Just before Jesus went back to heaven He gave His followers a seemingly impossible task, to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. His followers were uneducated, lower class Jews, not the kind of people you would normally choose to change the world. However Jesus also promised to send a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to give them what they needed to do the work He called them to do. In Acts 2, we see the Holy Spirit work through Peter and the rest of Jesus’ followers and 3,000 people believe in Christ in one day!
The very same Peter whom God used on Pentecost, wrote 2 Peter 1:3 as an encouragement to all the believers who came after him. Just as God gave Peter what he needed to be diligent, once we trust in Christ, He will give us what we need to live a life of godliness. He gives us self-control to obey our parents, kindness to respond to a friend in need and courage to be a witness for Him wherever we go.
One night this week grab flashlights for each person but take out the batteries beforehand. Give each person a flashlight and go someplace dark, maybe outside. What is the flashlight supposed to do? Does it work without the batteries? Give each person the batteries to their flashlight. Now does it work? Just like batteries are needed for the flashlight to work, we need the Holy Spirit to be a light to the world and do the work that God has prepared for us to do. Read Ephesians 2:8-10.
Make a list of the answers your kids give to Family Question #2 above. Let each person in your family pick 1 thing they want to work on being diligent in this week. Every morning pray with your kids and ask God to help you all to be diligent in these areas each day. At bedtime, ask them how they thought God helped them have diligence or where they struggled to trust Him. Pray and thank God for how He gives us what we need for our work.
Start off this month on diligence by diligently studying the memory verse this week. Here are suggestions for each day:
Thank God for giving you what you need to do what He calls you to do. Ask Him to help you trust Him when what He gives might not be what you expected. Thank Him for the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in all the believers.
Next Sunday we will see how Noah showed diligence when God asked him to build and ark in Genesis 6-8. To be diligent means to focus on our work until it’s done.
Do your kids struggle with staying diligent when you give them a task? How do you teach them to finish what they start?
The post We can work diligently like the disciples because our Help comes from God appeared first on Watermark Community Church Blog.