I Will Make God Most Important
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. ”No one is good—except God alone.19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. ”One thing you lack,” he said. ”Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
(Mark 10:17-22)
Key Verse
All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.”
(1 Timothy 1:17)
Materials Needed: Paper (or journal) to write down prayer requests, a clear jar or vase, a tub of sand (can also be uncooked rice), a scoop or spoon for moving the sand, and one large rock.
Family Discussion
- Whatever we value most or whatever we spend most of our time doing is usually the most important thing in our lives. We are going to do an activity called Jar of Importance. This activity will help us understand how each of our lives is like an empty jar waiting to be filled up, and it is our decision how we fill it.
Family Activity
The key to this activity is having the correct amount of sand (or rice) and a rock that is the right size. Ahead of time, find a rock that fills about half the jar. Then with the rock in the jar, fill the jar with sand (or rice). Now empty that sand (or rice) into a container and remove the rock. You are ready to get started.
While doing the activity, explain to your family how the sand (or rice) represents the things you like to do. The rock represents God. One at a time, have family members take turns filling up the jar with one scoop. As they do this, have them say the important thing that the scoop represents. Do this until all of the sand (or rice) has been poured into the jar. Then add the rock. If done correctly the rock will not fit all the way into the jar.
Now do the activity again, but start by putting the rock inside the jar first and then the sand (or rice). Everything should fit when you do the activity this time.
Jesus os like the rock we put into our jar. If He is the last thing we think of during our day, we usually won’t find time to fit Him into our busy schedule. But if we put Jesus first in our lives and spend time with Him first every day, then we will still get to the rest of our activities and He will be a part of the,m!
Family Prayer
Ask family members for prayer requests. Pray for them. Then ask God to help you keep Him the priority each day.
It is good to enjoy doing things we like to do, but by making God the first and most important thing in our lives, we can enjoy them even more!
