At the local fast-food drive-through:
“Welcome to Fishy Town. May I take your order?” says the voice through the speaker.
“Yeah, can I get the fish and … um… some bread, please?” says the driver.
“All right, that’s a snake with a side of rocks. Would you like that snake with tomato or onions?”
“I didn’t ask for a snake. Or rocks. I asked for fish and bread.”
“I understand. And how would you like that snake cooked? Well done or rare?”
“Why would I eat a snake?”
“And would you like those rocks as pebbles, or should I supersize them to boulders?”
So begins one of the devotionals in Adventures in Odyssey’s new book, 90 Devotions for Kids: Life-Changing Values From the Book of Matthew. If you haven’t already figured it out, the devo above is based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7-12, where He asks the question, “If your child asks for bread, would you give him a stone?” The lesson goes on to remind us that God is truly good and gives genuinely good gifts. Plus, He answers prayers, and He takes care of our needs.
At the end of this devotional—as well as the other 89—is something called the “Daily Challenge.” In this one, readers are encouraged to “Do something unexpectedly nice for someone and watch his or her reaction.” I like that!
I’ve read the book of Matthew many times. But thinking about this portion of Scripture from the perspective of ordering food at a drive-through window helped this truth hit home for me in a new way. I was reminded that God will never pull a bait and switch. If I need bread and ask for bread, He’ll provide it. He’s not going to uncaringly give me a pebble, or boulder, instead. He takes no delight in ignoring or exasperating me.
90 Devotions for Kids: Life-Changing Values From the Book of Matthew is the second effort in what will eventually be a series of four devotional books from the writers of Adventures in Odyssey. As you can tell from the above excerpt, these devotionals provide a fun and engaging way to teach children about God’s Word and to make the truths of the Bible more accessible to them. More importantly, these devos have the potential to help children begin to spend regular time alone with God because all of these lessons are creative and, as I’ve already said, fun. After all, how many of us can recall laboring through some boring devotional when we were younger? I dare to say way too many of us!
The recommended age range for this book is 8-12. But I’m going to give you permission not to follow the letter of the law on that recommendation. I might go upwards of 112 on this one! Even we “old” people (though I’m not 112 quite yet) need to be reminded that God never callously dreams up “clever” ways to send us snakes.
Click to order your copy of 90 Devotions for Kids: Life-Changing Values From the Book of Matthew.
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