Kids Bible Devotional for May 16, 2024
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Focus Verse
Proverbs 4:18-19 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. (NKJV)
Jump Start
“God said let there be light and there was light."
In the mid 1980’s, Motel 6, a popular low-cost motel chain hired radio personality Tom Bodett to head up their advertising campaign. Tom’s soothing, homey voice was an instant hit, but it was the slogan that he ended all his ads with that really struck gold with audiences. He closed out every ad by saying, “We’ll leave the light on for ya.” There is just something inviting about arriving at a well-lit place at night, as if you are welcomed and expected.
Thomas Kinkaid, a highly recognized American painter of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries described himself as a “Painter of Light.” Many of his works featured dark settings with buildings that had their windows illuminated in bright colors. This quality set his paintings apart from many other contemporary artists and gave them a warm and welcoming feel that his fans grew to love.
The contrast between light and darkness is a common theme throughout the Bible. In John chapter 1, Jesus is described as the light which overcomes the darkness. In I Thessalonians 5:5, Paul refers to the saints as the children of light and the children of the day, not of the night, nor of darkness.
Today's Devotion
The car lurched just before the engine sputtered and died. Smoke billowed from beneath the hood. “Uh, oh,” Dad said, easing the car onto the side of the road.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” Brayden asked.
“I think the engine just blew.” Dad hopped out of the car and pulled open the hood. With his phone as a flashlight, he searched for the cause of the breakdown.
A few seconds later, he returned to the car. Brayden rolled down the windowpane. “How bad is it?”
“Well, the engine’s a goner and I’ve got no bars on my phone. We’re going to have to walk to find help.”
Night had already fallen, and the dark, deserted stretch of the lonely country road took on an ominous air. Brayden’s stomach knotted, but he didn’t want to worry his father. He had enough on his mind with the car situation. Brayden exited the car and joined his father beside the road.
“How far is it to town?” Brayden asked.
“I’m not sure. Could be quite a walk. But don’t worry, son. God’s with us.”
That reassurance relieved Brayden’s nerves – a little, that is.
The two set out in search of civilization. They walked for a long time in the pitch black without so much as a passing car or a streetlight to show them where they were at. Brayden had almost given up hope of finding help when his dad nudged him in the shoulder.
“Look there,” Dad said, pointing.
Brayden followed his father’s gaze where he saw the glow of a porch light behind a grove of trees off in the distance. In the faint light, he could make out silhouettes of people moving about. Brayden breathed a sigh of relief. Help was in sight.
Wrap Up
What is it about the dark that makes it so frightening? Perhaps it’s our inability to see what lurks within the shadows. We feel more at ease when there is enough light to spot potential danger.
It’s no surprise that the world can be a very dark place at times. But God gives us light. The light of revelation about His word. The light of peace that we feel deep in our souls. God has made you to be a light, too. Jesus said of us in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”
Will you let your faith shine before all men that they might find their way to safety in the glow of God’s love?
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