Today’s Reading:
Read Jeremiah 33; Jeremiah 34:12-22; Jeremiah 36
When my daughter was little, she loved her blanket – a lot! She needed it for everything, and she carried it with her wherever she went. Ever had something that special? One sad day, she lost the blanket when she left it at a local Rec Center we visited for gymnastics lessons. I bet you can imagine how sad she was! We called the Rec Center and asked them to look out for the blanket. We hoped that when we were able to return to the Rec Center, the blanket would have been found. Good news! When we made our way back to the Rec, the blanket had been found! Unfortunately, it had been found in a trash can- so it was very dirty. Nonetheless, we found the blanket, washed it, and in the meantime found my daughter’s smile!
In our reading today, we read a similar sad story. The Israelites had lost their land. They had lost their freedom. Just as Jeremiah had prophesied, the Babylonians had taken them captive, and they were in exile. It was a sad time. The good news is that God was not finished prophesying through Jeremiah. God had a plan to bring restoration to the Israelites and to return them to their homeland. God promised that the exile would not last forever. In Jeremiah 33, we even read Jeremiah’s prophecy about a righteous branch from the tree of David- that righteous branch was Jesus. God had a plan to rescue His people.
As Jeremiah wrote down his messages for the Israelites, something unfortunate happened to him. All the scrolls with his messages written on them were burned. Just like the Israelites, Jeremiah had lost something important to him. Jeremiah did not let that stop him! He took the time to write it all down again. Because he did that, we can read the book of Jeremiah today!
Application/Prayer:
Read Jeremiah 33:3. Thank God that we can call on Him and he will answer us. We can trust that He sees us, He hears us, and He knows what we need. Just like the Israelites and Jeremiah (and my little girl!), God will provide for us.
August Memory Verse:
“Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
Using the daily reading prompts from George H. Guthrie’s Read the Bible for Life, here’s how to use this devotional:
- Bring your Bible! Your kids need to see that everything you are reading to them or learning about comes from an actual Bible!
- Each day starts with a reading prompt. Read the selection as a family. If your kids are readers, encourage them to read along with you.
- After you’ve read the passage, read the short devotional thought that goes along with each passage.
- Prayer and application are important any time we read God’s word! After each devotional, there is a challenge to help apply what your family has read that day.
- There is a reading for six days of the week. The last reading of the week is a Gospel Conversation Prompt to help you connect the reading from the week with God’s plan for salvation.
Other Resources:
August memory verse coloring sheet
August Fill-in the blank activity