Light to My Path: Bringing Clearer Meaning to Daily Bible Reading; Helping Even Children Read the Bible Daily and Understand It

By Inyang Ukot and Rt Rev Dr W. Karowei Dorgu

Many devotionals are in circulation; no other should be introduced just to increase their number. This devotional is unique in a number of ways, including: a) It is written in English that is simple enough for a 5-year old to understand, yet parents are not bored studying it. This devotional has struck a wonderful balance and completely avoided oversimplification and difficult presentation style; b) This devotional has subject areas from Genesis to Revelation and each subject is simplified – with explanations and examples; c) It is family-based, family-friendly and totally inter-denominational, avoiding areas of doctrinal controversies; d) Selected passages and associated titles cover a wide variety of human behavior, activities and relationships; e) God’s intervention in the affairs of mankind as individuals, families, communities and nations is brought to light and relevance for today; f) This devotional was planned to be a resource-cum-reference material for daily reading and study for a year by family members.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973686095

Inyang Ukot

Inyang Ukot is a children's worker. He has been working with children since 1974. He started off as a teenager teaching a children's Sunday school class in his local church before proceeding to the medical school where he also taught in the children's Sunday school of Chapel of the Healing Cross at College of Medicine of the University of Lagos and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. He joined close Christian friends to run Housing Estate Sunday School in Calabar upon graduating from the medical school. He has been involved in children's ministry and established Children's Christian Materials Foundation. He has written Christian books which include: The Making of a Servant of God - A Biography (1993), Children's Puzzle Book (1994), Light to my Path - Bringing clearer meaning to daily Bible reading; helping even children read the Bible daily and understand it (2020), In Tune with Him Daily - Guidance for Youths, focus for the Middle-aged, and all-round depth for the Elderly (2020), and Ultimate Praise - Psalms: Praising God in All Circumstances (2020). The three recent books are available online at Amazon.com and other platforms for purchase.He is a specialist in Family Medicine and has so far authored six books in that specialty. He is married and has four adult daughters and a granddaughter.

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Copyright © 2020 Inyang Ukot.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8608-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8609-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020902811

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/21/2020

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy Name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who

trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

[For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.]

Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

(Matthew 6: 9 – 13, NIV)

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done, on earth

as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

(Matthew 6: 9 – 13, KJV)

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be

done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as

we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the

power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

All- Family Honest Prayer

A Child’s Honest Prayer

Author Biography

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all Christian parents who not only wish, but also make attempts, to leave behind a spiritual and moral inheritance for their children and not just make material and educational provisions for them. It is also dedicated to those children who have had to take a spiritual stand prior to the adults in their lives doing so – and in some cases having to weather the storm of misunderstanding by the older people.

It is also dedicated to all organizations, Christian and otherwise, that have made – and are still making – great efforts to stabilize families in a world where various natural and man-made crises have exposed families to separation and sundry forms of suffering. It is only when the world experiences sustained peace and accompanying stable families that entire societies and nations will have and enjoy the blessings that God intends for mankind.

FOREWORD

LIGHT TO MY PATH has four special features that are not found in many traditional devotionals. These features are:

1. Table of contents – It allows the reader to search for and pick a subject to read/study even when the date for that topic has been passed or is not reached yet;

2. Practice section – The practice or exercise section consists of 10 puzzles with answers. The puzzles are of the word search format. The puzzle exercises are suitable for adults and children that are five years or older;

3. ‘Dates without year’ – Crafting this devotional to have dates without year allows a family to reuse it; reuse reinforces the messages in the book.

4. ‘Anytime purchase’ – Most importantly, a reader can purchase the devotional at any time of the year and use an individual start date as a reference point and go around 365 or 366 days to meet the date prior to that start date, thus completing one year!

I have known Dr. Inyang Ukot for many years. He has had a sustained interest in children’s Christian upbringing. It is not surprising that at this stage of his life he has penned this work. At about 400 pages of 8.25 x 11 it is a detailed devotional for family use and is written in simple language for even children to understand. Parents of pre-school children will do well to read BOTH the selected Bible verses and the devotional comments directly to these young ones – and explain certain topics that they may not understand.

