Today’s Reading:
Read Luke 10; John 10:1-11:54
Today is a great day to do something kind for your neighbor! As a family, talk about ways you could bless a neighbor today. Could you bake them some cookies? Invite them to dinner? Maybe something even as simple as pulling their trashcan in from the curb. Spend some time brainstorming who all you would include as your “neighbor.” Does it have to be someone that lives next door to you? The truth is we can and should show love to everyone! Jesus explained this to His disciples in our reading today.
In Luke 10:27, Jesus reminded the Disciples of the truth that they would have learned from the Torah, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus told the Disciples the story of a man who was injured and needed help. Three people walked by the man and only one helped him, a Samaritan who in those days would not have associate with the Jewish people. Jesus was teaching the people that we should all love one another and take care of one another. He reminded them that it was part of what God’s law had said from the beginning.
Jesus also explained that God had sent him to be the Good Shepherd, someone who would care for the sheep. Jesus compared His followers to sheep who needed to be cared for and He taught that He was the shepherd who had come to do just that.
As Jesus was ministering, Jesus found out that his friend Lazarus was sick and had died. Again, Jesus showed his love for his friends by not only visiting Mary and Martha to comfort them, but He also brought Lazarus back to life.
Jesus cared for others, and He showed us how we should care for others also.
Application/Prayer:
Spend some time praying for your neighbors today. Remember, neighbors don’t just have to be the people who live next door to you. They can be anyone you interact with. Ask God to help you see how you can show others the love of Jesus each day.
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:
October memory verse coloring sheet
October Fill-in the blank activity