Day 19 – Being Different
Coloring/Teaching
Let’s color the picture of Zacchaeus! Why was he in a tree?
Zacchaeus Was A Wee Little Man
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed him by, He looked up in the tree,
And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down from there;
For I’m going to your house today, for I’m going to your house today.”
Bible Time
(Luk 19:2) And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
(Luk 19:3) And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
(Luk 19:4) And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
Story
Johnny was playing with Jamie in the sand box. Freddie walked up to the sand box and told them that he wanted to play too. But Jamie did not want Freddie to play with them because Freddie had a patch over his eye. Freddie had an operation on his eye and had to wear a patch over it to keep the dirt out. Jamie made fun of Freddie and called him names.
Johnny felt sad because Jamie was making fun of Freddie. But he did not know what to do. He didn’t want Jamie to stop playing with him. But he did not want Freddie to be sad. Johnny went to talk to him Mommy.
“Mommy,” Johnny asked, “What should I do? I want to play with Jamie AND Freddie!”
Mommy told Johnny the story about Zacchaeus and how short of a man he was. Jesus did not make fun of Zacchaeus because he climbed a tree so he could see Him. In fact, Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down from the tree so He could go to his house to eat with him! Jesus did not care that Zacchaeus was short. Jesus loved Zacchaeus no matter how tall he was.
Mommy said, “Johnny, we need to be like Jesus and love everyone – no matter what is wrong with their body! Wouldn’t you be sad if Jamie did not want to play with you ? What do you think you should do?”
Johnny knew that he would feel badly if someone did not want to play with him because he looked different from them.
He felt so much better after talking to his Mommy. He ran outside and told Jamie to stop making fun of Freddie because Jesus loves Freddie just as much as He loved him. Then he turned to Freddie and said, “Come play with us! We don’t care what you look like!”
Aren’t you glad that Jesus loves us even though there is something wrong with our bodies? Our bodies may not all look the same but inside, we are all the same!
Dear God…
Please help me not to be nice to people even if they do not look like me. Help me to love them the same way that You love them! Amen!
Leave a Reply