Come to Me

By Denise de Vos and Vivian van der Schaaf

Come to Me is a collection of 365 devotions aimed at helping children draw near to their Saviour, and teaching them what it means to live for a heavenly kingdom.
The devotions have been designed with primary school children in mind, using a wide range of Bible texts to help explain the glorious plan of salvation God has for His children. Come to Me will encourage children to go to God for all their needs, and it will challenge them to live lives of thankfulness to Him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pro Ecclesia Publishers
• Release date: Aug 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005323509

Book preview

1 January

"Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’"

Matthew 19:13-14

Jesus’ disciples thought He was much too busy and important to waste time blessing the children that were brought to Him. Trying to protect Jesus, they started to send the children away. But Jesus stopped the disciples and called the children to Him. Let the children come to Me, He said, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Little children have a very simple faith — they don’t know much about the Bible, but they will joyfully sing I Love the LORD! at the top of their lungs. Even a toddler with very simple faith is part of God’s family. Children too have been given the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Never think that God loves adults more than children because they know so much more about Him. We are all God’s children, whether young or old, and He welcomes you with open arms.

The Lord wants you to go to Him — that means to pray to Him often and to draw near to Him by reading your Bible and listening when you are taught about Him. As a covenant child of God, you can look forward to living with the Lord forever. Doesn’t that make you want to learn more about your God and Saviour so that you can learn how to serve and worship Him? Before you go to sleep tonight, thank the Lord for His love for you, and ask Him to help you grow in faith as you learn more about Him.

2 January

"The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me!’"

John 1:43

Have you ever played a game of arrow hunt? Someone runs ahead, leaving a trail of arrows to mark the path he has taken, and the others must follow the arrows to find him. Though they can’t see him, they follow the arrows and so follow the path marked out by him.

Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, and He wants you to follow Him as well. Jesus was once a child like you. He walked the road from earth to heaven — the road that you are walking now — and He wants you to follow Him along it. Instead of leaving arrows for you to follow, He leaves something far more precious: The Bible to read and the Holy Spirit to guide you. With the Holy Spirit helping you to read and understand the Bible, you can learn to follow the Lord by serving Him with your whole life. You can do this by trying to live as Jesus would have lived when He was a child like you. Jesus always listened to His parents. He was kind to others. He helped other people. He always put His best effort in. When you try to do these things, you are following Him.

It is not always easy to follow the Lord. You will make many mistakes every day. But God has promised to forgive you if you ask Him to. He has also promised to help you with His Spirit. Pray to the Lord every day, and ask Him to help you follow Him.

3 January

"And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: … ‘Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called sons of God.’"

Matthew 5:1-2,9

Are you a peace-maker or a peace-breaker? A peace-maker is someone who tries to make peace with other people. Jesus taught His disciples that those who try to make peace with others will be blessed. You can be a peace-maker by not arguing with your siblings; and when you see your friends fighting, try to help them make peace with each other.

Some children make peace, some break it. If you get angry or cross, you will be a peace-breaker. Be gentle, loving and kind, and you will be a peace-maker. Don’t pick a fight with someone, and if your friend says something nasty to you, don’t snap back, but rather reply gently. That is very difficult sometimes, isn’t it? It is so difficult that you’ll need to ask the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and help you to be kind. It is our heart that gets angry first, and when we feel angry we sulk, argue or fight. When the Spirit works in your heart, He will keep those angry feelings away.

When there is peace, there is always happiness, and if you make peace with others you can think of the promise you have: They shall be called children of God. Ask the Lord to help you to be kind all day long.

4 January

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Matthew 7:7-8

How many times each day do you ask your dad or mum to give you something? God is your Heavenly Father, and He wants you to come and ask Him for good things too. He can give you what no one else can.

