Elementary Level, Block 7—Salomon, Kings and Prophets
Week 65
Josiah—Loving and Following God at an Early Age
Points to Emphasize: We can love God and follow Him even at a young age.
Reference Reading: 2 Kings 22:1-20
Memory Verse: Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth… (Ecclesiastes 12:1a)
Story Sample:
What do you want to be when you grow up? Who do you want to be like? Maybe some of you want to be a teacher because you like teaching others. Maybe you want to be a doctor or a nurse because you like helping others. Maybe some of you want to be the president. Maybe some of you want to be a police officer or a firefighter. [Storyteller, encourage all the children to say something. You can also ask them to write or draw what they want to be on the white board.] It is so wonderful to hear that even when you are young you all aspire to be someone in the future. [Add everyday living—librarian, secretary, waitress in a restaurant, or being a mom or a dad.]
If you were to ask me what I wanted to be when I was your age, I wanted to be a cashier. I enjoyed putting price stickers on all my belongings in my room. My sisters would then come in the room and pretend they were buying things and I would be the cashier and bag what they bought. Years later I wanted to be a chef. I would sit next to my mom and just observe the way she was cooking. Many times I was amazed at how yummy a cake could be that just started out as eggs, flour and oil. Then, I wanted to be a doctor. Oh, I wanted to be someone important who would help so many people! [Storyteller, share with the children what were your ambitions when you were a child.]
In the Bible there was a boy named Josiah who was only eight years old when he became a king. In the eighth year of his reign he began to seek after God. This king could have sought to have more land, more money, more cattle, BUT his aspiration was much, much higher. At a young age he set his heart to seek Jehovah and to do what was right to make God happy. Josiah did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. The Bible says that he “did not turn to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2). That means that nothing made him turn away from his goal of loving and following God. Even at a young age we all have the capacity to know who God is. At a young age, we also can aspire to be someone who will follow God’s ways and who will love God.
When I was about your age, I started singing to God and praying to God. After dinner, my parents would gather our whole family and we would try memorizing Bible verses. We would also sing some songs to God. One day, my dad decided to record us singing some songs. I still have that recording, so if you want to hear it, I can play it for you! [Storyteller, add your story of loving God at an early age.]
My desire to follow God and to love God did not wait till I was older. It started when I was young, just like you! Even though I wanted to be a cashier, or a chef, or a doctor, I had a feeling deep inside of me that loving God was the BEST thing I could do when I grew older. For me it was FAR more precious to love God than to love something else that I could do with my life. So, it is good you want to be a teacher, a doctor or a firefighter, but I hope that even at an early age all of you will also want to love God and follow God! You don’t have to be a king to love God. Whatever you become when you grow older, I hope you love God above all things.