After becoming a pastor, one of the goals that I had was to create material to help equip lay people of all spiritual maturity ranges with a deeper understanding of their Bible. In the world today, there are few things that Christians turn to more in order to get their daily dose of Bible than devotionals. Now there are many incredible devotions that are out there, especially those of old. For instance, there is Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost For His Highest, or Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening. These devotionals are excellent, as they are packed with powerful biblical truths that actually expound on and draw from the text of which is being quoted. However, many devotionals today are devoid from this type of powerful teaching altogether. Some devotions even make the audacious claims that the reason they even exist is because the Bible was “just not enough” (Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling). These devotions are not only weak in their content, but are often nothing more than perfect examples of “Moral Therapeutic Deism.” Texts are usually ripped out of their contexts, and the devotional portion is often nothing more than motivational moralism. As such people are left feeling as if they have done their Christian duty of being diligent in the Word, while the devotion has actually left them with a further misunderstanding of it. I am so thankful for the profound and deep works that are written by expositors of Scripture today, however we need to remember that many of our congregants are not going to those “deep theology” sections in the Christian bookstore. Therefore expositors, let us meet them where they are by writing profound and biblical devotionals that actually engage with the text being considered each day. Let us provide them daily readings that include both exposition and application in order that they might see these devotions not as replacement for time in God’s Word, but rather as supplements that draw them back to God’s Word. I have recently taken up this challenge myself, and decided to do a devotional on a part of the Bible that is often not up for consideration when it comes to daily devotionals. The Wisdom of Kings is a 50 day devotional through the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. I do not claim to have figured out how to do the perfect devotional, however it is time that biblical and faithful pastors of the Word get back to creating materials that can help our congregants in their study of the Word each day of the week. If you would like to use my new devotion through Kings or recommend it to your friends or church members you can find it at the link below. Let us get to work to expositors creating devotions that challenge, convict, and encourage Christians, but most importantly that remain faithful to the text of Scripture! God Bless!
