Growing Strong in God's Word

Your word is like a lamp that guides my steps,

    a light that shows the path I should take.

Psalm 119:105 (ERV)

This Sunday’s teaching reminded us of the importance of reading, understanding and applying Scripture in this season of uncertainty. This week’s three devotions will help equip our children to do the same, with a memory verse for each day to encourage them to “love the Lord’s teachings and think about them day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)

We’ll talk about 3 major types of writing (poetry, stories and discourse) that are contained in the Bible and how each one tells us more about God, His character and how we relate to Him.

We’d also love to hear from you regarding what Bibles you have found to get your children reading and engaging with Scripture. Email us with your favorites: parents@realitysf.com

Devotion One: Poetry

Start with a fun activity: play a guessing game where you describe another person or object and see if your children can guess who or what it is based on your description. At first, use very factual language. Then, use poetic language, with metaphors and imagery. Feel free to use this example.

Did you hear the difference in how I described the two things. Which one did you find easier to imagine the thing that I was telling you about? Did you know that the Bible also uses different ways of writing? One way is poetry, where it doesn’t tell you what happened like a story. Instead, it uses creative language to show you something in a way that’s a little different. One thing to remember is that everything in the Bible helps us learn about God and who He is. Here’s a great example of some poetry from Psalm 1. (read this together from The Message)

Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings
    and think about them day and night.
So they grow strong,
    like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should
    and has leaves that never fall.
Everything they do is successful.

It’s saying that we become like a strong tree that makes good fruit all the time. What kind of fruit tree do you want to be? Great, how do we become like a strong tree, what does this verse say? Right, by loving God’s teachings, which are in the Bible and by thinking of them day and night. Let’s practice that this week, let’s try and memorize this verse. (Younger children can just memorize the first 3 sentences) Thank you, God for the Bible that teaches us about who you are and how we can grow strong!

Devotion Two: Stories

Remember how we talked about poetry yesterday? Does anyone remember the verse we are memorizing from Psalm 1, even if it’s just a part of it? Good, good!

Today, we’re going to talk about stories! The Bible is full of stories, right? Tell me your favorite story and what happens.

Let’s look at Mark 10:13-16 for today’s story. Read that passage together in the NIV.

Let’s talk about this story by answering some questions (give time for your children to answer and explore the story after each question): Who is in the story? What happens? What does this tell us about God? How do you think God feels about you as a child?

Just like last time, let’s spend a few minutes memorizing these verses (again, shorten it for younger children): “‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”

End with a short prayer: Thank you, God, that you love your children. Help us to remember that you love us no matter what and that we belong in Your Kingdom. Amen.

Devotion three: Discourse

Who remembers what we talked about last time? Yes, stories and who remembers part of our memory verses from the last two devotions? Great job!

So, the Bible has poetry, stories and one last kind of writing we’ll talk about today: discourse. That’s a fancy word for writing from someone who wants to help guide others in how to live a good life that is pleasing to God. Examples of this are laws that were given to God’s people, letters that Paul wrote or the teachings of Jesus.

Here’s a great example, from the book of Deuteronomy (from the NIV):

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Why do you think the writer of this verse is telling us this? Yes, it is the way we are supposed to live as God’s people. What does this tell us about God? Very good. Yes, that He deserves to be loved by every part of us! How do you think you can do that with your heart? What about your soul? Your strength? Wonderful. You are all growing so much and I’m so proud of you.

Let’s try and memorize this last verse for the week and remember from Psalm 1 that we are going to grow like strong trees by studying the Bible each day.

Finish with a short prayer: God, help us to love you with every part of who we are. Thank you that you loved us first and showed us how to love you back. You are our Good Father. Amen.