Elementary Level, Block 3—Jacob and Joseph
Week 25
Joseph—Trustworthy (Revised on 3/3/2021)
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who are trustworthy in everything we do.
Reference Reading: Genesis 37:2-13; Life-study of Genesis, msg. 104, p. 1337
Memory Verse: For my mouth will utter truth… (Proverbs 8:7a)
Story Sample
In the Bible, we read about so many different types of people and Joseph was one of the best ones. We can say that Joseph’s behavior was perfect. Joseph never did anything wrong. If we hear of a person whose behavior was perfect, we should find out who he was and how he lived so we can learn from him! Let’s see how Joseph was!
Today we are going to see that Joseph was trustworthy. That is a long word! Can we all say it? [Write the word trustworthy on the board.] What does it mean to be trustworthy? [Let the children answer. You can help them see that the word trustworthy is made up of two words and they can try to find out the meaning of both.] To be trustworthy means that others can rely on you because you are honest or truthful.
Joseph was like this. One day Israel called his son Joseph. He said, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flock, and bring word back to me” (Genesis 37:14). What does this mean? [Let the children answer.] Simply, Israel was asking Joseph to go and check on his brothers and the flock. Israel trusted in Joseph to do just that! Israel knew Joseph would go, check on his brothers, and would come back with the truth. Joseph was someone that could be relied on as honest and truthful.
Are you trustworthy? When I was your age, I was! I’ll tell you how. When I got back from school, I had a simple schedule to follow. After eating a short snack, I was supposed to do all of my homework before I was able to run my bike. Homework was easy, so, I would just get all the things out of my backpack and do the homework. Even when my mom was preparing dinner and was not sitting next to me all the time, she expected and relied on me that I was doing what she had asked me to do. [Storyteller, insert your own story about being trustworthy.]
Like Joseph, we can all be trustworthy! If your dad asked you to do something, you can be trustworthy! Your dad can rely on you! Just like Israel relied on Joseph, your dad expects you to be honest and truthful.