Today’s Reading:
Read Ecclesiastes 7:1-14; Ecclesiastes 12
Do you have a remote-controlled car around your house? If you do, grab it for today’s reading! Take turns giving the “remote” to different family members and allowing them the opportunity to control where the car will go. Talk about how it feels to “be in control.” How did it feel to be the one who made the decision about where the car was going?
Our lives can be compared to the remote-controlled car. We are the car and as Christ followers, we should allow God to have the remote to help direct us where to go! Our reading today reminds us that ultimately, God is in control, and we should trust Him with that.
Ecclesiastes 7:14, “In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other…”
Remember when we learned about Job? What are some of the things you remember that Job lost? (his family, his wealth, his health). In Job 1:21, we read his response to the days of adversity he faced, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord…” Just like Job, we need to remember that God is in charge, and we can trust him- with the good and with the challenging!
And finally, we can be reminded that as we trust God, we also need to obey Him! We need to allow Him to be in control!
Ecclesiastes 12:13- “When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this- fear God and keep His commands….”
Application/Prayer:
Discuss as a family any of the areas of your life where giving God control might be challenging. As a visual, write down those areas on an index card. Take some time to pray over the index cards and ask God to help you to trust Him more with each of those situations.
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