Scripture Focus: Matthew 22: 34-46
Faith+Open: Begin your family/household devotion time
by lighting a candle and prayer. Read Psalm 1: 2 “But their delight is in the
law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.” God’s law is
love! Write on a piece of paper: “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Place this on your mirror or on your refrigerator or
anywhere where you will see it a few time a day to remind you that God is love,
God loves you and we love God!
Faith+Share: Read Matthew 22: 34-46: This passage has
two parts to it. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 to the lawyer who asks what the
greatest commandment is and then Jesus asks a question back: Who is the
Messiah? Jewish tradition held that the messiah would be a descendant of David
the response of “son of David” would make sense. Jesus does come from the
lineage of David yet is more than just “son of David.” Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1
to explain that he is from the Davidic line but is the Messiah, Son of God. If
Jesus were David’s son then David would not call Jesus “Lord” since one did not
call a son a greater title than oneself. But Jesus, as the long awaited
Messiah, is not David’s son but Son of God. This quieted all the questions of
Jesus for the time being! Jesus used the question from the lawyer to not only
explain the law but to proclaim the gospel! Jesus is the Messiah from God for
the salvation of all!
Adults: Jesus proclaims that the most
important facet of the law is that it orients our whole live to God. Questions
are a good thing as they deepen our understanding and relationship with God.
Jesus’ answer to the lawyer in verses37-39 begs us to ponder what does it mean
to love God “whole-lifedly”? To use verses 41-46 to ask this: How do we love
God so that everyone we meet knows whom Jesus Christ the Messiah is for us and
in our lives? Loving God and loving the neighbor are not equal things but our
love for God should overflow to the love of our neighbor. How can we respond
when people ask us questions about our belief in God?
Children: Jesus tells us in this story that
people will try to ask you hard questions about God but that the most important
thing to remember is to love God with your whole self. When you sing, dance,
play with a friend, read a story or anything else you can love God! What else
can you do everyday that shows you love God? (Pray, share with a friend, tell a
friend about Jesus, send a card to someone who is sick, etc.) Jesus wants us to
remember that God loves all of us the same and we should love all people as
much as we love ourselves, our brothers or sisters and mom and dad.
Faith+Serve: Get a list of the people from your
church whom cannot come to church because of ill health or other reasons. (Contact
your pastor or someone else who may know this information.) Make (or buy if you
want!) cards that tell them that God loves them and so do you! You could also
make extra cards and give them out anonymously (or put your name on them, it’s up
to you!) to neighbors in your neighborhood. Find out who in your neighborhood
could really use some help with some outdoor work (raking leaves or pulling
weeds) or other tasks and volunteer to do so.
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