Object Lesson Objective: To help children understand the vastness of God's love and thoughts toward them, using sand as a visual and tangible object.
Materials Needed:
- A clear jar or container
- Sand (enough to fill the jar)
- A small toy figure (to represent a person)
Begin by asking the children if they have ever been to the beach or played in a sandbox. Ask them to imagine trying to count every single grain of sand. Share that today's lesson is about understanding how much God thinks about us, and we're going to use sand to help us visualize it.
Lesson:
- Read Psalm 139:17-18: Start by reading the verses aloud. You can simplify it by saying, "The Bible tells us that God thinks about us a lot! So much that if we tried to count His thoughts about us, they would be more than all the sand."
- Show the Jar of Sand: Hold up the jar filled with sand and ask the children to look at how many grains of sand are in the jar. Explain that if each grain of sand represented one thought that God has about us, this jar shows us just how much God is thinking about us.
- Place the Toy Figure Inside: Place the toy figure inside the jar, burying it slightly under the sand. Explain that sometimes, we might feel small or hard to notice, just like the toy figure in the jar. But just as the figure is surrounded by sand, we are always surrounded by God's thoughts and His love.
- Discussion: Ask the children how it makes them feel to know that God thinks about them more than all the grains of sand. Emphasize that no matter where they go or what they do, God's thoughts are always with them, full of love and care.
- Application: Encourage the children to think of the sand the next time they feel lonely, scared, or sad, and to remember that God is always thinking about them and is near.
- Closing Prayer: End with a short prayer, thanking God for His endless thoughts toward us and asking Him to help us remember how loved we are.
Imagine this: every single thought God has about you could totally outnumber all the grains of sand on every beach, everywhere. That's what Psalm 139:17-18 is getting at. It's like, no matter how hard you try, you can't even begin to count them all. And the crazy part? When you wake up, God is still right there with you, thinking about you and caring for you.
This isn't just some nice poetry; it's a game-changer in how we see ourselves and our place in the world. David, the guy who wrote this Psalm, was mind-blown by how deeply God cares for each of us. It's a reminder that no matter what's going up or down in your life, God's attention and love for you is constant—like, more reliable than your Wi-Fi connection.
So, when you're feeling lost in the crowd, unnoticed, or even forgotten, remember this: to God, you're front and center. Every moment. His thoughts about you are precious, not because you're perfect, but because you're incredibly valuable to Him. This passage from Psalm 139 invites us to really get it—that we are loved and known by God in a way that's beyond our wildest imagination. It's about leaning into that feeling of being valued and letting it shape how we live, knowing we're never alone because God is always with us, from the moment we wake up and through every single day.
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