Today’s Reading:
Read Matthew 22:15-45; Mark 12:33-44; Luke 20:19-21:4; 13:31-55
As a family, spend some time thinking about these questions:
What never asks a question but gets answered all the time?
What has a head and a tail but not a body?
Which weighs more- a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Were those questions easy or challenging to find the answer to? (If you need the answers – a telephone, a coin and they both weigh the same) Sometimes questions can be tricky to answer.
As Jesus taught, the Pharisees tried to see if they could trick him into answering a question about the scriptures incorrectly. They wanted Jesus to do something wrong so that they could arrest Him for leading people the wrong way. Jesus was so smart; they could not trick Him. Matthew said that the “crowds were astonished at his teaching.”(Matthew 22:38) Jesus could not be tricked.
One of the questions they asked Jesus was this, “Teacher, what command in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:36) He quoted from the law that Moses had given the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6. He reminded the people that the most important law was to love God with all your heart, soul and strength. He also said the second greatest law was to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus was very wise and understood the scriptures.
Application/Prayer:
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 was the family memory verse in August. Did your family memorize it? If not, make it a goal this month to memorize this verse that reminds us to love God with all our heart, soul and strength. Ask God to help you love Him and love others the way Jesus taught!
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