Job 1:1, NIRV [1]

¹There was a man who lived in the land of Uz. His name was Job. He was honest. He did what was right. He had respect for God and avoided evil.

Visual Aids:

Bible
Adult volunteer
Plastic animal figures
Plate to hold the animal figures.

Message:

Do you know people who love God and always try to do what God wants them to do? (Allow children to name one person.) Our story from the Bible today is about a man named Job. The Bible describes Job as being “honest. He did what was right. He had respect for God and avoided evil.” I wonder what evil is. (Allow children respond.) Evil is something that brings sadness, meanness, trouble, or destruction. How do you avoid evil? (Allow children to respond.) If you avoid something, you stay away from it. So, Job stayed away from bad things. He was a man who wanted to do what was right and what God wanted him to do. Avoiding evil is not just avoiding punishment. when we avoid things that God doesn’t want us to do, we are also drawing closer to God. Job wanted to be more loving and to love others as God does, so he avoided evil. Job wanted to serve others and show them that he cared, so he avoided evil.

Job drew closer to God because he avoided evil, and God blessed Job with many wonderful things. He had a big family. In fact, he had seven sons and three daughters! Do any of you have that many brothers and sisters? (Allow children to respond.)

Job also had a lot of animals. (Introduce the volunteer who is playing the part of “Job.”) This is “Job.” He will demonstrate what Job had. (Give “Job” the plate to hold at arm’s length.). Job had seven thousand sheep. (Place seven animals on the plate.) Job had three thousand camels. (Add three animals to the plate.) And Job had hundreds of oxen and donkeys. (Add two more animals that are different sizes to the plate. Have Job act like the plate has become heavier.) Now that’s a lot of animals! Well, on top of all that, Job had many workers to help him take care of all the animals. (Have one of the children or yourself help support the plate of animals.) God had really blessed him.

I wonder how it feels to avoid evil.
I wonder how Job felt being so blessed by God.
I wonder how you would feel if God blessed you with so much in life.
I wonder if it is possible to feel too blessed by God. That plate Job is lifting sure seems to be heavy.

The story of Job begins well. Job had been blessed by God, and he had received many animals, land, friends, and family. But the story doesn’t stay happy. In the coming weeks, we are going to learn a lot about Job, his life, and his relationship with God.

Our “Job” will continue to be with us each week as we learn the whole story of Job.

Prayer:

Loving and generous God: Thank you for blessing those who are true to you. Make each of us, like Job, respectful toward you. Help us avoid evil and always want to do what is right to please you. Amen.