A Kid's Guide To LukeSample

God Welcomes Us With Open Arms

Let’s see if you can roll your eyes. Good. Now fold your arms. Now pretend a parent or a teacher is asking you to do something you don’t really want to do. Right. See where eye-rolling and crossing your arms comes into this picture? God knows all about the ways we sometimes ignore and resist the rules.

Your mom asks you to clean your room. But you stay in front of the TV. Sometimes it seems more fun to bend the rules and ignore what you’re told. But how do you feel when you choose to have your own way? What happens to others? Whenever you brush aside the directions of adults, God knows your actions and thoughts, yet He loves you and will forgive your not-so-great attitudes and actions if you ask Him to. As we see in the story of the rebellious son in Luke 15, God is always waiting for us to ask for forgiveness. He welcomes us home with open arms.

Next time you’re asked to do something, how can you respond with a willing heart? What is one thing (Bible verse, saying, etc.) that can help remind you that God always loves you?

Using a pencil, write down the last time you disobeyed a parent. Now ask God to forgive you. Erase what you wrote. See how forgiveness frees you from the past?