people say is right or wrong, and certainly the actual Words Of God that you read or hear from the Bible are always TRUE.

So that addresses read it and believe it.   But what about ā€˜Do it?ā€™

James 1:22 says, ā€œBut donā€™t just listen to Godā€™s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.ā€

The most important thing we can do is to follow Godā€™s directions for our lives. It would be foolish and pointless to have read the directions and understood them but to then just throw them aside and do life our way. Yet, we do this all the time with the Bible because we are a stubborn and prideful people. We need to put our selfish desires aside and put what God teaches in HIS WORD into practice.

Read it. Believe it. Do it! Those are the things that need to be happening in our lives when it comes to learning from the Scripture. We can start by challenging ourselves to set aside time to read or listen to the Bible. We need to really work to understand the Bible. We cannot be afraid to ask people questions or to search for answers. Then when we understand it, we need to put it into practice.

Ezekiel 11:19-21Ā I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20Ā Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD

Someone once said that obedience is the practical acceptance of the authority and will of God. It includes both submitting to Him and then expressing that submission in actions, words and thoughts. Anything short of absolute obedience to God is disobedience. Do you notice what is happening in the above scripture? It is God doing His part first so that we may then do our part: Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. God has already done His part for us: I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. He has saved us and given His Word to us. Now it is our turn!

Read it. Believe it. Do it.

Are you ready?

Go to Romans Road to Salvation and/or Prayer of Rededication