The variety of topics covered will surely meet the need of any reader – adult or child.

This is a good resource for Christian family growth and is very welcome at this time.

Rt Revd Dr W. Karowei Dorgu

Bishop of Woolwich

Anglican Diocese of Southwark

South London, UK.

November 2019

PREFACE

Having interacted with children for many years the author has found that children have a deep desire to know the things of God. This desire and the potential for them to assimilate Christian values have not been adequately tapped by the older ones in their midst. Virtually everyone believes that what children really need are adequate food, clothing, good education, accommodation and health; these and other areas of emphasis are proper but when the spiritual welfare and moral upbringing of children are relegated to the background, we tend to have successive generations of irreligious educated and religious educated persons. The society grows in leaps and bounds in technology, science, etc. but is equally stunted in morals and Christian values.

Yes, it may not be possible to spend on Christian upbringing and moral rectitude the amount of time that children and their families spend to meet the needs of their bodies. But all of us know that as we grow older, we find that there is a void in each of our lives, no matter how much we acquire or achieve on earth. God is awaiting the personal invitations for filling of this void and in Christianity Jesus Christ is the one to fill that void through the Holy Spirit.

The author has long discovered that little daily efforts at meeting spiritual needs go a long way in giving children and their parents, teachers, etc. direction – and ultimately give society direction. This full belief that every little counts has propelled him to make this little contribution. It is his belief that parents who attempt what is recommended in this book will find that they will have no regrets over time. The financial investment in procuring this publication is certainly an effort in the right direction. If we all wait and do nothing, we shall be abandoning our societies to decay for Psalm 11:3 tells us: ‘When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ or What can the righteous do when the foundations of law and order have collapsed? The author strongly believes personally that we must not allow the deterioration to continue but each of us should do the little we can do, starting at the family level. When adults in every family put the hand to the plough and refuse to look back there shall be hope for a better tomorrow as children indeed learn more by following our examples.

INTRODUCTION

LIGHT TO MY PATH is a daily devotional reading resource to help every member of a family, but especially children who are old enough to read, to spend about 15 minutes every day to study some of the great truths found in the Bible. For children who cannot read or are too young to read, their parents should read to them and also explain areas that they may not understand; you may need to get suitable illustration from the internet, etc. to help these very young children understand. It therefore serves two purposes – personal devotion and family devotion! This book is not the same thing as the Bible and cannot be used instead of the Bible. The idea is to bring Bible truth to the level of understanding of children too. The Bible should be kept side-by-side when using it. The Bible passage for the day should actually be read just BEFORE reading the write-up for the day. This devotional should bring God’s light into your life daily and have a good effect on your life, on the way you live with people and how you connect with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of the teachings are made practical and show that they are very important to reader’s lives in our world today; it does not matter that the events happened thousands of years ago! The New International Version (NIV) is used almost every time in this devotional and so it is recommended that you have at least one copy of it.

Ten Word-search puzzles are included to exercise your mind and spirit. They start after the devotional for December 31.

HOW TO WORK ON the puzzles – Each puzzle has the following parts:

The body (web or grid) that contains letters; ALL the clue words are hidden inside this web!

The Bible passage where the words were picked from;

Clues – These are capitalized words after the body of every puzzle. You should search for them and find them one by one until you locate ALL. You can circle the words on the web or tick beside the clue words as you find them. Alternatively, you may note them on a separate sheet as you go.

You will know when you have identified all of them! Please note that you get the maximum benefit when you do the puzzle exercises alongside reading the appropriate Bible passages. The time you spend on the puzzle is variable and could be any amount of time starting from 15 minutes.

Finding the answers – The answers are arranged horizontally (across), vertically (up and down) and obliquely (slanting). There are eight possible directions for the words:

• From left to right (across)

• From right to left (across)

• From up to down

• From down to up

• From up left to down, right (slanting)

• From down, right to up left (slanting)

• From up, right to down left (slanting)

• From down left to up, right (slanting)

Spend good time to read the Bible and this Devotional. I wish you an exciting exercise time also!

ALL- FAMILY HONEST PRAYER

We call the prayer below ‘ALL-FAMILY HONEST PRAYER’ because it is appropriate for all non-children members of the family. This prayer makes sense or works ONLY when you truly mean what you pray; that is if you know that you really want Jesus to live in and control your life! To help you know the basis for the prayer there are references below the prayer ‘box.’

We advise that you pray the prayer (or something like it) only when you get to the point that you believe the things inside the prayer – this may happen at the beginning of your use of this Devotional or as you continue using it. We do not force you to pray the prayer as not even God does that!

Have a good time as you have your daily devotion individually or as part of the family– and may God bless you!

Father, I thank You for loving me.¹

I am sorry about sin inside me. It

makes me do what you do not like.²

I thank You for Jesus Christ

Who died for me.³

I also thank You because Jesus Christ is

alive so that I do not have to die in my sin.⁴

Jesus, I come to you and ask you

to forgive me and save me.⁵

Jesus, please enter my life now and

take away the power that sin and

Satan have been having over me.⁶

Jesus, I pray that you give me the power

of the Holy Spirit to live the rest of my life

doing things that will make God happy.⁷

I thank you for saving me and giving me

eternal life because I believe you heard

me and answered my honest prayer.⁸

Father, I pray this prayer in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!⁹

1. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

2. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23; For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Romans 7:19.

3. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11.

4. He (Jesus) told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Luke 24:46.

5. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. John 6:37; But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Luke 5:24.

6. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in… Revelation 3:20; In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Mark 3:27.

7. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it. Isaiah 30:21; The Spirit of truth …. will guide you into all the truth. John 16:13

8. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. John 6:47; I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28.

9. Ask and it will be given to you; Matthew 7:7; And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13.

A CHILD’S HONEST PRAYER

The prayer below is named ‘A child’s honest prayer’ because it makes sense or works ONLY when you truly mean what you pray; that is if you know that you really want Jesus to come in and stay in your life. He will then control your life!

We advise that you pray the prayer (or something like it) when you get to the point that you believe the things inside the prayer – this may happen as you start using this Devotional or as you continue using it. We do not force you or your child to pray the prayer as forcing anybody is not what God wants!

Have a good time as you use this book every day – and may God bless you!

Father, I thank You for loving me.

I am sorry about sin inside me. It

makes me do what You do not like.

I thank You for Jesus Christ Who died for me.

I also thank You because Jesus Christ is

now alive so that I may not die for my sin.

I ask Jesus Christ to enter my life now.

I want Him to save me and so take away the

power that sin and Satan now have over me.

I want Jesus Christ to give me the

power to live all my life doing things

that will make God happy.

I thank you for saving me because

I believe you heard my prayer and

answered my honest prayer.

I pray this prayer in the Name

of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Psalm 90:1-6, 17

The first day of a year is a wonderful day. Everybody is happy to see the first day – this is true of boys, girls and adults. Why are people happy about January 1? There may be many reasons. We shall study some. The first reason may be happiness for being alive. Many young children do not know what death is. They only know about life. Because they do not know about death, they cannot know the difference; their joy may not really be about life! For your parents, uncles and other adults they are happy because they are still alive. For children, the main reason they are happy may be the new clothes that parents bought for them. They wore some of those clothes during the Christmas and End-of-year parties; they have the remaining clothes and shoes to wear on New Year day. Another reason for joy among children is that there is plenty of good food. The food on the first day of a year is usually special, plenty and very nice. There are also many types of food to choose from. Children are also very happy on this day because it is a holiday. On this day, many children go to amusement parks to play; other children visit friends and family members.

A dwelling place is a house. A house is a place where people, including families, live. This passage tells us that God is our dwelling place. This means that God is the One that we have been getting protection, care and rest from. On the first day of the year, children who are in countries where there is peace should thank God. They should be happy. They should also pray for children who live in countries, states or cities where there is plenty of trouble. Pray that they will enjoy peace also.

This passage tells us that our lives on earth are very short. Our lives are like when you sleep and wake up to see sun light. Do you know what happened while you slept? Did you really know for how long you slept? You only know by looking at a watch or clock. Sometimes it is like you just closed and then opened your eyes! This first day of the year is one of the 365 or 366 days of this year. Children should make good use of all the days of the year. If you do not work hard and well, God will not be able to bless what you do. You will do your best and ask God to bless what you do.

