Josh McDowell's Youth DevotionsSample

GOD VALUES FAITHFULNESS.

You know what a slam book is, right? It's a notebook in which kids jot down messages to each other-usually messages that "slam" or insult someone else. They're passed around a lot in some schools.

A kinder, gentler version of the slam book is a notebook in which friends and classmates are encouraged to answer questions about their favorite things. One page, for example, might be headed "Favorite Sport," and the entries below might include "Baseball-Joel Wannamaker" and "Synchronized swimming-Jan Tzen."

Let's try our own version. Try listing your favorite . . .

Song

Singer or group

TV show

Season of the year

Book of the Bible

Now let's try the opposite approach. List your least favorite ...

Food

School subject

TV commercial

Day of the week

Thing your parents say

Believe it or not, God has a similar list. He's even written it down. According to his list, one of his favorite things in the world is faithfulness. He thinks faithfulness is totally cool. He loves being faithful, and he loves it when people are faithful to him and to each other.

Think about this. Are there some foods and school subjects you absolutely hate like maybe broccoli, cottage cheese, lima beans? P. E., math, English? Well, there are some things God hates, too. And one of the things he hates is unfaithfulness.

That's why God commands us to be faithful. Because he values faithfulness. For that matter, we should, too.

REFLECT: A "value" is something that a person considers important. Do you value faithfulness in your friends? in your family members? in yourself?

ACT: Create your own "favorites" book to pass among your friends, making each page a different list of the things your friends like most. Which of your "favorites" are also God's?

PRAY: "God, help me to value faithfulness just like you do."