Obedience

Shalom: Hey, Gracie. Do you remember how sometimes Mama tells you to do things that you don’t understand? Like, Mama would say, “Gracie, I need you to sit on the couch and not move for five minutes.” And you’d say,“Why? Why do you want me to do that?” But there’s always a reason why Mama wants you to do something. Did you know that in the Bible that the Israelites were sent to a new land, and Joshua was with them? God told Joshua to march around the city named Jericho. It was a BIG, HUGE strong city with BIG, BIG tall walls. And God said, “Joshua, you tell all those people to march, all the Israelites, to march all the way around that big city for seven times; and when they are done marching, to scream really loud.” Can you scream really loud?

And God said that when they did that, guess what would happen?

Gracie: What?

Shalom: The rock wall would fall to the ground! Can you believe that? Isn’t that crazy? And do know what?

Gracie: What?

Shalom: Joshua believed God, even though he didn’t understand why. He didn’t know why God wanted him to do that. He didn’t know, “Well, how is marching around a building going to make the walls fall down? How are we going to be able to take away and fight against this huge wall and against the Jericho people? But you know what?

Gracie: What?

Shalom: They all marched! They marched, and marched and marched. And you know what? I bet it was really hot. And I bet they didn’t have a lot of water. And I bet the kids were tired, and they probably whined and they cried; but they kept marching, because God told them to. They obeyed God! And at the end of seven days when the wall came down, they saw why God wanted them to march. But they didn’t know ahead of time. That’s why sometimes Mama tells you to do something, and you need to obey me and do it, whether you know why or not. Because Mama usually knows what’s best for you. OK?