Have you ever played a game with super silly rules, or played pretend where a cardboard box was a high-speed spaceship? Pretending can be a ton of fun, but no matter how hard you try, that cardboard box will never actually blast off into outer space. Praying or singing to made-up stuff is kind of like that. Imagine singing a love song to a half-eaten Twinkie! It sounds totally hilarious, right? A Twinkie can’t hear you, it can’t talk back, and it definitely can’t do anything powerful because it isn’t real.
A long time ago, a prophet named Elijah had to remind people about the difference between what is made-up and who is real. Elijah was a special messenger for the God of the Bible—the creator who made the entire universe and has existed forever! The people had forgotten about God and started worshiping fake gods made out of wood and stone. So, Elijah set up a massive showdown on Mount Carmel to show everyone who the one true God really is. The fake gods couldn’t even light a tiny spark on an altar, but when Elijah prayed to God, fire blasted down from heaven and burned up everything, including soaking wet wood! God won the contest in a super big way.
1 Kings 18:39 When all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
So, how do we show love to the one true God today? We don’t have to build an altar on a mountain or call down fire from the sky to win at worshiping God! We can worship Him every single day in simple ways. First, we worship Him with our words by singing songs of thanks and praying to Him. Second, we worship Him through our actions when we obey Him and obey our parents. When we choose to listen to our parents the very first time they ask, we are showing God that He is the most important boss of our hearts.
Here is a cool mental trick to try this week: whenever you catch yourself loving a toy, video game, or tasty snack more than anything else, stop and do a quick “God Check.” Ask yourself, “Can this game save me, or did God make me?” Remind your heart that while toys are fun, God is the real deal who actually loves you and takes care of you. Let’s make sure we give Him our best singing and our best obeying every day to show the world how awesome Jesus is!
Talk About It
- If you could invent the silliest superhero made out of a snack food, what would their name and superpower be?
- Who was the special messenger in our story, and what miracle did God do on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18:39?
- Parents, when you were kids, what was a favorite toy or game that you loved so much you almost treated it like the most important thing in your life?
- Sometimes it’s hard to obey our parents or put away our favorite video games when we’re asked; how can asking Jesus for help make obeying easier?
- What is one specific way our family can practice worshiping the one true God together this week through singing or obeying?