Listen up, little ones
Listen for the word God
Reading
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10—Imitate us. Serve God.
Optional Reading
Optional Reading Ruth 1:16–17
Keys for kids
- Ruth determined to follow Naomi and the Lord.
- The Thessalonians determined to follow Paul and the Lord.
- You should follow people who follow the Lord.
Questions
- What was Ruth’s commitment to Naomi?
- What was the Thessalonians’ commitment to Paul?
- Who should we follow?
Notes
In Ruth 1, Ruth pledges her love and commitment to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. And we should follow after people who are following after the true and living God. Even though Naomi was bitter towards God, there must have been something in her life and testimony that told Ruth of her faith, weak as it might have been, of the true God.
Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica and is commending them for their commitment to follow him. But much more importantly, their commitment to follow God. In becoming imitators of God, their life became an example to lots of other Christians.
So, other Christians became imitators of these Thessalonians, who had become imitators of Paul, who was imitating Christ (1 Cor 11:1). As Shenton notes, in imitating Paul, a disciple of Christ, they were imitating the Lord. The outcome of this was that they became a model for others to follow. In other words, the imitators became the imitated! One thing is clear—our actions and attitudes are watched and followed.
Who are you following? Who is following you?
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 112a, 119r
Prayer
- Ask God to give you good examples to follow and to make you a good example to follow.
- Pray for change in you from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.