In his book, Champ Thornton provides 30 devotions for kids, teenagers, and their families to work through to better understand God’s plan of salvation. For every one question, there are three devotionals.
Paul Tripp notes in his foreword that God has hardwired in us a desire to know. Kids, of which I have five, ask why constantly. Some questions are easy to answer, but then are constantly followed up with another “why?”. Other questions are not so easy. But they are all important because “we live our lives based not on what we have experienced but on how we have made sense of what we have experienced. You never leave anything in your life alone. You are constantly thinking about things, unpacking them in your mind, trying to understand them, and hoping things will make sense to you” (xv).
In fact, as Thornton points out, Jesus himself loved questions. Within the four Gospels, there are hundreds of questions asked and answered by Jesus. In fact, he asked more questions than he answered, technically speaking. (Many of his questions were riddle-answers.) It is not enough to tell our kids about Jesus, nor to send them to Sunday School so that they can come home with colored pictures of him. They need to know why they should want this “salvation.” So, of all the questions your children may have, Thornton begins with ten.
Recommended?
Not all devotions are good devotions, but this series paired with books by Marty Machowski are a good match. Thornton picks up heavy doctrines and makes them understandable for the youth without making the illustrations cheesy. He asks the right questions that older kids and teenagers would wonder about, and he keeps Scripture front and center. This is one I hope to go through with my oldest son soon to fill in same gaps and figure out what he does know and still needs to learn. I look forward to the upcoming volumes in this series.
Buy it on Amazon or from Crossway
Lagniappe
- Author: Champ Thornton
- Age Range: 8–12 years
- Paperback: 136 pages
- Publisher: Crossway (April 2025)
- Read the first chapter
Review Disclosure: I received this book free from Crossway. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.
Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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