There is a tendency in family devotions, especially with small children, to primarily use Bible stories. So, the first half of the OT is usable and the Gospels and Acts are usable in the NT. But that's a lot of the Bible basically ignored.

Last night I wanted to teach my children from the Epistle of James. Normally, I like to use about half a chapter. That seems to work well for their attention spans. It also can add suspense to the stories. For example, we told the story of Lazarus across three nights. Each night was a cliffhanger: "Jesus walked up to the tomb where Lazarus had been buried -- okay, kids, come back tomorrow night to hear the rest."

But Epistles are far more dense than the stories. I decided to use only a paragraph. I chose James 1:12-15. In the end, we only made it through verse 13, but that was okay.

So, after everyone was on the couch and ready to listen, and we parsed our Greek verb for the night (just kidding), I told them a little about James. He was Jesus' brother. What did they think it would be like to grow up with Jesus as a brother? You'd never be able to blame anything you did wrong on Him, would you? Mom & dad would always know He was innocent.

Then I started reading the verse. "Blessed is the man." I told them that blessed meant happy. I asked them what they thought he would say would make them happy. Some said "following Jesus" (always a safe bet), "obeying your parents" (another safe bet). "Blessed is the man who endures temptation." What's temptation? I gave the example of seeing the lid off the cookie jar and wanting to take a cookie before supper. My two-year-old started chiming in "me want a cookie!" (Temptation 1, Test 0, if you're keeping score).

But they supplied many temptations that they face. It became apparent that they were well aware that their little lives were surrounded by temptations.

So we talked about where temptations come from. "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God.'" God does not tempt us to sin. And that was it for me. My job was done. The kids took over.

Anna Kate: "God wants you to obey!" She held out her little hand and made a cup. "God wants you in here, where it's safe. If you disobey you go outside where it's not safe!" (See Shepherding a Child's Heart if this doesn't sound familiar.)

Ethan: "God wants to test you to show that you'll obey and do the right thing!"

It became a chaotic yet beautiful euphony of my children trying to be the one to explain temptation to me. Then Ethan said a very beautiful thing:

"Dad, I'm tempted to cry. And I was thinking about it tonight. I think I know why I cry so much. I've don't want to cry, and I've been trying to stop it on my own. I ask God to help but I still try to do it myself. I need to let God do it for me."

Yowzah.

So, don't be afraid to use the Epistles in family devotions with young children. And don't feel like you must address every verse with them or cover a whole chapter. Let the Spirit direct. It's a beautiful thing.