Children's Challenge: Week 16
20–26 April 2015
Jesus has been teaching people about God, performing miracles as signs of God’s power, and questioning the way people lived: he told them that honouring God could make a big difference in their lives. People who opposed Jesus were starting to murmur and plot against him, so Jesus healed a blind man and then taught about ‘spiritual blindness’—when people couldn’t see God or their own faults. More and more, Jesus was challenging people with truths about God and about how people were living.
Jesus uses an illustration about sheep to help those who are listening understand an important truth about following the right voice. He uses an illustration about sheep because this is something that the people in his time and area would understand. I wonder, if Jesus was trying to communicate this teaching today to people where you live, if he would use some other example to help you understand.
Listening to God is a really important thing for Christians to do every day. How might you go about doing this? You might be really good at focusing on God even when there are lots of things going on around you that might distract you. Or you might like to stop and listen in a quiet place or even listen to music to help you focus and listen to God. It is important to find what works for us and try some different things.
Take time this week to try some different ways of listening to God.
Find a quiet spot, read today’s Bible passage again, then sit or lie quietly and listen to God. Maybe take a notebook and jot down some words or pictures that come to mind as you focus on God. You could even listen to some music or make some music of your own while you think about God.
Stop what you are doing – perhaps at home or at school or when you are playing with your friends – and focus on God for a few minutes. You might like to write or draw some of the things that came to mind during this time as you listen to God.