Today’s Reading:
Read 2 Kings 22-23
If you were to gather the following ingredients, what do you think you would be making? Flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla, butter, eggs, brown sugar, white sugar and chocolate chips. Can you guess what those ingredients combine to make? If you guessed chocolate chip cookies, you’re right! If we mix all of those ingredients together correctly, we absolutely would be making chocolate chip cookies. However, how do we know the right amounts to put in for each ingredient? We need a recipe. Following the recipe is the best way to ensure that we make chocolate chip cookies and not just a funny mixture of many ingredients.
Seems silly to read about chocolate chip cookies, doesn’t it? Well, in the same way we need a recipe to make the cookies correctly, the Israelites needed God’s word to know how He wanted them to serve him. And, in today’s reading we read about King Josiah. King Josiah was a young king – he was only 8 years old! Even though he was young, he was still able to do what was right in the Lord’s sight. And while he was the King, a copy of God’s written word was found in the temple remains. Josiah knew that he should read the word and do what it said. Josiah promised God that he would lead the people to follow the commands that were written down in the “book of the law.”
King Josiah removed the altars and all the things that were in the temple that would be worshiping false gods. He also reminded the people of the celebration of Passover and was sure that the Israelites began to practice celebrating it again. King Josiah worked to be sure that the covenant that God had with the Israelites was restored.
Application/Prayer:
Read I Timothy 4:12. Thank God for the truth that He can use anyone – no matter how old they are. Ask God to use you in a special way, just like He used King Josiah.
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