Showing Respect for God

Hello Friends,

Well, I looked out my office window the other day and noticed a few things: the rain drops on my window, a few leaves on the ground, some red leaves dispersed amongst the green leaves in the trees, and a gloomy sky. I don’t know if I should be saying this or not, but I think FALL is closer than we might think. Are you ready?

Not only is God’s created nature showing signs of change, but so are our homes and communities. There are Fall decorations on my doors, on the table, on practically ever shelf in the house, and there is even a scarecrow outside the house that says “Welcome.” Communities are preparing to have Fall Festivals and events. And our Church is gearing up to hand out bags for the farmers during harvest and planning to host Trunk-or-Treat. Fall is beginning to “fall” into place! Although some of us are ready for this change, others of us want Summer to last a few more weeks. During the changing of seasons, we must remember to show respect towards those who may or may not be ready for Fall. Today, I want to teach you a little bit about RESPECT from a guy named Elijah.

You see, the prophet Elijah, back in the day, challenged those who didn’t believe God. Specifically, he challenged the gods, Baal and Asherah, to prove the others that they weren’t real. To test their gods against his God, Elijah killed one bull and put it on the altar and the prophets of Baal and Asherah killed another bull and put it on their altar. The god who sent fire down from Heaven to burn up the bull would be proven to be the real god. And which god sent fire down from Heaven to burn up the bull, the fake gods or the real God? The real God and that is because Baal and Asherah didn’t have any respect for our God.

After Elijah got rid of Baal and Asherah, King Amaziah reigned, and he was a bad king because he also worshipped the fake god Baal instead of worshipping the real God. One day, King Amaziah was walking outside on his porch when the wood broke underneath him, and he fell down the hole and hurt himself pretty bad. His servants helped him out of the hole and put him in bed. Then, King Amaziah sent a messenger to ask the priest of the false god, Baal, if he would get better from his injuries.

“But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, ‘Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?” Therefore this is what the Lord says: “You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ So Elijah went. “When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, ‘Why have you come back?’ “’A man came to meet us,’ they replied. ‘And he said to us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’” (2 Kings 1:3-6). Remember that God’s number one rule is that we believe in Him only and not any fake gods.

“Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ‘Man of God, the king says, “Come down!…”’ “At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, ‘Man of God, this is what the king says, “Come down at once!”’ (2 Kings 1:7-10, 11-12, ).

“So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. ‘Man of God,’ he begged, ‘please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!’ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.’ So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king’” (2 Kings 1:13-15).

This third army captain was good because he showed respect for God and for God’s prophet, Elijah. We have to be careful to always show respect to God and to the leaders that God chooses.

So, there are two things we should remember from this lesson today. One, we should believe in the real God only and not any fake gods. Two, we should always show respect to God and to the leaders that God chooses. If we do those two things, then God will be happy with us.

Do you know any people that God chose to be leaders? God chose the leaders of the church when He helped us decide who would be the pastors and the elders. God chose the leaders of our country when He helped us decide who should be the President. Even if we don’t always agree with the decisions our leaders make or what our parents tell us or what our friends want us to do, we still need to respect them. We respect God first, but unless a leader does something against God’s rules, we respect them too because God chose them to be a leader.

I was given a book in third grade which describes respect this way: “Respect is giving consideration to and treating others politely. Showing respect for others shows I respect myself.”  By showing respect, you are not only treating others the way you want to be treated, but you are showing others that you respect yourself. That’s what Elijah did. That’s what Jesus did. That’s what Jesus taught. That’s what Jesus needs us to do. May you find ways to show respect to those in your life today and every day…even to those who may or may not be ready for Fall.

Your Friend, Holy Spirit!

Lesson Borrowed From: https://ministry-to-children.com/lesson-showing-respect-for-god-and-the-leaders-he-chooses