Daily Devotional for November 19, 2021
Sibling Appreciation
Caleb tapped his pencil impatiently on the paper in front of him. “Whoever thought up this assignment for our class at church sure doesn’t know you, Janae!” he teased. “I have to write down ten reasons why I like my sister, and I can’t even think of one!”
“Thanks a lot!” Janae picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at him. “See if I ever bake cookies for you again!”
“Oops! I forgot about them.” Caleb grinned and wrote it down.
“What about when you were struggling with math last year?” asked Mom. “Your sister spent a lot of time helping you with homework, remember?”
“Yeah, and how about the umpteen times I helped you practice before a baseball game?” Janae said. “Or last week when I let you ride my bike because yours was broken?” She flung another pillow his way.
Caleb ducked. “Sorry! I forgot all those things too—but I appreciate you helping me remember.” He grinned and tucked the pillow Janae had thrown at him behind his back. “And thanks for the pillow. You really are a nice sister!”
“Jokes aside, your church assignment has reminded me that I need to appreciate my brothers and sisters more too,” said Mom.
The kids gave her puzzled looks. “But, Mom, you don’t have any brothers and sisters,” Janae said. “You’re an only child.”
“I wasn’t thinking of the family I was born into,” Mom replied. “I was thinking of God’s family.”
“Oh, you mean like the people at church?” asked Caleb.
Mom nodded. “The Bible says that everyone who trusts Jesus as their Savior has been adopted into God’s family. That means we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ. We’ve been very blessed by those in our church family lately—Mrs. Blakely brought us meals when I was sick, and Mr. Weiss fixed our car for free. I’m so thankful God brought them into our lives to show us His love.”
“Me too,” Janae said. She stood up and looked at Caleb. “I’m going to make some popcorn. Want some?”
“Yeah!” said Caleb. He wrote another thing down on his paper: She makes delicious popcorn! He paused and then wrote down one more: She shows me the love of Jesus. -Linda Weddle
How about you?
Do you appreciate the brothers and sisters God has given you? Even if you don’t have any natural-born siblings, if you trust in Jesus, you have many brothers and sisters in God’s family. How have they helped you in difficult times and showed you God’s love? Thank God for the brothers and sisters He’s given you, and let them know you appreciate them too.
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