21 Days: Day 1 PM

Did you miss the first post?

Well, it was LATE last night when William got home from work, so we didn't get to sit down and read until nearly 9:00 PM.  I had promised Calvin a "date" at Starbucks (he loves the double chocolate chip frappachino with a hint of peppermint - a rare treat!), so I'm writing today instead.

If you'd like to follow along with the short and easy devotionals, click here to download the .pdf

Tonight we read the 1st chapter of the book of John.  We noted that the book was written by Jesus's cousin, John the Baptist.  It opens with the familiar verse 1, then in 14 another familiar verse:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us

We asked the kids what this meant, then guided the discussion to reveal that Jesus is the Word and this verse shows that he is diety, part of the triune God.

The second part that stood out to me and we discussed was

45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

46 Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."
50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these."

I remembered a message I heard once that said that "under the fig tree" was a figure of speech that was used to refer to the lifelong study of the Torah. I shared this with the kids, and they thought that was pretty neat.

When we prayed we thanked God for the passage, then asked that we gain understanding and not be like those who "did not comprehend the Light" (vs.5)  We repented for our lack of Bible scholorship and committed to do better, not just during htis 21 day challenge, but  continuing after that.

It was really great to have time together in family Bible study, it's been a while since we've done that.  William was sure to point out that it was a privelege, not something that we "have to do" and the kids responded to that very positively.

The only thing that we will change?  We'll be doing this after we put the toddler to bed!  He was no help at all :)  Even though he had his "Bible"  (a Bible story book with a furry bear cover!) he was more interested in talking and banging it on the table.  We managed OK until prayer, then the kids kept cracking up at him!