Come, Follow Me for Littles

Week of December 14–20, 2026

Malachi

One little story for each day of the week — short enough to read together, gentle enough for the very youngest, and true to the scriptures.

A warm family of parents and several children in modest ancient-Israel robes all together in a big happy group hug in a sunny green meadow, everyone laughing with joy.

Monday

I Have Loved You

Malachi 1

Today's idea The very first thing Heavenly Father says in Malachi is “I have loved you.”

Malachi is the very last book in the Old Testament. After this, there are four hundred years of quiet before Jesus comes.

So the first sentence matters. It is the last thing Heavenly Father says before a very long pause.

And here it is: “I have loved you, saith the Lord.”

Out of everything He could have said at the end of all those hundreds of years and all those prophets — that is what He picked.

The people even asked Him back, “How have you loved us?” They had had a hard time and were not sure they could see it.

He did not get cross. He just started reminding them. Sometimes love is easiest to see when you look backwards at everything that has already happened.

Let's think: How can you tell that somebody loves you?

A large group of children of many different appearances in modest ancient-Israel robes holding hands in a big circle in a sunny green meadow, all laughing together.

Tuesday

One Father, One Family

Malachi 2

Today's idea Everybody in the whole world is family.

Malachi asked a question that changes how you look at people. He asked: “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?”

Think about what that means for a second.

The child in the next street. The people who live where they speak a language you have never heard. The person your family finds it hard to get along with.

All of them were made by the same Heavenly Father who made you. Which means every single one of them is, in a real way, your family.

Malachi asked the question because people were being unkind to each other, and he wanted them to notice how strange that was. Why would you treat your own family that way?

So when somebody at the park seems different from you, you can think: same Heavenly Father. That makes us relatives.

Let's think: Who is somebody different from you that you could be kind to?

Bright golden light and colourful blessings pouring gently down from an open window in a sunny blue sky onto a joyful family in modest ancient-Israel robes standing below with their arms raised happily.

Wednesday

The Windows of Heaven

Malachi 3

Today's idea When we give a little back to Heavenly Father, He pours blessings down.

Heavenly Father gives us everything — the sunshine, the food, the people who love us. And He asks for a small piece back. That is called tithing.

Tithing means giving one small part out of every ten. If you were given ten shiny stones, one of them would go back to Him.

In Malachi, Heavenly Father says something He almost never says anywhere else. He says: try me.

“Prove me now herewith… if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Windows of heaven, thrown wide open. And so much poured down that you run out of places to put it.

Notice He did not say a small thank-you. He said more than you have room for. That is Heavenly Father's idea of fair trade.

Let's think: What is something you could share a little piece of?

A beautiful open book resting on a sunny wooden table with a small pile of sparkling colourful jewels beside it, a child in modest ancient-Israel robes leaning close and looking at them with wonder.

Thursday

A Book of Remembering

Malachi 3

Today's idea Heavenly Father writes down the good you do, and calls you His treasure.

Malachi tells us about some people who loved Heavenly Father, and who used to get together and talk about Him.

Nothing special. Just friends, talking, saying how they felt about Him.

But Malachi says something amazing happened while they did it: “the Lord hearkened, and heard it.” He was listening. He leaned in.

And then: “a book of remembrance was written before him.” Somebody wrote it down. All those small ordinary conversations went into a book so they would not be forgotten.

Then Heavenly Father said what those people are to Him: “they shall be mine… in that day when I make up my jewels.”

Jewels. That is what He calls them. When Heavenly Father gathers up His treasure, He is gathering up people. You are what He counts as precious.

Let's think: What would you like Heavenly Father to write down about your day?

A bright warm sunrise over rolling green hills where the wide golden sunbeams spread across the sky in a broad sweeping shape like great gentle wings of light, with a child standing below, arms open wide.

Friday

Healing in His Wings

Malachi 4

Today's idea Jesus rises like the sun, and brings healing with Him.

Have you ever watched the sun come up and seen the light spread out sideways across the sky in two big wide arms?

Malachi saw that and thought of Jesus.

He wrote: “the Sun of righteousness [shall] arise with healing in his wings.”

The Sun — not the one in the sky, but Jesus, rising over everything the same way. And He does not come up empty-handed. He comes up with healing tucked in His wings.

Healing is for the parts of you that hurt. Sometimes that is a scraped knee. More often it is a feeling — being left out, or scared, or sorry about something.

And Malachi said what people do when that light reaches them. He said they “go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall” — which is a funny old way of saying: they run outside and jump around like happy little calves let out into the field.

Let's think: What makes you want to run and jump around?

Three generations of a family in modest ancient-Israel robes sitting close together on a sunny green hillside looking at an old family scroll spread across their laps, everyone smiling.

Saturday

Hearts Turned Toward Home

Malachi 4

Today's idea Heavenly Father wants families turned toward each other.

The very last thing in the Old Testament — the last promise before four hundred quiet years — is about families.

Heavenly Father said, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.”

And He said what Elijah would come to do: “he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.”

Turn hearts. Toward each other. Grown-ups looking at their children, children looking back at the people who came before them.

Elijah did come, a long time later, and that is part of why we go to the temple and why families find out about their grandmas and grandpas and great-great-grandparents.

It starts small, though. Asking somebody at dinner what they were like when they were little — that is a heart turning. That is the very last thing the Old Testament asks you to do.

Let's think: What would you like to ask somebody older in your family?

A great solid grey stone mountain standing strong and steady under a deep blue sky with white clouds, with a small happy child in modest ancient-Israel robes standing in the flowery meadow in front of it.

Sunday

I Do Not Change

Malachi 3

Today's idea Heavenly Father is exactly the same, always.

Lots of things change. You grow out of your shoes. The seasons swap over. Your favourite colour might not be the same one it was last year.

Changing is not bad. But it is nice to have something that stays put.

Malachi wrote down five short words from Heavenly Father: “For I am the Lord, I change not.”

That means the Heavenly Father who talked to Moses at the burning bush, and helped David, and shut the lions' mouths for Daniel, is the exact same one who is listening to you tonight.

Not an older version. Not a busier version. The same.

So everything you have learned about Him all year — that He carries lambs, and knows your name, and delights in mercy, and sings over you — all of that is still true. It will still be true when you are grown up.

Let's think: What is something about you that has stayed the same?