Today’s Reading:
Read Hebrews 5-8
What is a promise? Spend some time talking about the importance of keeping a promise. When a promise is made, people have confidence that the promise will be kept. Has anyone ever broken a promise they made to you? That’s disappointing, isn’t it? We have good news to celebrate today! God will never break His promises! He will always do what His word says He will do.
The author of Hebrews was writing to a group of Jews who had a lot of knowledge about the history of the Jewish nation. It is assumed that it was written to a group of Jewish believers-Jews who believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. The author walked through the story of the Israelites –beginning with the covenant that God made with Abraham. He reminded the readers that God promised to bless Abraham and make him into a great nation. And as promised, Abraham did in fact become the father of the Israelites who became a great nation.
In the same way that God kept His promise to Abraham, the author of Hebrews reminded the reader that God would keep His promise about Jesus. “Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.” (Hebrews 7:22) God promised a new covenant and because of Jesus, that promise was kept! (Hebrews 8:8-13)
Application/Prayer:
Use your favorite streaming service to play the song Waymaker. As a family, have a praise party and thank God for the truth that He is a promise keeper.
December Memory Verse:
I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
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:
December memory verse coloring sheet