“I can remind myself life is about living for God by making my bed,” says Kevin, 5.
Living for God is exciting when we think of Moses lifting his staff to see God part the Red Sea or Elijah seeing fire come down from heaven to consume the offering he prepared in a duel with the evil prophets of Baal. However, almost no one thinks of making one’s bed as living for God. It seems too ordinary.
We so easily forget that the God who created us and the universe in which we reside came to us in the humility of a baby born in a manger.
“I read the Bible every day,” says Cole, 10. “I feel like God is talking to me in a different way every time.”
Living for God begins with hearing from God. One of the main ways God communicates with his people is through their reading the Bible and meditating on it. God has made his will known in objective, propositional statements. He didn’t leave us guessing about the main components of his will.
God’s most famous proposition Bible statement is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
We know from this and other Bible statements that eternal life is a gift to be received by faith alone in Christ alone, not a reward to be earned, as most people suppose.
“Before we perform at dance recitals, I always say one verse: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,'” says Courtney, 10.
Courtney is a wonderful example of letting God speak through the Bible at a time of need. Philippians 4:13 has provided much assurance to many Christians. Our realized weakness provides an opportunity for God to manifest his grace and power.
“I can live for God by reading, spelling and doing math,” said Madison, 6.
We tend to separate activities into the secular and spiritual. But when we let God speak through the Bible, we don’t see this division. The Apostle Paul wrote, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” (Colossians 3:23).
All of life can be lived to glorify God. If you have to do math, then do math as part of your service to God. Even if you don’t like a subject, your attitude will change when you start doing all your reading, writing and math as service to God. He will reward your attitude and efforts. You can’t always control your circumstances, but you can always control your attitude.
About attitude, Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll says: “It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what people think, say or do. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.”
Think about this: Since we are redeemed people left in this world to let God’s light shine through us, all of life is an opportunity for God’s love to flow though us to help those in need and to bring them the good news of God’s amazing salvation.
Memorize this truth: Colossians 3:23 quoted above.
Ask this question: What are some practical things I can do to remind myself that God wants to live his life through me?
“Kids Talk About God” is written and distributed by Carey Kinsolving. To access free, online “Kids Color Me Bible” books, “Mission Explorers” videos, a new children’s musical, and all columns in a Bible Lesson Archive, visit www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. To read journey-of-faith feature stories written by Carey Kinsolving, visit www.FaithProfiles.org.
© 2017 CAREY KINSOLVING