O be Careful Little Minds ... Philippians 4:8 Series

O Be Careful Little Minds…Phil 4:8 Series week 6

My goodness how time flies when you are learning about the goodness of the Lord.  I am so excited to be here in our sixth week of our Philippians 4:8 bible series lesson.  Last week, Mrs. Misty taught you guys about whatsoever things are of good report and I hear that you made an awesome “report card” where you could think about the things you guys have done that are good things for the Lord.  What a blessing that is!

Well, this week we are going to be talking about Virtue and what that means to the Lord.  Virtue means to be filled with goodness and right-living.  Basically to be doing what the Lord tells us to be doing.  So all those things we have been learning about are a part of this.  When we are keeping our minds are the truth of God’s word, honest things, behaving justly, keeping pure thoughts and making sure to have all A’s on our “report card” by living all these “virtues” out then we are pleasing to God.  I am so excited to share with you kiddos today about one of MY favorite women in the Bible, Ruth!  The Bible says in Ruth 3:11 that she was a “virtuous woman”.  

Ruth was a Moabite woman who had married into a family but early in her marriage her husband died.  But, Ruth, although she was not a Jew, loved her Mother-in-law, Naomi, so when Naomi was left all alone and decided to go back to her hometown where her family was, Ruth wanted to go with her.  This surprised Naomi because she knew that Ruth would have to leave her way of life and more than likely as a Moabite she would be treated as an outcast when she was among the Jewish people.  But, Ruth loved her and wanted to serve the same Lord that Naomi did which was our God.  What a blessing to know Ruth loved the Lord.  Ruth showed such virtue (right-living) that she had made an impression on Boaz who owned the fields where she worked.  She took care of her ailing Mother-in-law and always was respectful and grateful for having the chance to be with her.  This impressed Boaz so much that he had his men leave handfuls of the good wheat on purpose for Ruth.   When Naomi guided her in what to say to Boaz, the bible says Ruth said unto her, “all that thou sayest unto me I will do.”  She showed obedience and wisdom by listening to Naomi when she spoke of how to talk to Boaz.  Kids, Ruth is very special in the fact she was a person who stayed true to her word and wanted to do what was right “virtuous”.  She didn’t complain when she worked in the fields or when things may have seemed difficult.  Instead she was thankful and worked hard to take care of herself and Naomi, serving the Lord with virtuous living.  And, in the end, Boaz took her as his wife and cared for her and all of her family from that day forward.  And guess what?  God had a plan; he used Ruth to bring our Savior to the world…she was King David’s great-grandmother.  

God will always have a much better plan than we can imagine; so let us keep our mind fixed on the right kind of things in life….Whatsoever things are True, Honest, Just, Pure, Lovely, of Good Report, Virtuous and Praise-worthy!!