(10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will discuss what it looks like to follow God wholeheartedly.
Provide a dry erase board and markers.
Learning Goal: Students will identify ways to demonstrate wholehearted commitment to God despite opposition.
On the board, write the following headings: Playing Sports, Making Music, Building a House, and Designing Software for a phone or video game. Work through each heading, one at a time, asking: What would happen if we did this task with just half-hearted effort and focus? Lead students to think through how half-hearted efforts usually result in losing a game, producing poor quality, getting fired from a job, getting cut from a team, and creating products that don't work. Explain that we know that there are often immediate consequences for doing things half-heartedly, but we tend to ignore the consequences of following God half-heartedly. Ask: Why is it easy to ignore how we follow God? As students share their thoughts, point out that we don't always see the immediate results of disobeying God because we don't usually get cursed with plagues or have to wander a desert for forty years.
Ask: How did Caleb’s wholehearted devotion to God affect the decision he made to follow God? Discuss this as a class, emphasizing that he did not waver in his obedience to God and faith in God. Ask: What are some qualities or characteristics of people who follow God wholeheartedly? List responses on the board. After students answer, lead students to think about some big situations they are facing right now. Invite students to bow their heads and silently ask God to show them how they can demonstrate wholehearted devotion to Him in their responses to those situations. After a moment, close in a prayer asking God to empower students with wholehearted devotion as they make important decisions. Invite students to silently voice their own prayers based on these prompts: