Heroes of the Faith, Part 9Sýnishorn

Declare the Truth

Bible story: Zechariah - Zechariah 7-8

Theme verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Zechariah was a prophet at the time that the Jews were returning to Jerusalem from exile in the Persian Empire. Zechariah, like the other prophets in the Bible, had the job of declaring the truth, of declaring the Word of the Lord to the people around him. When people came to ask him if they should keep fasting at the regular times, he was not afraid to tell them the truth that God spoke to him. They were not fasting to seek God but as some ritual to appear spiritual. In the same way, God sees our hearts and knows our motives for everything. And they were treating other people wrongly while appearing spiritual with their fasting. God hates that.

Jesus denounced the Pharisees for appearing spiritual while hurting other people (Mark 12:40). God used Zechariah not just to point out that wrong thing the people were doing, but also to bring hope for change and good. God used Zechariah to encourage the people to seek justice, mercy, and compassion toward each other. God wants us to help those who are weak, not to think evil about people from our hearts, to tell the truth and seek peace. Their fasting was not going to go away, but God was going to turn it into a time of celebration and joy. God used Zechariah over and over to declare the truth, reminding people about all the things God had said in the past, encouraging them to seek God and treat each other well, and announcing the coming of Jesus.

In the same way, we can encourage each other with God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 3:13). But you cannot encourage others with God’s Word if you do not know what God’s Word says. Spend time reading the Bible daily (John 15:5-8). Imagine you meet someone new today. How would you become good friends? You need to spend time with someone to get to know them well. In the same way, you can spend time in God’s Word to get to know God until He’s your best friend – then keep going! Christianity is not like school where you finish and graduate and then you’re done.

I choose to keep reading God’s Word and encouraging others with it.

Questions:

1. Do you really need to tell the truth even if someone punishes you for it?

2. Are there times when lying is the right thing to do?

3. When is telling the truth difficult?

Application to life:

There is always more with God! Keep following Him, reading His Word, learning from the Heroes of the Faith (there are more than the ones we talked about) and encouraging others to follow Him, too.

Want more?

This reading plan is taken from Equip & Grow's children's curriculum. Enjoy this plan at home, and then do the full curriculum at church with student books, games, crafts, songs, decorations, and more!

https://www.childrenareimportant.com/heroes/