Children’s Lesson for April 19, 2020
Ruth 1 and 2
In the book of Ruth, we read about a woman named Naomi who had two daughters in laws, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi’s husband and sons all died, leaving Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah alone. Naomi decided to travel back to Bethlehem to a land she was familiar with, but she told Ruth and Orpah that they could return to their mother’s homes to live. Orpah immediately went back to her mother’s house, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi. She said “Where you go, I will go.” Ruth traveled with Naomi back to Bethlehem to live.
When they arrived in Bethlehem, Ruth worked hard to ensure that they had enough to eat. There was a famine in the land at that time, and Ruth would go into the fields after the workers had harvested the grain, and she would gather up what was left. It wasn’t much! A man named Boaz saw Ruth doing this and he told his workers to leave extra in the fields for Ruth to gather. Boaz noticed that Ruth would come each day to gather food for herself and her mother in law. He was so impressed with Ruth’s kindness and her hard work, that he kept her safe while she was in his fields, and later, he even married her!
Ruth and Boaz eventually had a baby boy who was the grandfather of King David, an ancestor to Jesus!
Ruth must have been very happy to have someone looking out for her! Ruth worked to take care of her mother in law, and Boaz worked to take care of Ruth. Just as Boaz worked to make sure Ruth was taken care of, God takes care of us. He sees our needs and He works to provide for us! God knows what we need even before we know we need it!
Have you ever been to a lake or a stream and tossed rocks into the water? What happens when the rocks hit the water? I want you to think about those ripples that the rocks make in the water. Ripples in water are a crazy thing! They start out small and they just keep spreading.
*With your parent’s permission, put some water in a large bowl and drop small rocks into the water to watch the ripples.
Ripples can remind us a lot about the kindness Ruth showed to the people in her life. It started out with something small, like Ruth deciding to stay with Naomi, and then the effects of her kindness kept growing and spreading. God brought many good things to Ruth’s life because of her kindness!
Today, let’s pray and ask God to show us someone we can show kindness to.
You are loved,
Ms. Shantelle
Ask a parent to help you print off the activity sheets for this lesson. You can find them here.