Daily Devotional for September 11, 2021
Fallen Towers
Editor’s note: This story deals with terrorism and may not be suitable for some children.
“There,” Ian said as he carefully placed the last of his sister’s blocks on top of the tower.
Little Kaya grinned, then waved her hand through the tower of blocks. “All fall down!” she yelled as the blocks cascaded around her. She giggled when her brother scrunched up his face, pretending to be sad.
“Ian,” Mom said. “Can you come set the table, please?”
As Ian set out dishes, he watched Kaya repeatedly stack blocks on top of one another and then knock them down. “Mom?” he asked. “Where were you on 9/11?”
Mom looked up from cutting tomatoes. “I was in high school. It was twenty years ago today. Did you talk about that at school today?”
“Yeah. Then, when I got home, I turned on the TV and saw videos of the towers falling down, and people crying and looking really scared and confused.”
Mom nodded. “It was a sad, scary day. I remember how shocked I was. I never expected to see such a huge and horrible act of hate and violence like that.”
“But there’s lots of hate and violence in the world,” said Ian. “It seems like the news just gets worse and worse.”
“You’re right,” said Mom. “Sadly, hate and violence are part of living in a sinful, fallen world, and they won’t go away until Jesus returns and gets rid of sin forever.”
“When will that be?” Ian asked.
Mom laughed. “I wish I knew. But unlike what happened to me on 9/11, we shouldn’t be caught by surprise. The Bible tells us to watch and be ready.”
“How do we do that?” asked Ian.
“Well, first of all, we need to trust Jesus to save us from sin. Then we’ll be ready to meet Him when He returns. And then, as we wait for Him, we need to trust Him to help us build the kingdom He started when He came to earth. We need to fight against hate and violence by showing love and sacrifice. We need to tell people what He did for them so they can be ready to meet Him too.”
They both looked up when they heard Kaya yell. “All fall down!” she shouted happily, sending blocks scattering.
Mom smiled at Ian. “But Jesus came to build our fallen world back up.”
-Courtney Lasater
How about you?
Do you feel sad and upset when you see hatred and violence in the news? Maybe you even see it in your own school or neighborhood. We live in a fallen world, and people hating and hurting each other is a sad reality of that fact. But Jesus died and rose again to save us from sin and restore the world. He’s coming back to make everything right! Until then, help build His kingdom by spreading His love. Watch and wait for Him.
Thank you for reading this Keys for Kids devotional! Did you enjoy the story? Has Keys for Kids been an encouragement to you and your family? If so, would you please consider supporting Keys For Kids Ministries in our effort to continue to provide these daily devotionals to children around the world?