Come, Follow Me for Littles · October 26

A kind grandmother and grandfather in modest ancient-Israel robes hugging their small grandchild warmly in a sunny green garden, all three laughing with joy among colourful wildflowers.

Monday

A Love That Never Ends

Today's idea Heavenly Father's love for you started before you can remember and never stops.

Some things run out. Birthday cake runs out. Summer runs out. Even the very best day eventually turns into bedtime.

Jeremiah wrote down something Heavenly Father said that does not run out.

He said: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.”

Everlasting means with no end anywhere. You cannot get to the far side of it. There is no day coming when Heavenly Father will say, “Well, that is enough of that.”

And Jeremiah wrote down a promise about sad days, too. Heavenly Father said, “I will turn their mourning into joy.” Mourning is a big sad feeling. He did not say He would ignore it, or tell people to stop having it.

He said He would turn it. Take the sad thing and slowly, gently, turn it around until it is facing the happy way.

A small child in modest ancient-Israel robes standing in a wide sunny green field with both arms spread wide beneath an enormous bright blue sky and towering white clouds, smiling happily.

Tuesday

Nothing Is Too Hard

Jeremiah 32

Today's idea Nothing is too hard for Heavenly Father. Not one thing.

Have you ever tried to open a jar that would not open? You twist and twist and your hand goes red, and finally you carry it to a grown-up. And they open it. Pop.

Jeremiah said something like that about Heavenly Father, only much, much bigger.

He prayed, “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power… there is nothing too hard for thee.”

And then Heavenly Father answered him with a question. He said, “Is there any thing too hard for me?”

It is the kind of question that already knows its answer. No. Nothing is.

So when something feels stuck — a friendship that got tangled, a worry that will not go away, somebody in your family who is having a hard time — you can bring the whole jar to Him.

A cheerful child in modest ancient-Israel robes cupping both hands around their mouth to call out happily across a sunny green valley of rolling hills and wildflowers.

Wednesday

Call, and He Will Answer

Jeremiah 33

Today's idea When you call to Heavenly Father, He answers.

Have you ever stood at the top of a hill and called out as loud as you could, just to hear it come back?

Heavenly Father made a promise to Jeremiah about calling out. He said: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

Look at all three parts of that. First: call. Second: He answers. Third — and this is the surprising bit — He shows you great and mighty things you did not even know about.

So you might call to Heavenly Father about one thing, and He answers about that AND shows you something you never thought to ask.

You do not have to shout it. Calling to Heavenly Father is done quietly, on the inside. That is what praying is.

The only part that is up to you is the first part. Call. He has already promised the rest.

A scribe in an everyday striped tunic and cloth head wrap sitting at a low wooden table writing carefully on a fresh open scroll with a reed pen, a small child watching with great interest in a sunny room.

Thursday

The Words That Came Back

Jeremiah 36

Today's idea Nobody can get rid of Heavenly Father's words.

Heavenly Father gave Jeremiah a lot of words to say. So Jeremiah asked his friend Baruch to write them all down on a long scroll. It took a very long time.

Then somebody read the scroll out loud to the king. And the king did not like it one bit. So he took the scroll — and he ruined it. Every last piece of it was gone.

That was the end of the words, then. Right?

No. Heavenly Father told Jeremiah, “Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words.”

So Jeremiah and Baruch sat down and did the whole thing over. Every word came back. And Jeremiah added even more this time.

Heavenly Father's words are not fragile. You cannot get rid of them. That is why we still have them today, sitting on the shelf in your house, thousands of years later.

A kind helper in an everyday striped tunic and cloth head wrap gathering up an armful of soft folded old cloths with a gentle caring smile, a neat coil of rope on the ground beside him in a sunny courtyard.

Friday

The Soft Old Rags

Jeremiah 38

Today's idea Being kind means noticing the small things that would hurt.

There was a time when Jeremiah was somewhere he could not get out of, and he needed somebody to help him.

A man named Ebed-melech heard about it. He was not a king or a prophet. He just worked at the palace. But he went straight to the king and asked if he could go and get Jeremiah out.

The king said yes. So Ebed-melech got some strong ropes.

And then he did something you might not have thought of. He went and found a pile of soft old rags first.

He sent the rags down with the ropes and told Jeremiah, “Put these under your arms, under the ropes.” Because he knew that plain ropes would rub and hurt.

Anybody could have pulled Jeremiah up. Ebed-melech thought about how it would feel. That is what real kindness does — it notices the small things.

A beautiful fresh sunrise over rolling green hills with a child in modest ancient-Israel robes standing in an open doorway looking out at the bright new morning, sparkling dew on the grass.

Saturday

New Every Morning

Lamentations 3

Today's idea Every single morning, Heavenly Father's kindness starts over fresh.

Have you ever had a day that just went wrong? You spilled something, and then you were grumpy, and then somebody was grumpy back, and by dinner you were ready for the whole day to be over.

And then you went to sleep. And when you woke up — it was a brand new morning.

That is exactly what Jeremiah wrote about. He said Heavenly Father's kindnesses “are new every morning.”

Every morning! Not saved up. Not used up yesterday. Brand new, like a fresh sheet of paper.

He said Heavenly Father's mercies “fail not,” which means they never once run out or fall short. And then he said four words people have loved ever since: “great is thy faithfulness.”

So no matter how yesterday went, the sun is going to come up. And Heavenly Father will be right there at the start of it, with a whole new day's worth of kindness.

A child in modest ancient-Israel robes standing in a sunny green meadow with one hand resting gently over their own heart, smiling peacefully in warm golden light among wildflowers.

Sunday

Written on Your Heart

Jeremiah 31

Today's idea Heavenly Father writes what is right straight onto your heart.

Some things you have to look up. Where is the library? How do you spell “giraffe”? You have to go and check.

But some things you just know. Nobody has to look up whether it is nice to laugh at somebody who fell over. You already know.

Jeremiah wrote down why. Heavenly Father said: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.”

That means the good and right things are not only in a book on a shelf. Heavenly Father wrote a copy inside you, where you keep your feelings.

That is the warm little nudge you get when you are about to do something unkind and something inside says, “mmm — no.” That nudge is not an accident. Somebody put it there on purpose.

And Heavenly Father said the best part after that: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” You belong to Him, and He wrote it where you would always have it with you.