“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. | Deuteronomy 6:4–7
Did you ever wish you had wings like a bird, so that you could fly? If you had wings, would you like to fly up and up and up, high into the sky, to see all the stars?
If you went on and on and on, for days and days, you still would not see all the stars. There are so many! Millions and millions of them!
God made all those stars. He made every one of them. And He made everything else that you see.
There are some people who worship many gods. They think there is one god who made the stars, and another god who takes care of the moon. They think there is a god who lives in the hills, and there is another god who takes care of the oceans. They do not know that one God made everything and takes care of everything.
Many years ago the Israelites were God’s people. There were many people on earth, but God chose the Israelites to be His very special people. He talked to them through Moses. He gave them a beautiful country to live in. He told them that He was God alone, that there are no other gods, and that they must always worship only Him.
But even these people, His chosen people, who knew how wonderful and good God is, forgot about Him. They made idols of wood and stone. They prayed to these idols.
One day God sent them a prophet named Jeremiah. Jeremiah told them how very foolish they were.
Jeremiah said, “Listen, I will tell you how foolish you are. A man goes to the woods with his ax. He finds a good tree and cuts it down. He chops it to pieces. He uses some of the pieces to make a fire.
“When he has a fire burning, he says ‘Ah, this is a nice warm fire.’
“Then he takes a piece of the same tree home. He cuts and carves it and makes it look like a man. He puts shining gold over it. And he says, ‘There! I have made me a god!’ He kneels down to that piece of wood. He prays to that piece of wood, to that piece of tree!
“What a foolish man he is! That piece of wood cannot hear. It cannot see. It cannot even move. It is an idol. It did not make the earth and the sky. It did not make the stars. It cannot send rain.”
Jeremiah told the people that there is only one true God. He made all things. He alone is Lord over all things. Everything belongs to Him. He takes care of everything.
We cannot see Him, because he is spirit. But He is the God who hears us when we pray. He is very great.
Something to Talk About:
- Why is it foolish to make idol gods?
- To whom do earth and sky belong?
- Why do all things belong to Him?
- Why do we belong to Him?
Memory verse:
The Lord is God in heaven and above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. | Deuteronomy 4:39