There is a big difference between God and us. God does not die. He has always been alive; He will continue to be alive. This means that from past eternity to the coming eternity, God is alive! Even if children or adults live for many years it is still a short time in the eyes of God. You just read that a thousand years are like only one day or just a few hours to God. Since everybody will live for only a few years, children and adults must not waste the time God gives them. You must not even waste today – the New Year.

On this first day of the year every child should think seriously about favor. Favor is kindness. When you are kind and nice to somebody and the person did not work for, that is favor. Verse 17 says, ‘May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us…’ That should be your prayer this year. With God’s favor, this year will be a blessing for you and you will love it!

Luke 15:3-7

Tax-collectors worked for the government. These people collected tax money from the people. This money was given to the government. People did not like tax collectors. The people also did not like the government. There were other people who were called sinners. These people did not live the kind of life that leaders of the religion of the Jews wanted. The Jews are God’s people. Jesus came to make you and me God’s children and people also!

One day many of these tax collectors and sinners came near Jesus to hear Him preach. When the leaders of the Jews saw them getting very close to Jesus, they were not happy. They complained among themselves. They said that Jesus welcomed and ate with sinners. This was why Jesus decided to tell the story for today’s study. Jesus wanted everybody to know that He loved sinners to come to Him. Jesus wanted to forgive them.

Jesus said that one day a man took his one hundred sheep out in the wilderness. A wilderness is a dry and hot place. While looking for water and food for his sheep something bad happened. One of the one hundred sheep went missing! At first the owner of the sheep did not notice. When he knew that one sheep was not with the other sheep, he must have been very unhappy. But what did he do? Jesus said that the man left the ninety-nine sheep. Was that not dangerous? No. He knew that sheep like to stay together. He went into the wilderness to look for the sheep that got lost. After some time, he found the sheep. He carried the sheep on his shoulders and came back to meet the ninety-nine sheep still waiting. He continued carrying the lost sheep. He led the other sheep back to his house. He must have been tired. The lost sheep was also tired; that may be why he still carried the sheep on his shoulders until he got to his house!

He told his neighbors (those who lived close to him) and his friends what happened to the sheep. He asked them to come and rejoice with him that he found his sheep that was lost.

Children are like the sheep that went astray; this sheep got lost after some time. Adults, parents and even children do not like to hear that children are lost. The Bible says that ‘All we like sheep have gone astray…….’ This includes children! That sheep that got lost could not help itself. In the same way, children cannot help themselves because they are lost. The sheep needed the sheep owner to look for it. Jesus came into this world to look for children who are lost. Jesus died on the cross. Jesus rose again from the grave. Jesus has found children who are lost; He has power to save children and adults. The lost sheep ran to its owner when the sheep owner found the sheep. Every child who is lost should return to Jesus because Jesus loves children. Children are not sinners because they commit terrible sins; they are sinners because they were born as sinners. Believe Jesus that you are lost in sin. Tell Jesus that you are sad and sorry to be a sinner. Ask Jesus to forgive you. Jesus will forgive you and make you His child. You will start to enjoy living for Jesus. Jesus said that there is joy in heaven when a child feels sorry and returns to God.

John 1:1-4, 11, 14, 18

Words, words, words! Words are everywhere with us and around us. How would we live without words?

Words are used between brothers and sisters. They are used in families between our mums and dads and also between our parents and us. As children, we like to talk with children like ourselves, our parents, our teachers and other people.

When we make use of just our mouths it means that the words are for someone or people who are near us and can hear us. When people are far away there are many ways of making our words get to them or their words get to us. In our world today, we use telephones to pass our words to friends, brothers and other people who are far away and also people not so far away from where we are. There are other ways of passing words along – radio, television, internet and many apps.

God wanted to let us know Him and what He wants and does not want. He wanted us to know who He is. He wanted us to get to know Him as the Person Who made us, loves us and cares for us. When you speak with somebody using a ‘phone it does not give a very good feeling if you have never seen or met with that person. Even if he talks nicely with you, you will like it better if you could see or touch or sit near the person.

