Kids Bible Devotional for October 8, 2024
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Focus Verse
Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. (KJV)
Jump Start
What if, one day, you awoke to find everything either black or white. Or, what if all sounds were on the same frequency as your voice? Would the world be just a little…blah?
What makes the world so spectacular is its uniqueness. Every color imaginable exists somewhere on the planet. A symphony is magical because it harmonizes the sounds of many different instruments.
But what if red wanted to be blue or a violin would rather be a piano? That would make for some very unusual scenarios. And, yet, as humans, we are prone to envy the talent of others above our own giftings. Or we find ourselves struggling to realize just how unique and special God has made each one of us.
Today's Devotion
“I wish I could play the drums like Mike does in church,” Elijah lamented.
“I know what you mean,” his sister, Natalie, said. “I would love to sing like Sister LaSonya. But I sound like a frog.”
Dad came into the room and motioned the kids to follow him. “Come on, guys. Grab your coats. We’re going out.”
“Where are we going?” Natalie asked, shrugging on her winter parka.
“You’ll see.”
Before long, Dad pulled his car into the parking lot of his workshop in the industrial part of town.
“You’re taking us to your work?” Elijah said.
“I want to show you what I’m working on.” Their father made stained glass windows and light fixtures for an upscale homes, furniture stores, and churches around town.
He escorted Elijah and Natalie to a long table along the back wall littered with shards of glass of all shapes and colors. In the middle of the table sat an unfinished stained-glass window.
“Take a look around you. It just looks like broken glass all over the table. But when each piece is perfectly placed, you can see what I have in mind.” An angel dressed in a long flowing white gown was just beginning to take shape. Dad traced his finger along the thin gray metal strips that held the pieces together.
“Look at this.” He carefully held the project up to the window. Sunlight radiated through the glass, setting the half-completed angel alight. “The real beauty of this work is when the light shines through it.”
“It’s really nice, Dad,” Natalie said. “But I get the feeling there’s a bigger point to this, right?”
“There is. You see, I overheard you and your brother talking about talents that you wish you had.”
“I just want to be better at a lot of things,” Elijah said.
“The reason why I wanted to show you this window is that it represents each of our unique gifts. Separately, they seem like shards of broken glass with no shape or reason. Some of the pieces seem so small and insignificant. Yet together, they make art.
“God unites our gifts through the Holy Spirit. In the end, they come together for one purpose – to reflect the light of Jesus Christ so the world can see the beauty of His love.”
Dad returned the window to the table. “Never discount your giftings, and don’t be envious of others. God places special gifts inside each of us to do His important work on earth.”
Wrap Up
When discussing unity in the church, Paul made this comparison in 1 Corinthians 12. “Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.’” He continued in this vein using other parts of the body to explain that there may be many parts, each with its own purpose, but there is only one body.
We each have a purpose in the kingdom of God. With the help of the Holy Spirit, God equips us to fulfill that purpose. With that come various gifts and talents. Make no mistake God has given each of us special gifts and talents to be used for His glory. There are no small gifts. They are all equally important to Him.
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