Lesson 42 - Elementary

Memory Verse

"Ask, and it shall be given you"  (Matthew 7:7).

Notes

The Best Teacher

Boys and girls in school have good teachers who want them to learn to read, to write, to count, and how to take care of their bodies and minds. But Jesus wanted to do more than that: He wanted to tell people how to know and love God. He left His beautiful home in Heaven and came down to this earth where He had no home. We read in the Bible: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” [LUK:9:58]). He was away from His Father's Home in Heaven more than 33 years, just to be down here to teach people how to be good, and make it possible for them to be with Him in that wonderful Home someday.

Forgiving

One of the things Jesus taught people was that they must forgive. Sometimes people do things that we do not like; perhaps they say unkind things to us. But Jesus said that we must not angry at them, must not hate them, and must not want to "get even.” Sometimes children will say, "He hit me, and so I hit him.” That is not what Jesus said we should do. He said that if a person hits us on one cheek we should let him hit the other, too. Many people think that is a hard thing to do; they think they should strike back.

Jesus not only said men should forgive those who were unkind to them, but He did it, too. When they said unkind things to Him, said things about Him that were not true, He did not answer them. When they slapped Him in the face and laughed at Him, He kept still. Even when they hung Him on the Cross to kill Him, He prayed for them and said: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” [LUK:23:34]).

Having Our Sins Forgiven

Before we can ever go to be in Heaven with Jesus we must have our sins forgiven. God is the only One Who can forgive our sins. But Jesus tells us that if we expect to be forgiven we must forgive other people. Jesus taught that, when He taught the disciples that beautiful prayer: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We must forgive everything and not have a bad feeling in our hearts toward anyone. If we do not forgive others, our heavenly Father cannot forgive us.

When we have done a wrong thing to others we must ask their forgiveness. This is not always an easy thing to do, but it is what Jesus said we should do. We must not only ask to be forgiven, but we must be sorry that we did the wrong thing, and ask God to help us never to do it again. One day a man came to Jesus and asked Him if he forgave his brother seven times would that be enough. But Jesus told the man he must forgive 70 times seven. Some people will not forgive at all. Some think they do well if they forgive once or twice, but Jesus said they must forgive as often as 490 times.

The Test

If we do not like to have our brothers and sisters take or break our things, then we should not take theirs. If we like to have the good things, then we should remember that they like them also. If we expect them to be kind to us, then we must be kind to them. If we want them to help us when we need it, we must help them when they want us to do so. If we do not like to have them be selfish with us, we must not be selfish either. If it makes us happy to have them be fair with us, we must remember that it makes them happy to have us be fair with them. If we want them to love us, we must love them.

We should always remember to give the others the best and take the worst for ourselves. For instance, if you and your friend had two apples, one very nice apple and one poor one, you should take the poor one and give your friend the nice apple. We should always give our brothers and sisters the best.

If all people would remember what Jesus said, and would do it, there would be no quarrelling or fighting or hating. He said: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” [MAT:7:12]).

Questions

1. Where should we keep our treasures? [MAT:6:20].

2. Who feeds the birds? [MAT:6:26].

3. How does Jesus tell us to treat others? [MAT:7:12].

4. Do many people find the strait gate and the narrow way? [MAT:7:14].

5. What happened to the house that was built upon the sand? [MAT:7:27].