Unfortunately, we cannot see God. To make himself close to us He sent Jesus to this world for all of us. He decided to make the Word to become a human being like you and me. When this human Word came, He said so many things and gave so many wonderful teachings. He lived among the people at the time He came and was like most other simple people. He was not even rich and most people today would not agree that He was successful. The words that the Word spoke were very powerful but many people did not like those words – just like they did not like Him as a Person. The Bible tells us that the people in Israel (where God chose for Him to be born, live and die and rise) even rejected Him!

Many people, including children, still reject Jesus. They do not want Him for some reasons including: They do not like Him; He is different from us; He and His words make us uncomfortable; we do not agree with His teachings, He wants us to change for the better but we do not want to change. There are many more reasons, even till today.

The question is: Are you ready to listen to the words of Jesus, the human Word? Or will you reject Jesus and His words the way many people did when He was on earth – and still do today?

Luke 3:1-6

The passage we are studying today has the names of eight people. Five of the people were important people in the government at that time. Two of the people were high priests and one of them was a simple man – what you would call ‘an ordinary preacher.’

The names of the government officials were: Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip and Lysanias. The names of the high priests were: Annas and Caiaphas. The name of the ‘ordinary preacher’ was John the Baptist.

Things were not very normal at this time. The passage tells us that the lives of the people were like a valley that needed to be filled to make the road level. The Bible also tells us that people were living like a mountain or hill that needed to be cut down to make it easy to walk, run or drive on. The Bible also goes on to say that people’s lives were like crooked roads that needed to be made straight so that people can drive and not have accidents. Finally, God tells us in this passage that the lives of the people were like roads that were made rough by pot-holes and bumps that slow down the movement of cars; their lives needed to be made smooth. Who was to turn around the lives of the people? God was the One! But who was to talk to the people? Was it one of those top government officials or one of the high priests? No!

The person that God chose to do the job of talking to the people turned out to be somebody who was not well known. His name was John the Baptist. He was not rich and was like any ordinary person. He was not like the important people in the society at the time. He did not even live in the city but lived in the wilderness or desert. God’s word came to him in the desert.

What was the message and where was John supposed to do the preaching? The message was that the people should repent so that God would forgive them. Was the message for children too? Yes! God’s message is usually for the good of everybody – including children.

What is repentance? When a child says ‘I am a child and I am not a sinner’ or another child does bad things, both of them need to repent. The first child needs to change the mind, belief or attitude of not being a sinner and agree with God Who says that all have sinned. The second child needs to be sorry for whatever bad or wrong was done. They need to turn completely from the way they were thinking or doing things and begin to believe that what God said is right. That is repentance.

What is forgiveness? When God wipes away your wrong way of thinking or wrong or bad things that you did that is called forgiveness. When God decides not to punish you for what you have done or the way you treated God and what He says about you that is forgiveness. When God stops bad things happening to you even after you did bad things and did not treat God or His word well, that is also forgiveness.

It is God who makes a way for you to repent and also to forgive you. Without God you will continue to do things the way you like. Without God you will continue having wrong beliefs about God. God speaks to your spirit and mind by using the Holy Spirit. When you hear God talking to you, you can listen to God or you can say you do not want to listen now or to listen at all. It is only when you listen that you can go on and tell God you agree with Him and what He says; you tell God you are sorry and you want to live for Him. God will then forgive you and you become God’s child because He said so.

Matthew 6:19-22

Even children know the meaning of the word, Rich. Riches are, therefore, things that children and everybody like. We know that there are many and different types of things that can be called riches. Riches also have something to do with where we are. Riches have a lot to do with how old we are. What one person calls riches may not be called riches by another person.

In Matthew 6:19-22 Jesus Christ was not concerned with what riches are. We shall spend some time on what Jesus really talked about in these verses. He talked about where our riches are. If you live or have lived in a small farming community you will agree that the riches of a farmer are in the farm. It is when he harvests his crops that the crops will be put in the storehouse. The crops do not stay in the store for long because they are sold to get money to take care of other needs of the family of the farmer. If you come from a place where the main work is fishing you will notice that when men and women return from work, they take their fish for drying or for freezing. The fish, crayfish, prawns, etc. are their riches – they produce money when sold, not just stored! Their riches were in the river or ocean and they brought them out to sell either as fresh, dried, or frozen or smoked fish.

