Come, Follow Me for Littles · November 2

A big beautiful rainbow arching over rolling green hills just after rain, warm golden light glowing behind it, a child in modest ancient-Israel robes gazing up in happy wonder at the sparkling wet grass and flowers.

Monday

A Rainbow All Around

Today's idea Heavenly Father's glory is beautiful, like a rainbow.

There was a prophet named Ezekiel, and one day Heavenly Father showed him something so bright and so beautiful that Ezekiel could hardly find words for it.

He tried anyway. And do you know what he finally compared it to?

A rainbow. He said it looked like “the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain.”

Isn't that a lovely thing to reach for? Out of everything in the whole world, the closest thing Ezekiel could find to describe Heavenly Father's glory was a rainbow after the rain.

Rainbows are not scary. They make people stop the car and point. They make everybody in the whole neighbourhood come outside.

So when you wonder what Heavenly Father is like — bright, warm, beautiful, and worth stopping everything to look at. Like a rainbow, all the way around.

A delighted child in modest ancient-Israel robes holding a small open scroll and smiling with surprise and joy, with a golden honeycomb and a little clay pot of honey on a sunny table beside them.

Tuesday

Sweet as Honey

Ezekiel 3

Today's idea Heavenly Father's words taste sweet, like honey.

Heavenly Father gave Ezekiel a scroll with words on it. And then He said something very strange. He said: eat it.

Eat it! Ezekiel must have wondered about that. But he did what Heavenly Father asked.

And here is what Ezekiel said about it afterwards: “it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.”

Of course Heavenly Father did not really want Ezekiel to have a scroll for lunch. He was teaching him something. He was saying: do not just LOOK at my words. Take them all the way inside you, the way food goes inside you and makes you grow.

And when you do, they are sweet. Not bitter, not boring — sweet, like honey off a spoon.

That is a good thing to remember when somebody reads you a scripture story. You are not just hearing it. You are tasting something sweet.

A friendly watchman in an everyday striped tunic and cloth head wrap standing on a sunny stone city wall looking out kindly over green fields, one hand shading his eyes and waving a greeting.

Wednesday

The Friendly Watchman

Ezekiel 33

Today's idea Prophets watch out for us, the way a lookout watches from a high wall.

Long ago, towns had high walls, and somebody would stand up on top of the wall all day. That person was called a watchman.

The watchman had one job: see things early. He was up higher than everybody else, so he could see much further down the road than anybody standing in the street.

Heavenly Father told Ezekiel, “I have set thee a watchman.” And that is a good picture of what a prophet is.

A prophet is not up there to spoil anybody's fun. He is up there because Heavenly Father lets him see further down the road than we can.

So when a prophet says, “this way is better,” it is like the watchman calling down, “not that path, friends — this one!” He can see something we cannot see yet.

We have a living prophet today. He is up on the wall, watching out for you.

A kind shepherd in modest ancient-Israel robes kneeling in soft green grass gently wrapping a clean soft cloth around one little lamb's leg with careful hands, the woolly flock resting on a sunny hillside nearby.

Thursday

The Shepherd Who Binds Up

Ezekiel 34

Today's idea Jesus takes care of the ones who are hurt or worn out.

A good shepherd counts his sheep. But a really good shepherd does something more than counting.

Heavenly Father said what He does for His sheep, and it is a list worth listening to slowly.

He said: “I will seek that which was lost.” He goes looking. “And bring again that which was driven away.” He brings the wandered-off one back. “And will bind up that which was broken.” He wraps up the hurt one, careful and gentle. “And will strengthen that which was sick.”

Notice who is on that list. Not the fastest sheep. Not the fluffiest one. The lost one, the wandering one, the hurt one, and the tired one.

That means the days you feel most like a mess are exactly the days you are most on His list.

Then He said the warmest part: “I will feed them in a good pasture.” Somewhere green, with plenty. That is where He is taking you.

Two children in modest ancient-Israel robes hugging each other warmly and making up after a disagreement in a sunny garden, both smiling with relief and happiness in warm golden light.

Friday

A Soft New Heart

Ezekiel 36

Today's idea Heavenly Father can make a hard, grumpy heart soft again.

Have you ever felt hard inside? Somebody says sorry, and you fold your arms and think: no. Not yet. I am not ready to be nice about it.

That is a hard-heart feeling. Everybody gets it sometimes, even grown-ups.

Heavenly Father made a promise about that exact feeling. He said: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”

Then He said what He would take away — “the stony heart” — and what He would put in its place: “an heart of flesh.” A warm one. A soft one. One that can feel things again.

You cannot make your own heart go soft. Have you noticed? Trying harder does not really work.

But you can ask. And that is exactly the thing Heavenly Father promised to do — swap out the stony feeling for a warm one, and give you a fresh start on the inside.

A happy child in modest ancient-Israel robes holding two rolled scrolls, one in each hand, bringing them together side by side to make one, smiling proudly in a sunny green meadow.

Saturday

Two Books, One Story

Ezekiel 37

Today's idea The Bible and the Book of Mormon are two books that tell one story about Jesus.

Heavenly Father gave Ezekiel something to do that looked a bit like a puzzle.

He said: take one stick and write on it. Now take another stick and write on that one. Now hold them together in your hand, so that “they shall become one in thine hand.”

Two sticks — but joined together, one thing.

Those two sticks are two books. One is the Bible, written by prophets who lived near Jerusalem. The other is the Book of Mormon, written by prophets who lived far away across the ocean.

They were written by different people, in different places, who never met each other. But they are about the very same Jesus.

So when you hold both books, you are holding Ezekiel's two sticks, joined together at last — two witnesses, both saying the same wonderful thing.

A clear sparkling river flowing out from under a honey-coloured stone temple doorway and widening into a lush green valley, with leafy fruit trees along both banks and children wading and laughing in the shallow water.

Sunday

The River That Keeps Growing

Ezekiel 47

Today's idea Good things from the temple keep growing bigger and bigger.

Ezekiel saw water coming out from under the door of the temple. Just a little trickle at first, running out across the ground.

Then somebody walked with him along the water. After a while they stopped and stepped in — and it came up to their ankles. Just splashing depth.

They walked further. Now it was up to the knees. Further still, and it was up to the waist. And when they had gone far enough, it was a river so deep and wide you could swim in it.

The water never got smaller. It only ever got bigger, the further it went.

And along both banks, big leafy trees were growing — trees with fruit every single month, and leaves that helped people feel better.

That is what happens with the good things that start in Heavenly Father's house. They start small, like a trickle. Then they go out and out into your whole life — and they keep on getting deeper.