G

Choosing
od's Way

Psalm 119:30
LESSON AIM

To know that our choices are important.

To understand that choices have consequences.
To learn how to make choices that please God.

KEY VERSE

"Keep me far from every wrong; help me...to obey your laws, for I have chosen to do
right." Psalm 119:30 (The Living Bible)

ITEMS NEEDED

Bibles/ p encils/ p ap er
"Who am I?" p ho to co p ies
"My Cho ices" p ho to co p ies

GROUP
INTERACTION

1) Divid e yo ur class into tw o o r m o re team s. Have each team m ak e a list

o f all o f the cho ices they have m ad e to d ay. Answ ers w ill vary w id ely.
Yo u m ay need to sp ark so m e id eas...the stud ents m ay no t realize just
ho w m any cho ices they m ak e in a d ay. Exam p les includ e:
-Will I get up ?
-Will I be in a go o d m o o d o r a bad m o o d ?
-Will I tak e a sho w er?
-Will I w ash m y hair?
-What sho uld I w ear: p ants, sk irt, sho rts, so ck s, sw eater, sw eatshirt?
-Will I eat break fast?
-What w ill I eat fo r break fast?
-Will I go to church?
-Will I bring m y Bible to church?

How Many Choices?

Tip:
The kids will
respond to a
teacher who is
interested in
their life outside
of the classroom.
Take time to
care about what
decisions matter most to your
students.

2) Have the team s co m p are lists to see w ho co uld rem em ber the m o st cho ices.
The team s w ill p ro bably have several o f the sam e id eas, but
d ifferent p eo p le w ill rem em ber d ifferent k ind s o f cho ices. Variety is go o d .
3) As a class, d ivid e the d ecisio ns into tw o catego ries: Important Choices and
Not So Important Choices. Yo u m ay cho o se to w rite their resp o nses
o n a chalk bo ard o r w hite bo ard . The class m ay d isagree as to w hich
d ecisio ns fit into w hich catego ry.
Ho w d id yo u m ak e yo ur d ecisio ns?
Do yo u think o ur d ecisio ns are im p o rtant to Go d ?
What m ak es o ne d ecisio n m o re im p o rtant than ano ther?

INVESTIGATION

Who am I? Handout

INSTRUCTION
TIME

Tip:

With age comes

wisdom. Oftentimes
we overlook the value
of our senior citizens.
Form a council of
senior citizens in your
church. Invite them
to come to your class
and share about difficult choices they've
made. Provide time
for the two generations to interact with
each other. (Snap Sessions

Celebrations and Choice Makers. Campbell, Stan, Smith,

Carol. 1993
David C. Cook Publishing)

Everyo ne m ak es bad cho ices so m etim es...Let's see if yo u can id entify so m e

Bible characters w ho m ad e im p o rtant cho ices - so m e go o d and so m e bad . Co p y
and d istribute the m aster p ro vid ed called "Who Am I?" Have the k id s fo rm
as m any team s as yo u w o uld lik e and tell them they have fo ur m inutes to see
ho w m any co rrect answ ers their team can co m e up w ith. To transitio n into the
instructio n tim e, ask the k id s ho w m any Bible characters o n the hand o ut m ad e
go o d cho ices, and ho w m any m ad e bad cho ices. Then, begin sharing abo ut
Daniel, a m an o f Go d w ho m ad e go o d cho ices.

Daniel: Man of God

Daniel 1:8

Daniel w as k id nap p ed and tak en to Babylo n because he w as a go o d guy. The

Bible says he w as a yo ung m an "in w ho m there w as no blem ish, but go o d -lo o k ing, gifted in all w isd o m , p o ssessing k no w led ge and quick to und erstand ..."
(Daniel 1:4) Daniel w as cho sen to serve in the k ing's p alace. Part o f his training
includ ed eating certain fo o d s that w ere against the Jew ish law fo r Daniel. Instead o f break ing Go d 's law , the Bible tells us that Daniel "p urp o sed in his heart"
no t to d efile him self by eating the k ing's fo o d . That m eans that Daniel m ad e a
CHOICE to serve and o bey Go d rather than m en.
The k ing saw Daniel's w isd o m and ho nesty. He w as im p ressed w ith Daniel's
d ecisio n to o bey Go d . Go d blessed Daniel fo r this d ecisio n: Daniel w as trusted
and given p o w er to rule the k ingd o m o f Babylo n, seco nd o nly to the k ing. He
w as able to interp ret d ream s and Go d sho w ed him visio ns o f things to co m e.
Daniel p ut Go d first, even w hen it m eant he m ight d ie. The k ing m ad e a d ecree that anyo ne w ho p rayed to any go d o r m an o ther than the k ing w o uld be
thro w n into the lio n's d en. Because Daniel w o uld no t sto p p raying he w as p ut
in the lio n's d en, but Go d sent an angel to p ro tect him and he w as no t harm ed .
Just lik e Daniel, w hen yo u CHOOSE Go d 's w ay, it m ay no t alw ays be easy, but
Go d w ill help yo u and bless yo u fo r yo ur o bed ience.

