Today’s Reading:
Read Ecclesiastes 2:4-11; Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
Set a timer for one minute. Challenge each member of your family to walk around your homeand make a list of everything that he or she “owns.” When the timer goes off, spend some time comparing your lists. Do your lists include anything on them that will last forever?
In our reading today, the author pointed out that he had acquired many things. Increased achievements, vineyards, gardens, parks, fruit trees, reservoirs, servants, livestock, silver and gold- basically he felt like “he had it all!”But notice, Ecclesiastes 2:11. “…I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.” As a family, look up the word futile. Basically, it means POINTLESS. Nothing he owned would last forever or bring him ultimate joy!
Read Ecclesiastes 3:14.
“I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of him…”
Sometimes we may think that having more stuff will bring us joy or make us happy. Our reading today reminds us that’s not true! We should be content with what we have and trust in God’s provision and His timing to provide for our needs.
Application/Prayer:
Read Philippians 4:19 and Hebrews 13:5. Discuss as a family how God has provided for your needs. Pray over the lists that you made at the beginning of today’s reading and thank God for His provision. Ask God to help you be content with what He has given you and to find your JOY in HIM!
June Memory Verse:
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
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:
June memory verse coloring sheet
June Fill-in the blank activity