Who am I and what am I?
Am I an animal? a vegetable? a mineral? a Person?
A PERSON is one who has a body, bones, blood, a brain and many other things.
Do you have a body? Bodies come in different sizes and shapes (short, tall, skinny, fat ), but do you have one?
Do you have bones? Can you feel any of them? Do you have a skull?
In your skull, do you have a brain? Has God given you a better brain than your pet dog or your pet cat?
Do you have blood? Can you see some of your veins on your arms or hands? Do you have a heart? Do you know where it is located? Can you feel it thumping?
Do you have muscles? Do you know the names of any of them (biceps, etc.)? If you raise your hand in class or pick up your pencil, are you using muscles?
Do you have nerves? If you pinch yourself, does it hurt? If you bite your tongue, do you feel pain?
The body is a wonderful thing. David once said, "I will _______________ Thee; for I am fearfully and ___________________
M__________" (Psalm 139:14). And yet, as you think about your body, ARE YOU MORE THAN JUST A BODY? Do you have a soul (see Matthew 10:28; Mark 8:36)? Is there a real PERSON who lives in your body? If you lost an arm or a leg in an accident, would you still be the same person? If a doctor had to remove one of your lungs, would you still be the same person? If you were blind, would you still be the same person?
As a PERSON, do you have a WILL? Do you make choices and decisions? Suppose your teacher tells you to hold up a piece of paper, and you obey. Why did you do this? Did someone else force you to do it or did you choose to do it yourself? Do you ever choose not to do certain things? Have you made a decision to receive Christ as your personal Saviour? Have you made a decision to reject Christ as your personal Saviour?
As a PERSON, do you have EMOTIONS (feelings)? Are there times when you feel sad, mad, or glad? Are there times when you laugh and times when you cry? Could you stand before your S.S. Class and keep a straight face and not smile even though all of your classmates would be making funny faces at you? Have you ever felt embarrassed? What has been your most embarrassing moment?
As a PERSON, do you have an INTELLECT (the ability to think and reason and use your mind)? What is 20 minus 2 divided by 9? ________ How did you get this answer? Could a horse figure that out? If a car can travel 30 miles with one gallon of gas, how many gallons would be needed to travel to a place 45 miles away? _________ Did you have to think to get this answer? What man never had a father and never had a mother? _______________ When this man was one day old did he look like a baby or did he look like a full grown man? _____________________________________ To answer these questions you must use, your intellect!
We have thought about who we are and what kind of person we are. Now we want to think about where we are in time. We also want to think about where we have been and where we are going.
Think about a baby. What is a baby like? How does a baby act? How does a baby spend its time? Were you a baby?
Think about a 4 or 5 year old. What is this young child like? Do you have brothers or sisters of this age? How do they act? Were you 14 years old once?
Think about someone in first, second or third grade. What is this person like? How do they act? What do they enjoy doing? Not too long ago, were you in this age group?
Think of your own age group (4th, 5th, 6th grade). What are you and your classmates like?
Think of teenagers. What are they like? What are some things that they enjoy doing? Do you have brothers or sisters that are teens? Will you be a teenager?
Think of young adults. Do you know people who are going to college? What are they like? How do they spend their time? Do you know of other young adults who have jobs? Will you be a young adult?
Think of older adults like your parents. What are they like? What do they enjoy doing? How do they spend their time? Think of elderly people like your grandparents. What are they like? What do they enjoy doing? How do they spend their time? Will you be older and old like them?
As we think about where we have been and where we are right now and where we are going, it helps us to see our movement and our growth in time. How did you get from birth to age 4? Was it a big struggle to grow into a 4-year old? What major problems did you face back then? How did you get from age 4 to age 7? How did you manage to do that? Was it a struggle? What great problems did you face in grow up to age 7? How did you get from age 7 to where you are now? How did you do it?
Let’s look ahead. How are you going to go from where you are now to being a teenager? How are you going to go from a teen to a young adult? How are you going to go from a young adult to an older adult?
In all of this God has a purpose and a plan. God knows all about being born and living and growing. This is His plan for people (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). It’s God’s will for you to grow up and move on in life. God wanted you to be born and He wanted you to be a 4-year old and He wanted you to be a 7-year old and He wants you to be the age you are right now! And God has a purpose and a plan for the rest of your life. As you go from one year to the next, God loves you and cares about each day and each step you take. God is involved in every birthday you have!
Can you go forward and grow up to be all that God wants you to be and all that you should be? The answer is YES, and here are the reasons:
The Middletown Press (on December 2 and 3, 1981) had two articles which spoke of a childhood disease called progeria. This rare disease makes the child grow old ten times faster than normal. This means that an 8 year old boy would be tiny, wrinkled and bald like an 80-year old person. How would you like to look like an 80-year old person at age 8? Usually people with this disease do not live very long.
Another girl, named Meg, has the same disease. She was 26 years old at the time the article was written. Even though she looks very old, she is alive and happy. Her desire is to meet with younger people who have the same disease and encourage them. Here’s what she wants to tell them when she sees them:
"HI. I’M MEG. I’M HERE. I’M 26. I’VE BEEN VERY HAPPY AND YOU CAN BE TOO!"
She wanted to give hope and happiness to others who have the same disease!
Here is a girl whose growing up is very different from yours. For her, to live one year is like living ten years. But what did she do? Did she give up? Did she commit suicide? Did she decide to be miserable all her life? Did she look in the mirror every day and feel sorry for herself? NO! She decided to grow and live and be happy!
If Meg can face life in such a way, should not we be able to? If she is able to face each new day, should not we be able to do the same?
For how many years did the woman in Luke 8:43 have a physical problem? _______________ What about the man in John 5:5? ________ Read Acts 3:2 and 4:22. How long was this man crippled? __________ These three people had to go down the road of time also.
As we think about these unusual physical problems and diseases, should we not thank our God for the health we have? Should we not thank Him that we can be alive and happy at whatever age we are, no matter what problems we might face?
Back to THINKING ABOUT ME
Back to SUNDAY SCHOOL MATERIALS & HELPFUL BIBLE
STUDIES