What kind of things will God give? Will He give you a new bike or a Lego set, if you keep on asking him for them? Well, perhaps you might get these things for your next birthday, but God wants you to ask Him for things that He has promised in the Bible to give you. He wants you to ask Him for the Holy Spirit to help to you be good. He wants you to ask Him for a clean heart and for strength to fight and overcome your enemy Satan, who is always trying to make you sin. You can be sure that you will get these good things if you ask for them.

You can also ask for other things, like a friend to play with or for your mum to get better when she is sick. Sometimes God will give you these things, but sometimes He has a reason for not giving these things right away and sometimes He chooses not to give us these things at all. He knows better than us what we need, and you can be sure that He will listen and answer in His special way.

God is always near. He is always ready to hear you. He is always ready to give. If it is good for you to have it, God will certainly give it to you. Remember — God loves you more than anyone else in the world does, and He has said, Ask, and it shall be given to you.

5 January

"And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He [Jesus] sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’... But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done what she could.’"

Mark 14:3-4,6

Jesus said this about the woman who brought her very best to Him because she loved Him so much. Did you try to do what you could for Jesus today? Imagine that He comes to you as you’re being tucked into bed tonight — will He be able to say about you, She has done what she could for Me today?

You don’t need to wait to do great things. Do what you can for Jesus, now. Try to please Him in the little things. Do your best in school. Don’t be unhappy because you can’t do something as well as your classmates, but just do what you can. Help Mum make dinner or help her by setting the table or folding the washing; even if you can’t do it perfectly, just do what you can.

A little six-year-old girl made a special card for her mum’s birthday. Her big sister made one too. The bigger girl’s card was the neatest, but did their mum like it better because of that? No, she liked the little girl’s card just as much because she knew that her little girl had done the best she could. God is also happy when you do the best you can for Him.

That is why children can do just as much as grown-ups, because they have done what they could.

6 January

"Then He said to them, ‘Take heed what you hear.’"

Mark 4:24

What does Jesus mean when He says, Take heed what you hear? To take heed means to be careful, or to pay attention, so Jesus is saying that you should pay careful attention to what you hear. You hear a lot of things every day. You hear good things. You may hear bad things. Jesus says, Take care what you hear. He does not want you to listen to bad talk that tempts you to sin. Sometimes you listen to things that you shouldn’t hear, and sometimes you don’t listen to things that you should hear. When your mum calls you, you should answer her right away. When the minister preaches in church, you should do your best to pay attention and listen to him. When your dad reads the Bible, don’t think about other things, but pay close attention — take heed — to what he says!

Throughout the day, Satan places many temptations on your path. Your own sinful heart makes it hard to resist him. Sometimes you’re not even sure what is right or wrong. This is when it is important to listen to the Lord’s voice. The Lord speaks to you through the Bible. When you read your Bible, you are reading the Word of God — everything in it was given by God to teach you about what He has done for you and how you can live for Him.

Ask God to help you understand the things you read in His Word. Ask Him to give you His Spirit to help you live the way He tells you to in His Word. And then listen carefully to your parents and those who want to teach you about the Lord. Take heed what you hear!

7 January

"He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.’ Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’"

John 13:5-8

Jesus wanted to teach His disciples that they needed to be washed clean by Him, just as much as their feet needed washing when they were dusty.

What part of us needs washing by Jesus? Our hearts. They are always getting stained with sin. Every bad word we say leaves a black mark. Every wrong thing we do does the same.

If you want to have a clean heart, it will need washing. Only Jesus can do this, and He does it with the precious blood that He shed on the cross. We read this in 1 John 1:7: The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. When Jesus died, He took the punishment that you deserve — He suffered in your place so that God would no longer be angry with you for your sins.

Remember to ask Jesus every day to wash away the sins you have done that day. Say the prayer that King David said a long time ago: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Then ask the Lord to keep your heart clean.

If Jesus washes our hearts, we will belong to Him, and we can look forward to living with Him forever!

8 January

"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

John 14:15-17

It is easy to say that we love a person very much, isn’t it? But it is what we do and not what we say, that shows how we love someone.

You say you love your mum, but if you don’t do what she tells you, does that show that you love her? Jesus says that if you love Him you should keep His commandments. Jesus has given you so much when He died on the cross to pay for your sins, and you can show just how thankful you are to Him by trying to keep His commandments.

What are these commandments? Let’s have a look at one: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. It’s easy to love yourself: to want the best things, to want to have your turn first and to play what you want to play. But think of how you can give the best things to others instead: let your friend come first, play what your sister wants to play and put yourself last.

Children, obey your parents is another command, and yet it is one that is often broken. It is easy to forget that, when you disobey Dad or Mum, you are also disobeying Jesus Christ.

Ask Him to help you to remember these commandments. Ask for His Spirit to help you to show love to the Lord, not just by what you say, but by what you do.

9 January

"And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: …‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’"

Matthew 5:1-2,7

Have you been merciful today? What does being merciful mean? It means to have pity and show gentle love for everybody and everything. A boy who pulls wings off a fly is not merciful, nor is one who teases the cat or dog. Girls can be cruel too. Sometimes they are not merciful to their little brothers or sisters, saying harsh words or hurting them when Mum is not looking.

Jesus wants you to have pity on all the small, weak things in the world. He wants you to show mercy to insects, birds, animals and little children. He wants you to be kind and gentle to old people too. Let the older members in church walk out the door before you, and speak respectfully to them. Try to be helpful and kind instead of hurtful and mean.

Have pity on those who are suffering. Imagine you see a boy from school fall and hurt himself at the park. Maybe that boy is usually not very nice to you, but when you see that he is hurt, you should go up and see how you can help. This is showing mercy. God shows us great mercy in lovingly forgiving our sins, even though we do not deserve it. You can show your thankfulness to Him by showing mercy even to those who are unkind to you. If you are merciful, you will be blessed, which means to be happy. Can you think of some ways you can show mercy to those around you?

10 January

"When you are invited (to a feast), go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 14:10-11

Jesus is saying here that whoever thinks a lot of himself will be brought down, and whoever thinks little of himself will be raised up. He means that those who brag and boast will be humbled, and those who are already humble will be made important later on.

It is not nice listening to someone who always brags. No one likes it when a child always says, "I can do this! I can do that! You can’t do what I can do! I have more toys than you! I am smarter than you!"

Some children are proud of their clothes, their toys and their cleverness. They speak unkindly to others who don’t have as much. They think so much of themselves that they assume everyone else thinks they are special too. Jesus says that the day will come when they will be brought low.

Be humble in all you do. Remember how sinful you are and how much you still have to learn and grow. Remind yourself that other people may know more than you do. If you can do something easily, don’t boast about it, but be humble and help others to learn too. Maybe you can plait your own hair, but none of your friends can. Instead of making a big deal about this, you should be humble, and perhaps you could patiently plait your friend’s hair or teach her how.

Ask the Lord to help you be humble in everything you say and do.

11 January

"And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst... All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.’"

John 6:35,37

This is one of the most beautiful verses in the whole Bible. Jesus wants us to go to Him for everything, and He promises that He will never send us away. Try to remember this always. When you grow up it will be a great comfort to you.

To go to Jesus means to talk with Him, to ask Him for things, to depend on Him to give those things and to thank Him for these things. You can do this by praying to the Lord, and He has promised that He will hear you and will not send you away.

When you have done something wrong, when you have been careless or disobedient, and you’ve been punished, you will feel miserable. Sometimes you might even feel like no one understands. At times like these, you should go to God in prayer — go to Him and ask Him to forgive you. He will not turn you away.

You can also go to the Lord for the things you need. Ask Him to make you strong and healthy; ask Him to help you do your best at school; ask Him to help you to be kind to your friends. If it is good for you then He will give you these things. Go to Him often, when you are happy, when you are sad and when you are lonely.

Jesus has promised that He will never cast you out.

