Hi boys and girls.

Do you see what I have brought with me today? What are each of these things? (bottle, sippy cup, drinking cup) What do each of these things have in common? They are all things to drink out of. What makes them different? (Different people use them.) That is right. A little baby uses the bottle, but as the baby gets older what happens? Those taking care of the baby know the baby needs something else because the baby is growing and changing. When the baby becomes a toddler, that baby doesn’t need a bottle any more, do they? It doesn’t mean the baby doesn’t need to drink their juice or milk or water, but because they have grown they need something different. The same is true as the toddler grows into a child. Then you are better off drinking from a cup. It is not always easy to give something up or change, but it often is better for you and in the end you may like it even better.

God is like the people who take care of us. He loves us and knows what we need, but as we grow and move into different situations he may change how he supplies our needs. Do you remember the story of the people leaving Egypt after they had been slaves? They wandered in the wilderness for a long time and God made sure they ate by giving them manna. However when they went into the promised land the manna stopped. Did the people not need to eat any more? No, but they were delivered out of bondage to freedom and were able to start providing for themselves from the crops that had been planted there by other people. God knew they had grown and changed. He still loved them and cared for them, but he knew they could feed themselves now. He took care of them in other ways and still takes care of us in ways that are best for us. God will always take care of us, but it won’t always be in the same way, but you can count on it always being in the best way.

Let’s pray.