NCCKids Daily Devotionals | September 14-18
September 14:
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man named Zacchaeus lived there. He was a chief tax collector and was very rich. Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was a short man. He could not see Jesus because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree. He wanted to see Jesus, who was coming that way. Luke 19:1-4 (NIRV)
Discussion Prompt for younger children:
Zacchaeus was a small man who had a big problem! He wanted to see Jesus but couldn’t because everyone around him was blocking his view. Have you ever been too short to see something?
When was the last time you saw a grown up climb a tree? (Parents, it may be helpful for you to explain to your children why adults are typically leery of climbing trees :) Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus so badly that he was willing to climb that sycamore tree!
We should be like Zacchaeus and do whatever it takes to spend time with and get to know Jesus. Some of the ways that people in the Bible spent time with Jesus was going off to a room by themselves so that they could pray without being interrupted. You could get creative, like Zacchaeus when he climbed a tree, and draw a picture for Jesus- talking to God while you draw. You can tell God about what you are drawing and you can ask Him to help you know more about His Son. You can sing songs about Jesus and to Jesus. What are some other ways you can come to know Jesus better?
Let’s pray and ask God to help us want to know Jesus so much that we would be willing to do strange or even hard things to do so.
Discussion Prompt for older children and teens:
Zacchaeus was a grown man with an important job and lots of money. The Bible warns us that often people who are rich and powerful have a hard time humbling themselves in order to get to know God. Luckily for Zacchaeus, he was not afraid to embarrass himself a bit!
Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus. When was the last time you saw an adult climb a tree? Do you think it would look a little silly? Now, what do you think Zacchaeus was wearing at the time that he climbed that sycamore tree? In Israel when Jesus was alive men wore robes, not pants. Climbing the tree to see Jesus was a bit risky for Zacchaeus. But Zacchaeus understood something that we should as well: Jesus is worth whatever it takes to get to know Him.
Life is busy and lots of things compete for our attention but a relationship with Jesus is worth carving time out for. And, like Zacchaeus, you may have to get creative in finding ways to spend time with Him. You may have to find a quiet corner in your house where you won’t get distracted, or go outside and sit under a quiet tree (or climb it with your parents permission!). There are many ways to spend time getting to know Jesus. Most people know that you can get to know Jesus by reading the Bible and praying- but there are a million ways to do that! The key is to make an effort to turn your attention to Jesus and truly try to spend time getting to know him.
Can you think of a creative way to spend time in Jesus’ presence? (Examples include: singing songs about Jesus or singing to Jesus; talking to an adult about how they have experienced God in their lives, making a list of the characteristic/accomplishments/life-events of Jesus, etc)
End in prayer, asking God to give your child/teen more and more experientially knowledge of His Son.
September 15:
Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was. He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay at your house today.” So Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this. They began to whisper among themselves. They said, “Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner. ” Luke 19:5-7
Discussion Prompt for children of all ages:
Do you know anyone who has a reputation for being great at sports? What about someone who has a reputation for being really brave? Do you know anyone who has a reputation for being greedy and a cheater? Zacchaeus was known for using his job to take more money from people than he should. If someone owed one dollar, Zacchaeus would say to give him two.
Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in that sycamore tree and could tell that Zacchaeus really, really wanted to get to know him. Jesus didn’t ignore Zacchaeus because he was greedy and a cheater. Jesus didn’t have a short talk with Zacchaeus and then move on to nicer people. Jesus said that he just had to stay over at Zacchaeus’ house. Can you imagine how Zacchaeus felt?! I bet he was thrilled!
But then, the people all around him started saying things like ‘What?! Why is Jesus going to hang out with that cheater?!’ And ‘But Zacchaeus is a sinner!’
