Today's memory verse is from Exodus 19:9. It says, “We will do everything the Lord has said.”

The message for today's story is "We thank God for showing us how to live."

Do you have some rules in your house?

Rules such as not eating between meals or putting your toys away?

Rules help us and they helped the Israelites too.

The Israelites were still in the desert.

It had been three months since they had left Egypt.

They were camped beside a mountain when God told Moses He had something very important He wanted to tell His people.

God promised Moses that if the Israelites would follow His directions,

they would live happier and healthier lives.

He would bless them,

and people in other nations would see how much God loved them,

and they would want to know about God too.

The people promised, “We will do everything the Lord has said.”

Moses was to tell the people that God wanted to talk with them.

He was to have them get ready to meet with God.

So the people washed their clothes and they made sure that they were clean too.

Even behind their ears!

Then the people fasted.

Which means they didn’t eat food, but they drank water instead. And they prayed.

Three days later God came to the top of the mountain in a cloud of thunder and lightning.

The people heard loud trumpet blasts.

They saw the mountain shake.

And they were afraid!

But God didn’t want the Israelites to be afraid.

He loved them.

He spoke directly to them and told them about 10 special rules He wanted them to live by.

We call those rules the Ten Commandments.

Do you know them?

Let's review them.

Number 1: Love God the most, and don’t love things or people more than God.

Number 2: Worship only God. You don’t need idols or things to look at to worship Him.

Number 3: Speak God’s name with reverence and respect.

Number 4: Keep the Sabbath day holy. The Sabbath day is a special day spent with God each week.

Number 5: Treat your mom and dad with respect and obedience.

Number 6: The life of others is important; don’t hate or hurt others. Care for those who are needy or hurting.

Number 7: Be faithful to the person you marry.

Number 8: Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Number 9: Always tell the truth.

And number 10: Be happy with what you have; don’t want other people’s things.

Those were the Ten Commandments.

Then God told Moses to come up to the top of the mountain.

There God wrote those 10 important rules for happy living on stone tablets.

God didn’t use a pencil or a pen.

He wrote on the stone tablets with His own finger!

God gave us rules to live by because He loves us.

He promises that if we obey them, we will always be happy.

When we obey God and live as He asks us to, we are worshiping Him.

He will help us obey Him.

Let’s remember to thank God for showing us how to live.