reviewsbyerin

"Listen Up" is a 13-week study on Jesus's parables - but with a twist. This is specifically written to be used for family devotions. Each chapter contains five nights of Scripture reading, discussion prompts, and insightful questions meant to draw out both parents and children. Occasionally there are suggested activities to enhance your understanding of a particular story, but for the most part each of the nightly topics could be covered in about 10 minutes.

I have enjoyed reading the book and getting a clearer picture on some of the parables myself. For example, in Week 5 Machowski tells us, "The parables are designed to help us examine our own lives." That makes a lot of sense, but I don't think I'd ever heard it put quite that way before!

The truths are written simply and clearly. Chapter 8 opens with: "This week we will learn that God is the most generous giver of all, so we can trust Him to give us what we need and follow His example in sharing what we have with others." This is an important lesson and one we cannot hear too often, even as adults.

There's a solid emphasis on evangelism within the home as well as reaching out to others. The goal really is to have Truth sink deep into the hearts of our young ones, making sure they know this is all about what's inside and not an act that someone can put on. I found this quote from Week 3 to be quite thought-provoking: "Treasuring Jesus is not just about the words we say, or how good we took on Sunday. Treasuring Jesus is about what's inside your heart; do you really love Jesus and want to live for Him?"

I would certainly recommend this for families everywhere who desire to grow closer to Jesus together. The questions and discussion prompts always promote parents sharing from their own life experiences, which is sure to help make these things more real for their children. What a great resource!

I received my copy of the book from the publisher. All thoughts in this review are my own.