12 January

"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

Luke 14:27

Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do you want to follow Him and be like Him? Then you must be willing to bear your cross.

What does it mean to bear your cross? Remember how Jesus had to carry His own cross partway up the hill to Golgotha? Jesus did this without complaining. He was willing to die for us, to pay for our sins. To bear your cross means that you need to be willing to serve Jesus, no matter what it takes or how much suffering you face. You need to be willing to make Jesus number one in your life, even when that means giving up things that you love.

To bear your cross means to love Jesus more than yourself. It means to speak up and defend Jesus when someone swears using His name in vain, even if it means you might get teased. It means to say no to playing nasty tricks on others, even if it means you’ll lose friends. It means to give the best things to others, even if it means you’ll miss out. It means calling yourself a child of God, even when doing so could lead to you being persecuted.

Jesus had a much heavier cross to bear than you ever will, and He bore it willingly for us, for it was our sins that brought it upon Him. So, when you are teased or face hard times because of your love for God, don’t despair, but try to bear your cross joyfully too!

13 January

"But He said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’"

Luke 18:27

Have you ever looked closely at a sewing needle? If you have, you know that there is a tiny hole, called an eye, at one end for the thread to go through. Maybe you’ve watched your mum gently guide the end of her thread through the eye, or maybe you’ve tried to do it yourself. It can be quite tricky to get the thread through such a tiny hole.

Jesus had been talking with the people, and He was very sad because a rich man was not willing to give up all his treasures to follow Him. Jesus said to the people that it is so hard for someone with riches to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, He said it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle! Can you imagine such a funny sight? It’s hard enough trying to get a thin thread through the hole in a needle. To get even the rope that is tied to the camel through that hole would be impossible, let alone the camel itself! Jesus is saying that it is absolutely impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven!

You and I may be rich. Perhaps we have plenty of food and clothing, and a good house to live in. Does that mean it is impossible for us to enter heaven? When the people asked Him this question, Jesus said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. He means that, while there is no way we can get to heaven by ourselves — that would be as hard as squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle — God has made it possible for us. God, in His mercy, has opened the door to heaven for us through Jesus’ saving work. Don’t forget to thank Him every day for this amazing gift of love!

14 January

"And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

Luke 6:31

What does this text mean? It means that you must treat everybody as you would like them to treat you. This is one of God’s rules for your life. So, if you don’t like being slapped or kicked, you must never slap or kick anyone else. And if you like to be given the biggest bit of cake, you must be sure to give it to someone else. If you like everyone to speak kindly to you, then you must speak kindly to them. If you like to have your turn first, be sure to let someone else have the first turn.

Do you think this will be difficult? Try it, and ask the Lord to help you. It is really just being nice to others just as you would like others to be nice to you.

And if anyone is angry with you or ruins your things or does anything mean, forgive them: because you like people to forgive you, don’t you? There would be no fights and arguments in the world if we all treated each other as we would like to be treated ourselves.

One little girl cried to her mum, No one likes me; they are so unkind!

Her mum asked her, Are you kind to them?

No, she answered, because I don’t like them!

Well then, her mum replied, You can only blame yourself for their unkindness.

If you’d like everybody to love you, you must love everybody! Ask the Lord to help you to treat others as you would like to be treated and to show His love in all you do.

15 January

"Do business till I come."

Luke 19:13

Jesus told the parable of a rich man who had a beautiful house and garden, but he had to go away on a long journey, and he left his servants to take care of them for him. Then he gave them some money and said, I may be back suddenly: do business till I come. What did he mean by this?

To do business means to be busy, to work. His servants were to use his money to trade with it, to take care of his things and to look after his house as if he was still there.

This is just what the Lord Jesus Christ wants you to do. Maybe He hasn’t given you lots of money, but perhaps He has given you good health and strength, a home and kind friends. Whatever He has given you is like a little piece of ground for you to be busy with until He comes to take it from you.

