Week 707 · about 45 minutes
Ecclesiastes 12
Ecclesiastes 12 · Memory verse Ecclesiastes 12:13
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Ecclesiastes 12), the matching word search and answer key (Ecclesiastes 12 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a folded cloth
Hold a folded cloth. Read Ecclesiastes 12 in about four minutes, stopping at Ecclesiastes 12:13: “This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Ecclesiastes 12?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Ecclesiastes 12 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, ““Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”” Ecclesiastes 12 opens with these words: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, “I have no…” The line to keep is Ecclesiastes 12:13: “This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” Carry the word “matter” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Ecclesiastes 12:13: “This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Ecclesiastes 12? Then try this: Read “This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Ecclesiastes 12. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Ecclesiastes 12:13. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Ecclesiastes 12 and write Ecclesiastes 12:13 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Ecclesiastes 12:13
“This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Ecclesiastes 12. Help us remember Ecclesiastes 12:13 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.