Kids Bible Devotional for December 3, 2024
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Focus Verse
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (KJV)
Jump Start
Like a moth to a flame. Hmm. I wonder what that means exactly.
In truth, moths are not attracted to flames as much as they are to light generated by the fire, or any light source for that matter. Light is how moths orient themselves. They instinctively twist their backs to bright things. This helps them figure out which way is up.
This natural phenomenon does make an interesting comparison that applies to today’s devotion topic. James said that we are drawn away by temptations because we become enticed by things that feed our sinful nature. Like moths, we are attracted to flashy, sparkly things.
But there is a way to overcome temptations. We will talk about it in today’s devotion.
Today's Devotion
Tony sat at the kitchen table playing with two long pieces of metal. His dad walked into to grab a cup of coffee.
“What’ve you got there?” Dad asked.
“I found these two magnets in the junk drawer. Here, watch this?” Tony set one magnet on the table then slid the second magnet toward the first. The first magnet shot across the tabletop. “Isn’t that cool?”
“Do you know why it does that?” Dad asked, stirring creamer into his coffee mug. Tony shook his head. “Each end of the magnet represents a pole. If the poles are opposite, they attract. If they are the same, they push away from one another, like what just happened to yours.”
“Wow! I should study more about magnets,” Tony said. “I have a science project coming up, and this would make a great experiment.”
“You know, this would make a great experiment for your mother’s Sunday School class, too.”
Tony gathered up the magnets. “Why would Mom want to do a science experiment for Sunday School?”
“Because it represents how people respond to temptations.” Tony’s father sat beside him and took a sip from his mug. “Here, let me show you what I mean.”
He held the two magnets apart. “You see, when we are tempted, we can do one of two things. One, we can let our sinful nature take over and submit to the temptation. This attracts the devil because he wants us to fail.” The ends of the magnets slammed together.
Dad pulled the pieces apart. “Or, we can say, ‘No’. By resisting temptation, the enemy has no other option but to flee.” Dad flipped the magnets around and tried put them together, but they repelled one another.
Tony smiled broadly. “Now, I see. We want to make the devil go away. We do that by not listening to his lies.”
Dad handed Tony back the magnets. “You got it, little guy,” Dad said, rising from the chair with his mug. “This is how Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness. He quoted Scripture. The devil’s twisted words were no match for the Word made flesh.”
“And to think that magnets could have such deep meaning,” Tony said.
“Makes you wonder what other treasures are in the junk drawer, doesn’t it,” Dad joked.
Wrap Up
In our theme verse, we learned that the devil flees when we resist his lies and temptations. But what gives us the power to resist? James mentions it at the beginning of the verse: submit yourself to God.
Submission to God looks something like this. We are more interested in pleasing God than our own flesh. We would rather obey God than give into momentary pleasures that will harm us anyway. This harm could come in various forms like guilt, scolding, loss of reputation, and many other ways.
The point is that when temptations come – and they will – ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” Then, do that. In other words, the more you are attracted to righteousness, the more repellant sin will be.
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