OBJECTIVES
- Learners will understand what it means to be obedient.
- Learners will look at the story of Adam and Eve and the Story of Jonah. They will discuss the importance of being obedient, Effects of disobedience in the two bible stories.
- They will then relate it to their lives currently. Discuss areas they find it hard to be obedient.
- Then discuss healthy obedience. Let your child know when not to obey for example from strangers. (Have a keyword that the child can always identify the person in the case sent by you. explain that the keyword is a secret for family members only)
obey (v) – to do what someone tells you to do. To carry out, or follow-through, as in to obey the law or to obey orders.
Bible story 1: Adam and Eve From Children Bible Hub online.
DISCUSSION
| THE FIRST DISOBEDIENCE Now the serpent was more deceitful than any other animal that Jehovah had made; and it said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman answered, “We may eat of the fruit of all the trees of the garden except the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, for God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it; for if you do, you shall die.'” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die; for God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will know what is good and what is evil.”When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, beautiful to look at and that it would make her wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, so that they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together and made girdles for themselves. When they heard the sound of the footsteps of Jehovah, as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, the man and his wife hid from him among the trees of the garden.And Jehovah called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” and he answered, “I heard the sound of thy footsteps in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.” Jehovah said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” The man answered, “The woman whom you did give to me—she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.” Jehovah said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman replied, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”Then Jehovah said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you shall be hated more than all beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust all your life, and men and serpents shall always be enemies. They shall bruise your head, and you shall wound them on the heel.”To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your trouble and your pain, and you shall be subject to your husband, and he shall rule over you. “But to the man he said, “Because you have listened to your wife and have eaten of the tree from which I forbade you to eat, as long as you live you shall earn a living only by hard work. By hard work shall you raise food to eat. And you shall die and your body go back to the ground, for from dust you were made, and to dust you shall return!”And Jehovah made garments of skins for the man and his wife, and clothed them. And he sent them out of the garden of Eden to till the ground. |
Ask the questions and give your child time to answer then reenforce the answers from the passage or from the scriptures.
- What do you remember in the story? Let your child engage his memory on what he/ she remembers from the story.
- What did God tell Adam not to do?
- What did he do? Why do you think it was easy for them to disobey God?
- What was God’s reaction to their disobedience?
- What punishment was given to Eve, Adam, the serpent?
- What do you think would have happened if they would not have eaten the fruit from the middle of the garden?
- Do you think that the first disobedience affected us? How?
Bible Story 2 on a man who disobeyed then was given a second chance to do the right thing. He obeyed and did as God wanted.
Jonah please click on the link to read.
- Recap on the story of Jonah with your child.
- Jonah was fleeing to Tarshish, why was he running away?
- What did God want Jonah to do?
- God became furious after Jonah ran away, what was God’s reaction on the ship that Jonah had boarded?
- What happened to Jonah when the sea could not calm down? Do you think he deserved the punishment?
- What should we do when we have disobeyed God? Does God forgive us? Did he forgive Jonah?
- What was Jonah’s message to the people of Nineveh?
- Did they obey instantly? Were they punished?
- How did the people of Nineveh show God they were sorry?
- What was God’s response to them?
- How did Jonah describe God after he had forgiven the people of Nineveh? (Read Jonah 4:2)
DISCUSSION; MORE BIBLE VERSES ON OBEDIENCE
To ‘obey’ means to do what someone tells you to do. To carry out or follow-through, for example – obey rules.
God wants us to obey our parents. He tells us in the ten commandments that He gave to Moses. It is the 5th commandment.
Exodus 20:12
Obey your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
When you obey your parents, you are also obeying God. Obeying your parents pleases God and makes Him very happy. It shows that you love God and your parents too. He, in turn, will bless you so much.
God tells us so many times to be obedient. (Kindly go through the verses with your child and expain further to your child)
Leviticus 25:18 Remember my laws and rules and obey them. Then you will live safely in the land.
Romans 16:19 (NLT) But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong.
Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise: so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
John 14:21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Colossians 3:20 (NLT) Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 (NLT) Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
TAKING ACTION
- Have you ever done something you were told not to do?
- What was the consequence?
- Why do you think we are given rules?
- Why do we need to obey rules/laws from God, parents, teachers?
- What rule did God give to children in the 10 commandments?
PRACTICALS
Review your family rules with your child jointly. Write or have in place new rules if possible. Let your child have input so that he will be in agreement with them and will have a sense of ownership.
Play a game with rules that you normally play as a family. if you do not have, this can be the ideal time to introduce one. (Example snakes and ladders).
Discuss the rules in place. Play the game observing the rules first. Then in the second game, let no one observe any rule. Discuss how the lack of rules led to chaos and disagreements.
Explain how observing the rules make the game to be fun.
Explain how this relates to rules that have been put in place in life.
Discuss with your child how God gave us the rule book of life (the Bible) and how it guides us. For example, Love God and love your neighbour. Discuss what happens when people live in love. (You can cite various other examples from the 10 commandments and from the book of Proverbs too).
Give your child an assignment on one rule that he/ she chooses to observe it for the whole week. For example-Going to bed on time for the whole week. Discuss its outcomes later. Was life harder or easier this week? Was it more peaceful? Could he/she make it a habit to live obediently?
Check on some of the tips to train on obedience here.
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