Michael Kelley - The Whole Story for the Whole Family: A Year of Jesus-Centered Family Devotions

Copyright 2021 by Michael Kelley

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-0877-1296-3

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 242.2

Subject Heading: DEVOTIONAL LITERATURE / BIBLESTUDY AND TEACHING / JESUS CHRIST

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked niv are taken from New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

It is the Publishers goal to minimize disruption caused by technical errors or invalid websites. While all links are active at the time of publication, because of the dynamic nature of the internet, some web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed and may no longer be valid. B&H Publishing Group bears no responsibility for the continuity or content of the external site, nor for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

Cover design by B&H Publishing Group. Author photo by Randy Hughes.

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To Joshua, Andi, and Christian

This book really came from you guys. Thank you for showing up for breakfast on time.

Acknowledgments

I remain so thankful for a partner in ministry at Broadman & Holman Publishing. Thank you, Devin Maddox and Taylor Combs, for helping me flesh out this idea, polishing out a scope and sequence, and then ultimately reading through a ton of object lessons. It means the world to me that you continue to believe in me as a writer and as a friend.

I also am indebted to so many families with whom we have had the joy to walk in this parenting journey. We are all different, and yet we are all the same. I have learned so much from you in what it means to be a dad and to invest in all aspects of the lives of our children.

I would also like to acknowledge the fact that the work on this book took place primarily in 2020, the year when our churches were physically closed for a significant period of time. As such, parents all over the world have had to take a greater degree of initiative to try and help their children read, know, and understand Gods Word. These have been difficult days, but even the most difficult days are to be redeemed. And by Gods grace, perhaps one of the ways this time will be redeemed is that moms and dads everywhere will continue that pattern of spiritual investment.

Introduction

Deuteronomy 6 contains the text of the shema . That word literally means hear, and its the beginning of the greatest command:

Hear, O Israel: The L ord our God, the L ord is one. Love the L ord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut. 6:45 niv )

This is the oldest fixed prayer in Judaism, and even today is recited at least twice a day by observant Jews. This is also the answer that Jesus gave when an expert in the law asked Him what the greatest command was:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. (Matt. 22:3738)

Thisloving God with all of our beingframes everything else. In fact, you might rightly say that if we get this right, everything else will fall into place because the love of God forms the framework for every other action, attitude, and decision we make. The text in Deuteronomy goes on to emphasize just how important this is, and its in this emphasis that we also find a command for us as parents:

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. (Deut. 6:69)

There is no doubt that we, as parents, should be the primary spiritual influence on our children. This responsibility cannotand should notbe delegated to a church program, though we should work in concert with the church for the overall growth of our kids in Christ. One of the simplest ways we do that is through a devoted, regular, set-aside time to read and study the Bible together.

Ive known that to be true, and yet I havent always been a family devotion guy.

Its not because I didnt want or aspire to be; I did. But we went a long time as a family before pulling the trigger and trying to integrate this practice into the regular rhythm of our family life.

There are a lot of reasons, I think, for my delay. Part of it was convenience; I wasnt ready to alter our schedule to accommodate that fifteen or twenty minutes. Part of it was nervousness; I wasnt sure if I could do this well. But the biggest part of the reason for my procrastination was really about having a clear direction to get started.

By Gods grace, weve been doing morning devotions together for almost ten years nowlong enough for this practice to be ingrained in our regular routine. Its a long road, as are most things, especially with young children. Though revival doesnt break out every morning over eggs and toast, our continued hope and prayer is that times like these build into the love and discipline our children will have in the future when it comes to Gods Word.

The goal of this resource, then, is to put forth that simple, clear direction for other parents who, like me, find themselves struggling to get started or to remain consistent. Each daily devotion is meant to be simple and achievable, with five components:

Show: Each day begins with a simple object lesson or game designed to introduce the text. Its an easy way to capture attention and generate conversation.

Read: Then there is a specific text of Scripture given. These texts are organized chronologically so kids can see that though there are many stories in the Bible, its really just one big story that has Jesus as the main character.

Explain: Next comes a brief explanation of the text. This is meant to help a parent not just read the text with their children, but then offer a little background and easy-to-understand commentary to help kids see not only what the text means, but where it fits in the overall story of the Bible.

Reflect: There are three reflection questions each day that are easy to answer, and will hopefully solidify the story for the kids and also help them see how that text applies to their daily lives.

Pray: Finally, there is a brief prayer to close out the devotion.

Youll also notice that there are only four devotions per week. This is intentional so that on Friday, or another day of the week, you can take a brief break and spend your devotion time praying for one another and expressing gratitude for what God is doing in and through you.

Simple, repeatable, and achievable. And, by Gods grace, also foundationalnot only foundational in providing a good sketch of the Bible for kids, but foundational in pushing down the daily habit of getting in Gods Word and being nourished by it. Going back to Deuteronomy 6:

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. (Deut. 6:69)

Repeat the Word of God. Talk about His commands when youre coming and going, when you wake up and when you go to bed. They should be as ready in our minds as if we had them written on our hands and foreheads. In other words, talk of God and His Word should be the constant backdrop to every conversation.