Your ‘ground’ is your home life and your school life. How are you doing business with it? A lazy servant goes to sleep and does nothing. The ground gets covered with weeds; the house becomes full of dust and mould.

Be busy every day. Do something for Jesus. You are His servant and have your Master’s work to do. Pull up the weeds of grumpiness and disobedience, and stamp them down. If you could see God standing over you and watching all you do and say, wouldn’t you try to be good? Be busy with His ground as carefully as if He were standing in the middle of it looking at you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and remember that Jesus is coming back to this world one day. It may be soon.

16 January

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."

John 7:37

It’s not nice being thirsty, is it? Sometimes you are so thirsty that all you can think about is finding a drink of water. Perhaps you’ve felt that way after playing sports on a hot day. It is so refreshing to drink a big glass of cool water when you feel like this. It seems to satisfy and cool you instantly, and it makes you happy and comfortable again.

Sometimes your soul gets thirsty, too. Have you ever felt angry, ungrateful and unhappy? Things just don’t feel right inside you, and it feels as though you have no peace. Who can satisfy you when you feel this way? Jesus. He says, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

The next time you feel this way, stop what you are doing and ask the Lord to quench your thirst for peace and happiness. Even while you are playing, you can say a little prayer to God quietly in your heart. He is never far away. Ask Him to make you happy and content. Admit to Him that you feel angry and thirsty in your soul, and ask Him to satisfy you.

Psalm 42 tells us that God is the One our soul thirsts for when we feel sad:

As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Only He can satisfy your thirsty soul. Come to Him and drink.

17 January

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words … of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed."

Mark 8:38

Are you ever ashamed of Jesus?

There are lots of people who laugh at anyone trying to be good. They will say you are a hypocrite, or they will make fun of you. We don’t like to be laughed at, and we sometimes do wrong things because we’re ashamed of doing the right thing. We pretend that we don’t care about Jesus, and we pretend that we don’t need to listen to His words.

This is very sad. We should never be ashamed of our great and loving Saviour! If we are embarrassed by Jesus, then He says that He will be ashamed to know us. Can you think of a time that you have been tempted to do something bad even though you knew it was wrong? Maybe you joined in with your classmates and teased a younger child on the playground because you didn’t want to stand out and be different. Maybe you listened in silence as others took God’s name in vain because you were ashamed to speak up for Jesus. Perhaps you were too embarrassed to stand up for the truth even though you knew it was what God wanted you to do. You can ask God to forgive you for being ashamed of Him. He has promised to forgive even these sins if you ask Him to.

Ask God to help you stand up for Him, to not be ashamed to tell others that you follow Jesus and obey Him. Ask the Lord to take all fear away and make you brave and bold. It is only wicked people we should be ashamed of — never the great and holy Jesus.

18 January

"These things I command you, that you love one another."

John 15:17

Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another. He had just told them that He loved them so much that He was willing to lay down His life for them. This is the greatest way He could show His love. He could’ve just said that He loved them. But He also showed that He loves them by His actions, by being prepared to die on the cross for them and for us. He then told them to love each other as much as He has loved them. You are one of Jesus’ disciples, so you need to remember this too. You must love your brothers and sisters and classmates.

Do you love all those around you? It is no good to say you love them and then speak angrily to them or snatch their things. Show that you love them in the way that you act toward them. Do you love your parents? Show this by obeying them without complaining. Do you love your classmates? Show this by sharing with them and letting them go before you in the line. Do you love the sick and poor, and the children in faraway places who have not heard about God? Show this by remembering them in your prayers and giving some of your money to help them.

Help everyone, and be kind to everyone, especially to those who are unkind to you. Ask the Lord to help you keep His commandment, that you love one another.

19 January

"But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

Matthew 6:3

Some people like telling others how generous they are and how much money they put in the collection bag at church.

Jesus says that when we give anything away, we should do it so quietly that if our left hand had eyes, it could not see what our right hand was giving.