Nathanael was very honest. If someone left money laying around, he never touched it. If he found something someone lost, he tried to find the owner. He never took things that belonged to other people even if he wanted them. And he never lied.
We should all try to be that way. When our mother leaves money on a table to use later, we should leave it alone so she can find and use it later. And if we try to do what is right all the time, we will not be tempted to lie.
So Nathanael went to work in a shop. The owner of the shop knew he could trust Nathanael not to steal his money or the things he had to sell to the paying customers.
Nathanael, just like everyone else, heard the new king from God was coming. He, just like everyone else, wanted to know how to recognize the real king from God. Many people then were claiming to be God's king, but really weren't.
"I know what I'll do," said Nathanael one day. "I'll read God's Word, the Bible, for myself so I can find out for myself how to recognize God's king.
Nathanael sat under a tree and read that the king would be born in Bethlehem, babies would be harmed, he would live in Egypt awhile, but he would finally move up north to live. All these things happened to Jesus.
Philip was visiting in Nathanael's area about the time Nathanael figured out the descriptions of God's new king in the Bible.
"Come meet Jesus," Philip said. "He's the king everyone is looking for."
When Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus said, "I saw you yesterday when you were sitting under that tree."
How could Jesus know that? Because God sees everything and everyone. Jesus is God's son, so he sees everything and everyone too.
Immediately Nathanael bowed before Jesus as the king of his heart from God. Then he quit his job and followed Jesus.
Nathanael knew some of the same people Jesus did. Two of their mutual friends were getting married. So they got Andrew, Peter and Philip and all went to the wedding together.
At the wedding they ran out of wine to drink, which was not as strong in Bible times as the wine we have today.
"Fill all those big jars with water," Jesus said. When it was done, Jesus told them to taste the water. He had turned it into wine! It was Jesus' first miracle.
Many of those people didn't believe Jesus was God's king, but he helped them anyway. We should be helpful to everyone, even if they do not believe in Jesus.