Come, Follow Me for Littles · October 5

A child in modest ancient-Israel robes sitting close beside another tired, downcast child on a low stone step, speaking gently with a hand on their shoulder and a kind smile, in a sunny village lane.

Monday

A Word for Somebody Tired

Today's idea Heavenly Father can teach you exactly what to say to somebody who is tired.

Have you ever seen somebody having a rough day? Their shoulders go down. Their face goes quiet. They sit apart from everybody else.

Isaiah said Heavenly Father teaches us something special for exactly that moment. He said He gives us the words “to speak a word in season to him that is weary.”

Weary means worn out and sad. And a word in season is the right word, at the right time.

You do not need a long speech. Sometimes the whole word in season is: “Do you want to play with me?” Or “I like your picture.” Or just sitting down next to them and not saying anything at all.

Isaiah said Heavenly Father wakes him up every morning so he can listen. That is how he learned what to say.

You can listen too. When you see somebody with their shoulders down, ask Heavenly Father quietly inside, “What should I say?” Then say it.

An ordinary village mother in an everyday striped tunic and cloth head wrap holding her small child close in a warm comforting hug in a sunny green garden, both smiling with eyes gently closed.

Tuesday

I Am the One Who Comforts You

Isaiah 51

Today's idea Heavenly Father says, “I am the one who comforts you.”

When you get hurt, who do you run to? Somebody who will scoop you up and say, “Oh, I know. I know.”

That is called being comforted. And Heavenly Father says something wonderful about it. He says, “I, even I, am he that comforteth you.”

He says it twice — I, even I — as if He wants to make absolutely sure you heard which one He means. Not somebody else. Him.

Isaiah said Heavenly Father “covers us in the shadow of His hand.” Have you ever cupped your hand over a little bug, or a candle, so nothing could bother it? That is the picture.

So when your feelings are hurt and you cannot see anybody to run to, you can remember He is already there, with His hand cupped over you.

Isaiah said something else, too: comfort is one of the things Heavenly Father is best at. It is not a bother to Him. It is what He loves to do.

A joyful young messenger in modest ancient-Israel robes running happily down a green mountain path with both arms raised high, a village visible in the sunny valley below, wildflowers along the path.

Wednesday

Beautiful Feet

Isaiah 52

Today's idea Sharing good news about Jesus is one of the happiest things you can do.

Long ago, before there were phones, if something wonderful happened far away, somebody had to RUN and tell everybody. A runner would come flying over the hills, waving, shouting the good news.

Isaiah wrote about a runner like that. And he said the funniest, loveliest thing about him.

He said: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the FEET of him that bringeth good tidings.”

His feet! Not his face, not his voice. His dusty, running, hurrying feet — because those were the feet that could not wait to tell somebody good news.

The good news the runner carried was about Jesus. And you get to carry that news too.

When you tell your friend that Heavenly Father loves them, or that Jesus is your friend, your feet become beautiful feet. Isn't that a funny and wonderful thing to be?

A kind grown-up in an everyday striped tunic carrying a big heavy woven basket on one shoulder while walking beside a small child in modest ancient-Israel robes who skips along happily with empty hands.

Thursday

He Carries the Heavy Part

Isaiah 53

Today's idea Jesus knows exactly how you feel, and He helps carry the heavy part.

Have you ever tried to carry something much too heavy? Your arms start to shake. You have to stop and put it down. And then somebody bigger comes along and says, “Here — let me take that.”

Isaiah wrote about somebody who does that with feelings.

He said about Jesus: “He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” Griefs and sorrows are old words for sad, heavy feelings.

That means Jesus knows exactly what sad feels like. He is not guessing about it. When you are disappointed, or lonely, or your feelings got squished — He already knows that exact feeling, from the inside.

And Isaiah said He does not only know about it. He carries it. He comes and takes the heavy part, the way somebody bigger takes the heavy basket.

So you never have to hold a heavy feeling all by yourself. Not for a whole day. Not even for one afternoon.

Two great green mountains standing solid under a bright blue sky, with a small happy family in modest ancient-Israel robes standing together in a flowery meadow in front of them in warm sunlight.

Friday

Kindness That Never Moves

Isaiah 54

Today's idea Heavenly Father's kindness to you will never go away.

Look at a mountain. Really look at one — a big one, way off in the distance.

Mountains do not move. They were there before you were born. They will be there when you are a grandma or a grandpa. They just stay.

Isaiah said something amazing about that. Heavenly Father said: even if the mountains got up and walked away, “my kindness shall not depart from thee.”

So His kindness is even steadier than a mountain. That is how sure it is.

In the very same chapter, Heavenly Father said something about children, too. He said, “all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”

That means you. Taught by Heavenly Father Himself, with a whole lot of peace. That is what He wants for you.

Cheerful leafy green trees with their branches raised up like happy arms in a sunny green valley, with children in modest ancient-Israel robes dancing and singing joyfully among them and songbirds flying.

Saturday

The Trees Clap Their Hands

Isaiah 55

Today's idea The whole world is happy that Heavenly Father made it.

Here is one of the silliest, happiest pictures in all the scriptures, and Isaiah is the one who drew it.

He said that when Heavenly Father's people come home to Him, “the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Singing mountains! Clapping trees! Can you picture that? All those branches waving up and down like hands going clap, clap, clap.

Isaiah was telling us that the whole world is glad about Heavenly Father. Not just people — everything.

He also said something honest in the same chapter. He said Heavenly Father's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, the way the sky is higher than the ground. That means He knows more than we do, and sometimes we just have to trust Him.

But if the trees are clapping, it must be very good news indeed.

Many different happy families in modest ancient-Israel robes walking together up a sunny path toward a beautiful open honey-coloured stone house of worship on a bright morning, with white doves flying.

Sunday

A House for Everybody

Isaiah 56

Today's idea Heavenly Father's house is a happy place, and everybody is welcome there.

Have you ever been somewhere and wondered, “Am I allowed to be here?” It is not a nice feeling.

Isaiah wrote down what Heavenly Father says about His own house, and it is the opposite of that feeling.

He said, “mine house shall be called an house of prayer for ALL people.” All. Every single kind of person. Nobody standing outside the door wondering.

He said He would bring them to His holy mountain and “make them joyful in my house of prayer.” Not just let them in — make them JOYFUL once they were inside.

Isaiah also talked about keeping the Sabbath day — the one day each week we set apart to remember Heavenly Father and rest.

So today is a good day for it. Being together. Being quiet. Being glad. There is a place in Heavenly Father's house with your name on it.