Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: LUKE 2:25-35

Long ago, God promised Simeon that before he died, he would see the Messiah. And so, Simeon waited.

I imagine that, as he grew in years and felt his physical strength lessen,…

READ: EPHESIANS 6:10-20

If you live in a part of the world where the winters get cold and snowy, you’re probably used to putting on layers of warm clothes before venturing outside. Hats, mittens, …

READ: PSALM 25:16-18; 1 PETER 1:3-13

Lonely, sad, life isn’t what I hoped

Desperate, scared, I feel alone

No one is for me, I stand by myself

Many are against me, I can’t face them

READ: ACTS 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:25-26

For a few years, my family and I lived near enough to our church’s meeting location that we could bike to church services. The youngest ones, to…

READ: ISAIAH 53; LUKE 2:1-21

Listen. Can you hear it? That whisper of hope on the horizon? The echoes of an infant King born in a manger. The culmination of hundreds of years of prophecy born in a…

READ: JOHN 14:6; TITUS 2:10-14

Have you ever helped decorate a Christmas tree? In many families, this is a yearly tradition, especially in the United States of America. Some families even like to …

READ: MATTHEW 7:1-5; JAMES 4:11-12

It’s such an easy temptation. How quick we as humans are to make judgments by pointing a finger at someone else instead of looking at the problems in our own liv…

READ: LUKE 1:26-56

At the time of Jesus’s birth, most Jews would have known the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, including a young virgin from the town of Nazareth named Mary. Then one da…

READ: GENESIS 2:2-3; EXODUS 10:8-10; DEUTERONOMY 5:12-15; HEBREWS 4:9-11

Have you ever felt guilty for resting? I know I have. When my body tells me I need to take a break and slow down, I always …

READ: NUMBERS 24:17, 19; ISAIAH 42:1-4; MICAH 5:2

The world-famous superhero, the Black Panther, was played by Chadwick Boseman. Every day while filming was in progress, I imagine he would get up,…

READ: MATTHEW 1:18-25; 28:16-20

Recently, I was looking up verses about Jesus being with us, and I noticed something really cool. In Matthew’s Gospel—his account of Jesus’s life— Matthew includes …

READ: JOHN 14:15-31; GALATIANS 5:22-26; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9

Advent takes place during the four weeks before Christmas, and it’s a time when some Christians prepare to celebrate Jesus’s first coming …

READ: ROMANS 8:12-17; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11; COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

Do you have any siblings? And if so, are you the oldest, youngest, or somewhere in the middle? In biblical times, birth order mattered …

READ: PSALM 86; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-9

Have you had a very bad day recently? The kind of day when you’re late to school or work, forgot your lunch at home, and realized you didn’t turn in an importan…

READ: PSALM 1:1-3; JEREMIAH 17:7-8; JOHN 7:37-39; 15:4-17

Minutes before sunset was my favorite time of day. I sat on an outcropping of rock, dangling my bare feet above a crystalline spring of wa…

READ: EXODUS 29:38-45; MATTHEW 27:45-53; JOHN 19:30

When I’d hear the bell go off in school, I knew that class was done. Because we heard the bell every day, we were conditioned to react to this p…

READ: PSALMS 32:6-8; 86:1-7; 120:1

Lifeguards are pretty amazing. Even when they’re stationed at a crowded beach or a noisy pool, their eyes and ears are trained to see people in trouble. Before a…

READ: PSALM 116:1-7; MATTHEW 11:28-30

Lord, I need Your help

Come

I don’t know where else to go

Come to me

I’m so tired

All who are weary

This burden is more than I can handle

READ: PSALM 19:1-6; JOHN 1:1-14; COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

Have you ever gone to an art gallery? For a graphic design class I took this year, I went on a field trip to a large art gallery, and it got me …

READ: EXODUS 16:4-16; JOHN 6:1-15, 25-59

Where I live, making homemade bread was more of a trend during the earlier days of the pandemic, but I’m a little late to the trend. I’ve started making my…