Then the word of the LORD came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. | 1 Kings 17:8–16
God law means that we must always put God first.
We must love God more than anybody else.
We must obey God before we obey anybody else.
We must do all that God wants us to do.
We must praise God every day, and in everything we do.
The Bible tells us about a poor widow woman and how she put God first.
One day the poor widow went out to pick up little sticks. There was a great fiamine in the land. God did not let rain come because the people were wicked. And because there was no rain, nothing would grow. There was no grain for making flour.
This poor widow had only a little flour left. She was picking up the sticks to make a fire, to bake bread with the last little bit of flour. She had only a little oil left, too, to bake with.
While she picked up the sticks, a man came downt he road. He had long hair and a big beard, and his clothes were all dusty.
The man called to the widow woman, “Please, will you get me a drink?” He was hot and thirsty.
The widow woman said, “Yes, I will get a you a little water.”
But when she went away, the man called to her, “Bring me a little bread, too!”
Then the widow woman looked very sad. “I have no bread at all,” she said. “I have just a little bit of flour, and a little bit of oil. I was going to make a fire, and bake bread for me and my son. And when that is gone, we will have to die.”
The man said, “Do not be afraid. Go and bake your bread. But make the first little loaf for me, and bring it to me. Then make some for your son and for yourself. God says that you will have flour left, and oil too. There will always be flour and oil left for you, until the rain comes and things grown again.”
That man was God’s prophet, Elijah. When the widow woman heard what he said, she went and baked her bread. And she brought the first little loaf to Elijah. She was hungry, and her boy was hungry, but she gave the first loaf to Elijah, because he was a man of God. She put God first. She believed His word, that the prophet spoke, and she obeyed Him.
God blessed the poor widow woman. She baked bread every time she and her boy and Elijah needed something to eat. And there was always a little flour left, and a little oil left, as God had promised.
Something to Talk About
- What was the widow woman doing when Elijah came?
- What did Elijah ask for?
- How did the woman show that she loved God?
Memory Verse
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.| Deuteronomy 6:5