This lesson teaches children that God loves His people with a faithful, everlasting love, and that He keeps His promises even when His people have wandered away. It suits children aged 5 to 11 and takes about 20 to 30 minutes, including the story, Bible reading and activity.
Big Idea
God loves His people forever, and He always keeps His promises. When we turn back to Him, He welcomes us home with joy.
Memory Verse
Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
(WEB)
Teach the verse one phrase at a time. For “everlasting love,” cross your arms over your heart and rock gently side to side, like someone being hugged. Say it together three times, rocking a little more slowly each time.
The Story: Jeremiah 31 for Kids
Long ago, the people of Israel had wandered far away from God. They had made choices that hurt their hearts and broke their promises. Some of them were taken far from their homes, and they felt very sad and lost.
God sent the prophet Jeremiah to tell them something wonderful. God said, “I love you with a love that never ends.” He told them that He would bring them home again. Their homes would be rebuilt, and their gardens would grow green.
God’s people had been crying. Rachel, a mother from long ago, was weeping for her children. God said to her, “Stop your crying, and dry your tears. Your children will come home.” Then God promised that there was hope for the future.
The people had been sorry for what they did. One of them said, “Turn me around, and I will turn to You, for You are the LORD my God.” God was so happy to hear this. He said that He would have mercy and would not stop loving them.
God gave a new promise. He said, “I will write My ways on your hearts.” He would be their God, and they would be His people. He would forgive their wrongs and remember their sins no more.
So the people came home with singing and dancing. God turned their mourning into joy. He was like a good shepherd bringing His sheep safely back to the fold.
Read It Together
Jeremiah 31:33
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the LORD: I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(WEB)
Point out the words “I will put my law in their inward parts.” Explain that God wants His instructions to live inside us, not just on a page. Ask children where they think God’s rules can go inside their hearts.
Jeremiah 31:13
Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance; the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
(WEB)
Show children how God promises to turn sadness into joy. Notice the dancing and the singing. Let them stand up and show a happy movement, to remember that God can change our tears into gladness.
Jeremiah 31:34
They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says the LORD: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
(WEB)
Point to the promise that God forgives and remembers sin no more. Help children understand that when God forgives, He chooses not to hold our mistakes against us. Emphasize that this is a gift we can receive.
Talk About It
- How do you think the people felt when they were far from home, and what might have helped them feel better?
- What does it mean that God loves us with an everlasting love, and how is that different from a love that might fade away?
- Why do you think God wants to write His ways on our hearts instead of only telling us about them?
- What is one way you can turn back to God when you have done something wrong?
- How can you show someone else the kind of mercy and forgiveness God shows us?
Activity Ideas
Heart Drawing Craft
You will need paper, crayons or markers, scissors and glue. Ask each child to trace a large heart on paper and cut it out. Inside the heart, have them write or draw one way God shows His love. Glue the heart onto a bright piece of construction paper and let it dry while you talk about God’s everlasting love.
Coming Home Game
Mark a starting line and a home base on the floor with masking tape or chairs. Have children begin at the start, pretending to be far away. Call out “Come home!” and let them run or walk to base, cheering as they arrive. Remind them that God is always waiting to welcome us back.
Memory Verse Card to Take Home
You will need index cards, a pencil and a marker. Write Jeremiah 31:3 on one side of the card and draw a simple heart on the other. Give one card to each child to take home. Encourage them to read it to someone in their family and to place it somewhere they will see it each day.
Teacher Notes
For adults, this chapter shows that God’s covenant love does not depend on Israel’s faithfulness. Even when the people broke their promises, God promised to renew them and write His law within them. The passage points forward to a new covenant that changes the heart, and Christians have long read it as fulfilled in Jesus.
With children, avoid overstating the details of the exile, the specific places named, or the Jewish and Christian debates about the new covenant. Keep the focus on the simple, clear truth that God loves His people forever, forgives them, and keeps His word.
A Prayer to Close
Father, thank You that You love us with an everlasting love. Thank You that You forgive us and welcome us home when we turn back to You. Help us to know You in our hearts and to share Your kindness with others. Amen.