Overlooking the Obvious

Write the sentence belo w o n a chalk bo ard , o verhead transp arency, o r o n
sheets o f p ap er. Be sure to w rite it exactly as it ap p ears in the bo x. Next
have everyo ne quick ly co unt the F's in the sentence. Many p eo p le d o n't
no tice all six F's (they o verlo o k all the ofs).

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF

YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED
WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
So m etim es w hat is o bvio us is exactly w hat w e o verlo o k . It tak es a little
bit o f effo rt to see things the w ay they really are. Do n't be fo o led by
rushing thro ugh cho ices in yo ur life. Tak e the tim e to m ak e go o d cho ices
w ith Go d and His Wo rd . Yo u w ill find that yo ur life is a w ho le lo t better
w hen yo u d o .

How to Choose God's Way

Proverbs 3:6

Mak ing the right cho ices is lik e learning to w alk . When yo u w ere a baby tak ing
yo ur first step s yo u p ro bably fell d o w n a lo t. Yo u had to learn several sk ills
and d evelo p certain m uscles in o rd er to w alk . Pretty so o n it becam e natural. But even after yo u w ere w alk ing and running lik e a p ro , yo u still trip p ed
and fell d o w n so m etim es. In the sam e w ay, w e have to LEARN to m ak e go o d
cho ices. We are sinful (Ro m ans 3:23), and w e m ak e w ro ng cho ices; but as w e
learn m o re abo ut Go d and the Bible, m ak ing the right cho ices beco m es easier
and m o re natural. Ho w ever, no o ne is p erfect and everyo ne m ak es m istak es
so m etim es.
To m ak e go o d cho ices it is o ften help ful to seek go d ly co unsel; in o ther w o rd s,
to ask ad vice fro m go d ly p eo p le. The Bible says, "Where there is no co unsel,
the p eo p le fall; but in the m ultitud e o f co unselo rs there is safety." (Pro verbs
11:14) But o ne o f the best w ays to m ak e the right d ecisio n is to KNOW Go d .
Pro verbs 3:6 tells us, "In all yo ur w ays ack no w led ge Him , and He shall d irect
yo ur p aths." The Hebrew w o rd fo r ack no w led ge is yada w hich m eans to k no w
by investigatio n, reflectio n, o r firsthand exp erience...d irect intim ate co ntact
w ith Go d . As yo u gro w in yo ur relatio nship w ith Go d , He w ill d irect yo u in
m ak ing go o d cho ices that p lease Him .

ALTERNATE
ACTIVITY
Bible Memory

The Bible is a valuable to o l fo r help ing yo u m ak e go o d cho ices. Psalm 119:105

says that Go d 's Wo rd is a "lam p to m y feet and a light to m y p ath." The Bible
can sho w us w hich w ay to go . When w e are faced w ith d ifficult cho ices it is
im p o rtant to have Go d 's Wo rd in o ur hearts. Enco urage yo ur k id s to m em o rize
scrip ture no w so they w ill be read y to face any challenge. So m e go o d verses to
start w ith are:
Psalm 1
Acts 1:8
Jo shua 1:8
2 Chro nicles 7:14
Pro verbs 3:5-6 Psalm 119:11
Ro m ans 3:23
Ro m ans 8:28
Ro m ans 12:1-2 Ep hesians 6:10-11

TAKING
HOME THE
TRUTH

Choices Have Consequences

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Every cho ice w e m ak e has its co nsequence, w hether it is go o d o r bad . Go d

gave us the freed o m to cho o se His w ay. Ad am and Eve m ad e a bad cho ice to
d iso bey Go d and they suffered the co nsequences o f having to leave the Gard en
o f Ed en. Daniel m ad e a go o d cho ice to serve and o bey Go d and enjo yed the
co nsequence: Go d 's blessings.
Go d has p ut befo re us a cho o se-yo ur-o w n ad venture. Deutero no m y 30:19 says,
"...I have set befo re yo u life and d eath, blessing and cursing; therefo re cho o se
life, that bo th yo u and yo ur d escend ants m ay live."

