05/22/12

 

Daily devotions.... do you do them?

If you do, are they just a little booklet you read and the verse is with it and you never pick up God's Word?

Are you getting into the "meat" of Scriptures and trying to really understand what God is saying?

When I was growing up I did not really get into devotions and that was bad for me because I missed out on a lot of blessings the Lord wanted me to receive.

I knew a lot of Bible verses and read a lot of good stories, but I didn't really dig deep into His Word until later.

I wanted that to be different for my two.

We have taught Wesley and Mikayla that devotions are not just something you *do* but something from which you gain.  We have wanted them to see that it is a way for God to speak to them now even though they are young.  We know they won't understand everything they read because we, as adults, are still learning too, but it gives the the opportunity for growth.

The past couple of weeks Mikayla has been asking me if she could get devotionals for a couple of her friends.  She has asked them if they have a quiet time with God and they said they didn't.  One even looked at her kind of funny.

Today we went and got the devotionals.  It made my heart happy to see my little girl being that encourager in the Lord to someone else.  I shared with her that she needs to understand her friends may be quite surprised at this gift she is giving them and they may not show excitement like she is showing because this is quite new for them.  I had to get her ready for that reality.  I pray they both are excited and willing to have quiet time with the Lord daily.  She was very excited, though, and can't wait to give them to her friends tomorrow.

While I was at the Christian book store I also picked up new devotionals for Wesley and Mikayla.  I want their devotionals to be ones where they have to read Scripture before they read the "story" that goes with it.  They have been needing a new one for a bit of time, too. 

What was quite shocking, and a bit disappointing, was the fact that there were really no devotional books for kids their age.  The ones we got for their friends were a bit more simple for them right now, but since Wesley and Mikayla have been doing ones that involve Scripture reading I wanted to find one similar to that.  Let's just say we only saw two and they were not that thorough.  There were tons for the wee kids and that is so important to get our kids started off on God's Word early.  However, these "tweens" and teens are really needing to dig deeper into Scripture on their own and not just because it is assigned to them in a Bible class or something with church. 

I was able to find Wesley and Mikayla devotional books that will give them what they had already been experiencing in their previous devotions.  When I brought it home for Wesley (Mikayla was already with me when I bought them) he was SO excited and kept telling me thank you.  That made my day.

I have taught my students this year that a Bible on the shelf isn't going to do you any good.  A devotional booklet, without reading Scripture and growing from it, is not going to give you the same growth.  Believe me, I have plenty of those that I read, but that is in addition to my Scripture reading.

Remember - don't just look at God's Word when you are having troubles.  He wants you to learn from Him in the good times, too.  When we put God's Word on the shelf and think everything is great we begin to wander away.  He never leaves... it is us that leave.

Take the time each day to get some quiet time with the Lord.  If you have children who are able to read on their own and older, get them a personal devotional booklet, too, on top of having family devotions. 

You will never regret listening for His still small voice....

God's Word will never return void!