As a child, where are your riches? Your riches may be in your family, your head, hands, etc.! This means that your family may be able to give you all the things that you need as a child; other children may not have their riches in their families. Some children do not have rich parents but they are very intelligent; the head (brain) of such children is where their riches are. They do very well in school and become rich when they grow up. There are some children who are rich in the ability to do sports, acting, music, fashion, etc. These talents are their own riches and are found inside them!

We have seen that our riches can be in the ocean, river, farm, sun, ourselves, etc.; the riches can also be our money that is kept in the bank. Have you ever asked yourself: Where are my riches?

Jesus Christ said that we should be careful where we keep our riches. We should not keep our riches where thieves can come and steal or where they can be destroyed by fire or many other problems in this world – this life. There are some bad things that happen in nature (natural disasters) that can destroy people’s riches. There are other problems that are caused by people (like war which turns people into refugees and children into orphans); wars can make rich people poor suddenly.

It is very good to work hard or to use the talents that God gave us to increase our riches. We should know that most of the things we have will remain here on earth. We cannot take them away when we grow old and die. Some of our riches can be passed on to our children but there are some riches that cannot be given to our children. Thieves, bad weather, natural disasters, human disasters, fire and other accidents, a bad economy in the country can all spoil or destroy our riches.

Jesus Christ said we should store up our riches in heaven where nothing can destroy them or take them away from us. That is a better thing to do! What did Jesus mean? We should allow Jesus into our lives as children. When Jesus is in your life you will know – just like when you have riches you will know (or grow up to know!) You cannot be rich in intelligence and let someone try to convince you that you are dull in class. With Jesus inside you, He will teach you how to do those things that will remain until eternity. As you continue to read this devotional you will learn more and more and you will live a life that pleases God and makes you glad. Yes, store your riches in Jesus and in eternity!

Luke 13:1-5

There are three words that tell us almost everything we need to know about time. Those three words are: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. ‘Yesterday’ tells us about time that is past. Everything that is past is a yesterday. It is the many ‘yesterdays’ that make up weeks, months and years that are past. ‘Today’ tells us about the present day. Today is the only day that we have. We have only ‘one today’ at a time. ‘Tomorrow’ tells us about the future. The future is the time for what is yet to happen after today. It is interesting that we only know about yesterday and today. We do not know anything about tomorrow.

When we say we know about today it is both correct and wrong. Today has 24 hours. What we know about today is the part of the 24 hours that we have already seen or experienced. If the time is 6p.m. you can say that you were still sleeping at 1a.m., woke up at 6.30a.m., and had lunch between 1p.m. and 2.30p.m. and are watching your favorite TV channel at 6p.m. You may plan to do something at 9p.m. but you cannot be sure because anything can happen to stop you from doing what you really want to do at 9p.m.

What do these things mean? One meaning is that even for today, the only time that we have to do anything is ‘NOW’. The sad thing is that ‘now’ is just now! The next sad thing is that ‘now’ is the time that most children and adults waste! It simply means that the only time that we have is the time we usually waste – and when now passes, it is gone.

Some people who listened to Jesus told Him about wickedness that was done in Galilee. The story is in the passage for our study today. Pilate was the governor and he decided to kill many people in Galilee. This wicked act was done to people who were worshipping God. The Bible says that the people were sacrificing animals as part of worshipping God when the governor sent people to kill them! That was awful. Jesus knew what happened and He said something as an answer. Jesus said that the people listening to Him should make sure that they repented (change their minds towards God) so that they would not perish. To perish means to die without hope. Jesus told them of the tall building that fell in Jerusalem and killed eighteen people. He told those who listened to Him to make sure they repented so that they would not perish.

When bad things happen to other people some people do or say one thing or another. Some people feel that it is because the people who suffered or died were bad people. Some people feel that those of them who are alive are special people. Some people even believe that nothing bad can happen to them. Other people say that God cannot allow any bad thing to ever happen to them. No matter what people say or believe, Jesus said that those who are alive should use their ‘today’ and their ‘now’ wisely. How should children and adults use the time they have wisely? They should repent now and make sure they ask Jesus into their lives, become children of God, and live for Jesus. The time to repent is now!