I bet that made Zacchaeus nervous. I wonder if he thought Jesus would change his mind about going to his house after he heard what the people were saying. Zacchaeus said to Jesus: ‘I’ll make it right! I’ll give back all the money I have taken from people unfairly and give it back! I’ll actually give back more than I’ve taken!’ Wow! Zacchaeus truly understood how amazing and worthy Jesus was and is.
We don’t have to be afraid of Jesus thinking we are too bad to get to know him. Jesus wants to be in a relationship with you. He wants you to get close to him and see just how amazing he is. If you ever find yourself thinking you can’t talk to Jesus because you’ve done something wrong just remember that Jesus chose to hang out with Zacchaeus, a man with a reputation of being a cheater. Even when you mess up Jesus is always ready to welcome you!
Spend some time in prayer thanking God for his love for sinners.
September 16:
Zacchaeus stood up. He said, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of what I own to those who are poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back. I will pay back four times the amount I took.” Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to your house. You are a member of Abraham’s family line. The Son of Man came to look for the lost and save them.” Luke 19:8-10
Discussion Prompt for all ages:
Would you say that someone who steals money loves money a lot? Just a few minutes with Jesus and Zacchaeus was ready to give away his money to be sure Jesus would come to his house. Zacchaeus realized Jesus was ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ and gave him the highest position in his heart. His money and power weren’t worth anything compared to Jesus.
Jesus said Zacchaeus’ heart and life change meant that Zacchaeus was now apart of his family! He said Zacchaeus had been saved!
Can you name some things Zacchaeus was saved from when he gave the highest position in his heart to Jesus? (Some examples are: a life without knowing Jesus, a life spent pursuing things that wouldn’t make him truly happy, separation from God in eternity, etc.)
Let’s pray and ask God to help everyone in our family see that Jesus deserves the highest position in our hearts!
September 17:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Discussion Prompt for all ages:
(Parents, today I am going to attempt to make the story of the creation, fall, and redemption of humanity concise, relatable, and understandable for children. The illustration I use is not perfect. I believe the overall illustration is worthy of looking over the smaller details. Young children will not pick up on the discrepancies- for example, small ones won’t wonder if the Godhead created humans out of boredom. If you do have an older child that picks up on an imperfection in the illustration feel free to explore it with them! That’s marvelous critical thinking!)
Imagine you have just designed and built a brand new type of computer. That would be pretty cool, huh?! You figured out what it should do, how it should work, and what buttons would need to be pushed to make it work correctly. You worked on it and worked on it until it ran perfectly.
After a while it got a little boring to play with the computer by yourself and you decided to invite a friend to play with the computer too. Can you imagine how excited you would be to watch someone else enjoy the computer you designed? But your friend won’t listen to you tell them how to use it! They think they know the best way to play on your computer even though they keep hitting all the wrong keys and are not having much fun doing it their way. If your friend would use your computer the way you designed it, they would have a much better time, right?
God created the world we live in and he created all the people in it. He designed every part of our world and made it to work a certain way. Did you know that when God made our world he and Jesus worked together to do it? John chapter one says that life was in Jesus and life came from Jesus.
Since God made the world through Jesus, life is meant to be lived with and through Him. That’s how God designed it.
When Zacchaeus decided to stop living his own way and to give Jesus the highest position in his heart he began to live the way God designed him to live.
In our Scripture verse for today Jesus says ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’ Jesus’ way is the real way to live. Jesus’ way is the truth for this world and for us. Loving and listening to Jesus gives us true life, the way it is meant to be.
Close by praying for your child to always look to God for the way to live.
September 18:
Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things. Philippians 4:8 (NIRV)
Discussion Prompt for children of all ages:
Sometimes we can get hung up in thinking about negative things. While there is a time for thinking about what is going wrong so that we can make it right, we should also take time to celebrate what is lovely and excellent.
Today, let’s try to keep our minds focused on good, right, and lovely things! When something nice comes to mind, share it with someone! Let’s see if it makes a difference in our day.
Spend some time praying that God would bring worthy and excellent things to mind today.