TAKING HOME
THE TRUTH

Evaluating
My Choices

Use the clip art p ro vid ed belo w as the head ing fo r a cho ices p o ster.
Run o ff co p ies o f a blank sheet o f p ap er w ith the clip art as the head ing. The go al is to help yo ur k id s m ak e better cho ices in their lives.
Have them find p ictures and head line clip p ings fro m o ld m agazines
and / o r new sp ap ers w hich best d escribe the cho ices they m ak e m o st
o ften. Have the k id s glue o r tap e the clip p ings o n their p o sters in any
arrangem ent. While the gro up co m p letes this activity d iscuss w ith
the k id s w hy they m ak e the cho ices they m ak e. Keep the k id s fo cused
o n the id ea that Go d w ants to be p art o f their cho ices regard less ho w
im p o rtant o r unim p o rtant they m ay seem to us.
Enco urage the k id s to tak e the co m p leted p o ster ho m e and d iscuss the
issues o f this lesso n w ith their fam ilies.

How Do You
See Things?

y
M

ALTERNATE
ACTIVITY:

h
C

Poster
Clipart

es

CAN YOU READ THIS ALOUD?

PARIS
IN THE
THE SPRING

ONCE
IN A
A LIFETIME

BIRD
IN THE
THE HAND

Kid s o ften m ak e cho ices acco rd ing to the values they think they see in
their friend s. Many d ecisio ns are based o n im m ed iate ap p earances, as in
the illustratio n abo ve. Ho w ever, the cho ices w e m ak e in early life o ften
establish life-p atterns, w hether go o d o r bad . Enco urage yo ur k id s to learn
Go d 's vo ice and o bey it.

Who am I?

Use the following clues about their choices to identify the Bible character.
i lived in egypt, in their prisons and in
their palaces. even through the hard
times god was always there to help me
obey him.. he gave me dreams about the
future. i have eleven brothers, but i was
my father's favorite. who am i?

I have alw ays d o ne m y best to p ut

Go d first, and He has truly blessed
m e. I still d on't k now how he chose
m e to b e the m o the r o f His So n!
Go d is so go o d . Who am I?

God asked me to go to that horrible place!!

Can you believe it? So I decided to take
matters into my own hands, but I ended
up in the belly of a big fish! Boy did I
learn my lesson! Now I know to do it
God's way first! Who am I?
I was a spy...I saw some giants in my day!
But God was so amazing! We ran up against
a city so big they could race chariots on
top of their city walls. God told us to
march around the city and blow our
horns, and He brought the walls down!
My people and I didn't even have to ght!
We obeyed God and He fought our battle
for us! Who am I?

Wow! God gave us such a beautiful place to live

and He walked and talked with us! But why
did He have to tell us not to eat from that one
tree? We didn't think it would hurt to try it just
once...but it did--a LOT! Now we have to deal
with pain and sorrow...Who are we?

We were kidnapped with our friend Daniel. But we decided that, no matter what,
we would serve God! So when we were told to worship some golden statue of the
king, we knew we wouldn't...even if it meant we would burn! The best part is--HE
was with us in the flames, and we didn't get hurt! Who are we?

God made me a promise, that I would be

the father of many nations--I didn't have any
kids! But He is God, and I trusted Him. Sure
enough, I had a son! Then God asked me
to sacrifice my son to Him! How could I kill
my only son? But He is God! As I went to
kill my son, God provided a ram, and let me
keep my son! Who am I?

Money, I always did like

it...in fact, I was the treasurer for the apostles. But
I just couldn't resist when
they offered me the money
to turn Jesus in. It seemed
so easy! All I had to do was
identify Him by kissing
Him, but it was so hard.
I handed him over to be
killed! Who am I?

Do it God's way!
Trust me...I learned my
lesson! I tried to do it my
way and ended up with disaster. There
were frogs in my bed, it was totally dark,
our water was turned to blood, and my
firstborn son died. Who am I?