Joshua 1:1-5

One of the saddest things that happen to people is when somebody dies. When a person dies the feeling of sadness is worse if they were very close and dear to the person who is still alive. Death is not a good thing. Nobody likes death! But death is everywhere. People die every day. The death of people is announced on radio, television, in churches, newspapers, etc. People die when traveling by road, by train, by sea or by air. People die in hospitals, hotels and school hostels. People die even in their houses.

Death is a loss. The problem with death is that the loss is total or final. The words total and final only mean that those who are alive cannot see or live with the person who died anymore. It does not mean that the dead person has stopped to exist.

Children, like other people, suffer loss. The loss does not have to be death. The loss could be in the form of losing a pet that the child loved – the pet may be a dog, a cat, a parrot or something else. The loss could be of a costly toy that belonged to you. The loss could be your family moving from one house to live in another house. The loss may even be when you and your parents move from one city to another city; because of that, you change from the school you loved to a new school and so you can no longer see or play with your friends in the former school.

It is important for children to be prepared for losses. Losses can come in many different ways as mentioned above. When you know that life is full of losses you will cry but not cry for too long. You will be sad but do not remain sad for too long. You may wish that the loss did not happen but ‘wake up’ after the wishful thinking and move on. Your mum and dad will advise you to move on with your life.

In our story today, Moses the servant of God died. A whole nation lost their leader – the only leader that they knew for so many years. God had to talk to Joshua. He did not just tell him that his master, their leader was dead. God told Joshua to become the new leader. God promised Joshua that He would be with him and with the children of Israel – but they should wake up and move forward.

You may say: You do not know how important that person or that thing I lost was to me. Yes, I may not know; another person may not know; even your parents, children, other family members and close friends may not know the importance of your loss. Many times, it is only you who know how close or dear a person or something was to you – and so how painful the loss is now! Whatever thing you may lose today, do not remain sad for too long. You may, or may not, get that type of thing back. If it was a person, you will not get the same person but may get someone else who is nearly as close or dear soon or in future. Remember that God who helped Joshua and the children of Israel to continue their life journey as a people (as a nation) is able and ready to help you and me to live after any loss.

Matthew 4:1-4

As you read this lesson you are one of the children who see food, food, food everywhere! You see food in your house and you see food in the school. There is plenty of food at school parties and birthday parties. There is a lot of food during Christmas and during Easter.

Food is very important and that is why you have been eating food since you were born. One of the first things a baby wants after it is born is food. Everybody needs and eats food – daddy, mummy, driver, pilot, nanny, teacher, brother, sister, traveler, visitor, etc.

You know that you cannot eat food if the food is not ready for you to eat it. A lot of times people have to make the food ready for eating. That is why mummy, the cook or some other person fry potatoes before you can eat or they boil yam, plantain, etc. before you can eat them. You cannot eat rice or beans from the bag or from the container in the kitchen. This is all because raw food has to be prepared properly before it is eaten.

There are types of food that are ready for eating. They are in the supermarket or already in the house. Examples are milk in tin or sachet, fruit juice, ice cream and bread; others are ripe banana, coconut or apples and nuts like brazil nuts, almonds and cashews.

You will notice that one thing about food and eating is that somebody has to do some work. The work may be to get the food from the farm or to sell it in the retail store, supermarket – or open market in some countries. The work may also be cooking the food or opening the bottle or can of fruit drink, etc. Even babies have to suck breast to get the milk!

What did Satan do? He decided to tempt Jesus Christ. He used food (bread) to tempt our Lord. What did Satan ask Jesus to do? He told Jesus to eat without doing any work! Why do we say so? Satan told Jesus to command, order or just tell the stones in the wilderness to become bread!

Jesus knew that it was wrong for Him to do what Satan wanted. You do not just command stones to become bread and you eat the bread. That is not God’s way for children or adults to get the food they eat. He wants us to do something (i.e. some work) if we want to eat. Jesus has the power but He did not want short-cut. It is Satan that likes short-cuts!

Food is good