Elementary Level, Block 4—Moses
Week 34
Moses—Listening to God
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who carefully pay attention so we do not miss anything important.
Reference Reading: Exodus 2:23-25; 3:1-22; Acts 7:30-35
Memory Verse: Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.
(Proverbs 23:12)
Story Sample
Last week we saw that Moses continued his education and training to be useful to God in the wilderness. Day after day for 40 years, Moses would shepherd a flock of sheep. One day while Moses was out tending the sheep, God spoke to him. Moses led the flock to the back of the wilderness and came to a mountain. There, he saw a thornbush, a bush that is dry and burns easily. But not just any thornbush. This thornbush that he saw had a flame of fire! When he went to look, the thornbush was on fire but it wasn’t burning up or turning into ashes! He must have been so amazed and confused! What usually happens when you put a flame of fire on a real bush? It would start burning up and turn black and then it would burn and burn until it becomes just ashes. Wouldn’t you be amazed to see a dry bush with a flame of fire that is not actually burning?
What’s even more amazing is God called out to him out of the midst of the thornbush! That was God appearing to Moses. And when God called out to him, Moses answered, “Here I am” and was very attentive. God then told Moses to remove his sandals, because the place he was standing on was holy ground. That meant no man had ever stood there before, and that this was a very special place where God would speak to him. So God spoke to him about returning to Egypt so that he could lead God’s people back to the land that God had given them, the land of Canaan. Moses could easily have been distracted by the bush and not hear anything that God said. Don’t we do that sometimes? We get so distracted by something interesting that we miss what our parents or teachers say.
One morning my children and I were leaving the house to go to school. Later that day was my daughter’s piano lesson, so I had instructed her to make sure to bring all her things: lunch pail, water bottle, piano books, and sweater. She was chatting away about what she was going to do at school that day and was excited about her new shirt, so I had to remind her to make sure she had everything she needed for the day. She continued to be very distracted as she grabbed her things. When she was heading for the door, I saw she had left her sweater on the couch, so I reminded her to get it. Finally, we got out the door and into the car and off to school. Later that day, as I was getting ready to leave to pick her up from school for her piano class, I did not see her piano books in my car! So I knew that my daughter must have forgotten them because she was distracted and was not paying attention carefully that morning. I had to drive all the way home to get her books for her and rushed back to get her so we would not be late. I was not happy that she forgot her books, which were very important for her lessons. More importantly, I already had to remind her to not forget things when she wasn’t paying attention to my instructions. [Storyteller, tell your own story about getting distracted and missing something, especially something important.]
If Moses had been distracted and was not careful in paying attention, he may have missed the burning thornbush or just thought to himself that it was nothing special. More importantly, he may have missed God speaking to him. And when God was speaking and sharing His plan to Moses, instead of being distracted by the sheep around him or thinking about why the bush wasn’t burning up, Moses was paying attention. If he had been distracted, he would have missed out on some VERY important things! This was a very important job, doing something for God Himself!! What if Moses had missed the instruction on who should go with him or what he should say to Pharaoh? Anyone could have paid attention to a burning bush. But Moses paid attention to God’s instructions. If Moses had not paid attention to God’s instructions, the children of Israel may not have been delivered from slavery in Egypt!
Good thing Moses was not distracted. He was focused and paid attention to everything God said. We can do this, too! We can learn to be like Moses and learn to always carefully pay attention to everything we do. We don’t want to miss out on anything, especially on something as important as what God tells us through our parents, teachers or serving ones.