Intentional Life: Empowering your children to Live for Jesus 3.21
Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
It is very easy to compartmentalize our lives. We see work as work, home life as home life, and can see
spiritual life as separate from both those things. Yes, there are different pieces of our lives that all fit
together, but life is not meant to be seen that way.
Let’s put together a jigsaw puzzle. Each area of your life is a separate puzzle piece. Your spouse, each
child, job, home upkeep, meal preparation, relaxation (hobbies, exercising/health, vacations), extended
family members, each friend and co-worker, serving at church, people you are intentionally building
relationship with in order to share Jesus truth, and so on. As you put the jigsaw puzzle together, you
realize that you are actually putting together a picture of Jesus’ face. He is not a piece of the puzzle, He
is the backdrop upon which everything else blends together.
Paul quotes the Cretan philosopher, Epimenides, when he says in Acts 17:28, “‘For in him we live and
move and have our being,’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
When we try to separate Jesus as another piece in our jigsaw puzzle, things start to come apart. When
we realize all life is for Jesus, things make more sense. All we do is meant to be for Him and about Him.
Colossians 1:17 says, He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Painting this picture is a very fun activity to do with your children.
Buy a 25 piece puzzle (you can often find them at the dollar store).
Put the puzzle together.
Print a picture of Jesus that you’ll glue to the back of the puzzle (or draw one yourself).
Flip the completed puzzle over and place it on a cutting board (Jesus’ picture should be face
down).
Write 25 people and things that are important to your children on each of the pieces of the
jigsaw puzzle, but do not write “Jesus.”
Use an exacto knife to cut around the puzzle pieces to connect the Jesus picture into the puzzle.
Take the puzzle apart and use the puzzle during your next Family Time Activity.
Read this devotional to your children. Ask your children:
o Which area of life should Jesus not be a part of? Listen for answers. (No part of my life,
Jesus is in every part of my life!)
o Why does it matter if Jesus is every part of your life or not? Listen for answers.
As you prepare your heart for Easter, ask yourself these same questions and surrender anything you’ve
been keeping from Jesus’ influence. He is the God of new life, let Him bring it to every area of your life.