The Lord looketh on the heart. But…what does He look for?
What matters most to Him? What is the first and great commandment?
Jesus revealed the answer to this question: “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
And how can we show the Lord that we Love Him?
“If ye love me,” He said, “keep my commandments.”
Everything the Lord does is motivated by a perfect love for us. His commandments are a light and a blessing! And, if we are diligent and faithful, the Lord desires to bless us with more! He promises to reveal “commandments, not a few.”
The adversary would teach our children to hate the Lord and to hate the truth. But, with the Lord’s help the adversary will not succeed!
May the Lord watch over and bless our children as we strive to foster a love for Him and His gospel within their hearts!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "Keep the Commandments"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need some marbles, a hard cover book with a large surface area, and a large round bowl.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Invite a volunteer to hold the book in a level position. Place the marble on the book and challenge the volunteer to tilt the book slightly to make the marble roll in circles without letting the marble fall off of the book! Allow them to try this more than once.
Now give the bowl to the volunteer. Place the marble in the bowl and invite the volunteer to tilt the bowl slightly to make the marble roll in circles without letting the marble fall out of the bowl. (This should be much easier.)
Invite all of the children to try this activity if they want to try it.
Once the children have had a turn, ask them to return to their seats and discuss the following questions:
1) Which challenge was easier? The first challenge with the flat book? Or the second challenge with the bowl? (The second challenge was easier, with the bowl!)
2) Were the walls of the bowl helpful? (Yes!)
3) Why were the walls in the bowl helpful? (They made it easier to keep the marble going in the right direction!)
4) When there were no walls, what happened? (It was harder to keep the marble going in the right direction.)
Explain: Just like the walls of the bowl helped you keep the marble moving in the right direction, the Lord’s commandments also help us keep moving in the right direction too! The commandments don’t hurt us! They actually help us to learn and to grow and to become like Heavenly Father.
🎥 V I D E O : "The Three Little Birds | A Story About Obedience"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about three little birds. The mother bird wonders if her baby birds love her. Let’s watch and see if they do!”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) Why was the mother bird sad? (She didn’t know if the baby birds loved her.)
2) How did the mother bird find out that the baby birds did love her? (When the baby birds followed her and obeyed her, that’s how she knew that they loved her!)
3) How can we show the Lord that we love Him? (We show the Lord that we love Him when we keep the Lord’s commandments.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures and discuss the questions that follow.
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (Jesus Christ is speaking.)
2) What did Jesus say we should do if we love Him? (Keep His commandments.)
3) Why does the Lord give us commandments? (Because He loves us and He wants to teach us how to be like Heavenly Father!)
And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me.
1) Who is going to be crowned with blessings from above? (The Lord’s people who are faithful and diligent.)
2) Will the faithful receive a few commandments, or many commandments? (Many commandments - not a few!)
3) Why are many commandments a blessing? (Because the Lord’s commandments show us the way to true joy and happiness!)
And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them…
1) Who is talking in this verse? (Heavenly Father!)
2) What does it mean to “prove” us? (It means to give us a test.)
3) What is the test that Heavenly Father is giving us? (He is testing to see if we will choose to follow Him and obey His commandments!)
4) Can you think of a commandment that the Lord has given us? How are we blessed when we keep that commandment? (Discuss some of the commandments found in the scriptures.)
➤ C O L O R I N G P A G E S
Pass out the coloring page, one to each child. Invite the children to color the scene from the video. Use this time to talk about obedience and how the Lord’s commandments are a blessing to help us move in the right direction.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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