Manna & Quail
Lesson
In life, we can choose to grumble and be selfish, or we can choose to be grateful. Every day we should praise God and give Him thanks. Instead of complaining, we can be thankful.
God had done an amazing thing! He had delivered God’s people from the evil Pharaoh in Egypt. But as they traveled through the desert, the people started to grumble and complain. They didn’t like the desert, and they were running out of food.
They didn’t thank God for watching over them. They didn’t trust that God would keep watching over them. No, they complained.
God loved them and provided food for them. Every morning, God gave them bread from heaven. This bread was called manna. In the evening, God provided quail for the peo- ple to eat. God never stopped taking care of his people.
God never stops taking care of us. We should thank him for all he does for us. Sometimes we want to complain and grumble too. We complain that we don’t have this toy, or we complain that we have to go to bed so early, or we complain about having to eat our vegetables.
THANK YOU: DON’T COMPLAIN
But let’s not be grumblers and complainers. Let’s remember all the good things that God has done. Let’s thank him for taking care of us. Let’s thank him for loving us. And when things aren’t going right, say “instead of complaining, I can be thankful.”
Lets Move
Activity
ITEMS NEEDED: Several packages of cotton balls, baskets (one for each kid) ADVANCED PREPARATION: None.
DIRECTIONS:
When God’s people, the Israelites, woke up every morning, there was manna covering the ground. The people simply had to gather up the manna, so that they would have enough to eat that day. They could trust that God would provide again the next day.
Show the kids the cotton balls.
Now, of course, we can’t eat this, but we’re going to pretend that we’re the Israelites and that this is manna.
Give each kid a basket. Toss the cotton balls everywhere around the room. Have kids collect the cotton balls.
Look at all that manna. Look at how God took care of the Israelites. God takes care of us too.
We don’t need to complain, we don’t need to grumble. God is good and he gives us good things. We should thank him always. Remember, instead of complaining, I can thank God.