On the Feast of St. James today, we read a devotion from James: The Apostle of Faith.

Today we focus on the reading from Ecclesiastes 5, specifically verses 18–20. Our devotional reading is from Concordia Commentary: Ecclesiastes.

Remember that feeling as a child when you went grocery shopping with your mom? One moment, you were right on her heels as she turned the corner to switch aisles and all of a sudden, you looked up and she was gone. What was just a typical afternoon quickly turned into a moment of sheer panic and fear. The comfort and assurance of being with mom was gone and in its place was uncertainty and fear.

We talked with the author of The Hear Me Read Bible, Dr. Mary Manz Simon, about the importance of reading with your children and letting them read to you. She also shares tips on how to get this started in your home!

We focus on the Gospel of the day, which is about the rich young man in Mark 10. Our devotion is from Meditations on the Gospels.

The Christian community is imperfect. At Bible study, especially if you’ve been in an unchanging group for a while, you start to notice people’s flaws. The little annoyances that just slightly get on your nerves every Thursday evening.

The Old Testament Reading is our focus today and our devotion comes from Luther’s Works, Volume 1 (Lectures on Genesis Chapters 1–5).

I ask a lot of questions. Recently, I’ve asked how records work (how do you get the sound of a trumpet verses a voice?), how far apart stars are from each other, and how chlorophyll works in plants.

Twenty years ago, a boy looked on me and I swooned.

Okay, it didn’t quite go like that. Instead, a boy looked on me, I looked skeptically back, we started discussing deep theological concepts and—bam—three years later we figured out we should be a couple. I started to swoon a year after we were married and I found out he thought I was pretty with bedhead and unbrushed teeth.

Today we focus on the reading from James, which discusses the importance of prayer. Our devotion is from What Luther Says and includes quotes from Luther about this important aspect a Christian’s faith.