3 Reasons to Consider Using a Devotional with Your Family

Three Reasons to Use Devotionals with Your Family

There is no single right way to spend time in God’s word.

Charles Spurgeon advocated for one method but knew it was one among many good options: Some people like to read so many chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than I would, as it were, rinse my hand in several chapters.¹ John Stott said that he had one “Bible reading method that I have found most helpful, although there are many . . . which I also recommend.”²

In sum, when it comes to your personal time in the Bible, Donald Whitney says, “There’s not just one way to meditate on Scripture.”³

Similarly, there’s also not one single way for opening God’s Word with your family. But there are some good reasons for using a special kind of resource: devotionals. Sometimes it helps to use resources that someone else has written. Here are three reasons why.

New Morning Mercies for Kids

Paul David Tripp

Adapted from Paul David Tripp’s bestselling book New Morning Mercies, these 60 devotions teach children how to trust God and rely on his grace each and every day.

1. Devotionals offer a familiar format.

As a parent you have a lot to think about. And sometimes keeping up with the next topic or passage you’re going to talk about with your family is life-giving and wonderful. Other times those details get lost in the avalanche of life. The question, What are we going to talk about? gets crowded out among so many other questions: What are we eating for dinner? Who’s picking up which child at what time? When is that school assignment due?

Having a reliable resource gives parents a comfortable plan for family Bible time together. It also provides children with a routine. They know what to expect when you sit down together. They know what comes first, second, third, and they know what is expected of them (listening, contributing, praying, reading, or discussing).

Devotionals create a familiarity that serves busy families well.

2. Devotionals utilize God-given resources.

A Christian who knows her Bible would never think: I don’t need those other people at church; I have all the insights and giftings that I need. Why would this be unthinkable? Because God’s word is clear: Jesus has given all the members of the body to serve the various members of the body (1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph. 4:11–16). And in every church body, God has appointed all sorts of gifted people in the body, including teachers (1 Cor. 12:28–31; Eph 4:11).

Most devotional books make excellent Spirit-enabled teaching available, at the flick of a page. What a resource and a help! It’s available for parents who don’t have training in God’s word and for those who don’t have time to prepare.

And the best devotional resources are like a well-stocked toolbox. You can just pick out what you need at that time. When you open a devotional, you’ve opened a set of options. You get to pick and choose; you can use what you want or what time allows.

How kind of the Lord, in his providence, to have made available so many devotional resources for parents to use!

Devotionals create a familiarity that serves busy families well.

3. Devotionals serve as a bridge to reach younger ages.

When our children were very young, we often used a Bible storybook during our family time in the word. But as the children get older, it can get more complicated, especially when you have numbers of children and all at different ages and stages.

When all the children are teens, you could mainly just read God’s word and discuss it together. With a range of ages, however, younger children may not be able to comprehend what the older ones are talking about. And if they’re all in those middle years, that’s where devotional resources can be so helpful.

Devotional books can serve as a bridge between storybook Bibles and the Bible itself. The best devotionals offer clear summaries of Bible passages or Bible truths and how they apply to life. There can also be helpful questions for discussion or reflection and even prayers to help guide hearts to the Lord.

So if you’re wondering what you should use with your family in your Bible time, there are lots of options. No one method is the perfect one, yet sometimes family devotionals can be the right resource at the right time.

Notes:

Charles H. Spurgeon, “Taught That We May Teach,” sermon no. 1578, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 27 (1881).
https://johnstott.org/work/the-paradoxes-of-preaching/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/cultivating-practical-godliness/