How to Complete a Devotional Assignment Correctly
Every Devotional (Devo) assignment should have the following
components outlined clearly in your submission.
Names: Your name
goes here.
Verses Assigned: These
can be found on the lesson reading page where the Devo assignment was first
assigned.
Summary (written in
paragraph form): The summary is one of the two most important parts of this
assignment.
·
Practice writing clearly worded paragraphs. This
includes using transitions effectively. (If you need help with what a
transition is please look here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/574/)
·
Summaries are not about you, but the text you’re
are summarizing. If you are summarizing a Bible passage that uses “I”, “you” or
“we”, these are references to the ancient writers and readers. You were
not there, sorry. These words should not appear in your summaries.
·
Summaries are like baby bears, they need to be
“just right”––not too long and not too short. A three-sentence summary is
probably too short. A three paragraph summary is too long! So don’t write more
than two paragraphs.
·
Remember the better the summary the easier and
better quality the research question will be.
·
When you summarize, use present tense verbs, not
past tense. For example, Moses throws his staff on the ground and it becomes
a snake. NOT Moses threw
his staff on the ground and it became a snake.
·
Put relevant verses in parentheses.
·
Proofread your paragraphs.
Morals or truths
behind the text:
·
Here is where you can apply the moral or truth
behind the text to yourself and to your understand of Christianity and the
Church.
Personal Question:
·
This is where you get to reflect on the text in
a “devotional” way. It’s expected that you will use “I” or “we” here.
Research Question: Apart
from the summary, this is the other important part of the Devo assignments.
·
Your research question should be literary
critical or historically critical. You only need to ask one carefully
worded question. Two examples appear below.
·
The research question is not about you; that’s
what the personal question was for.
·
Put relevant verses in parentheses.Do not use
“what happens next” or “what if” types of questions. Stick to the text you are
reading and show that you are reading it closely and thoughtfully.
EXAMPLE
Name: Isaiah
Ben-Amoz
Verses Assigned: Numbers
6:1-21
Summary: In this
passage, the Lord gives Moses instructions on how the Israelites should fulfill
their vows, particularly their “Nazirite” vows (vs. 2). When a Nazirite vow is
made, the one making the vow should not drink strong drinks (vs. 3), eat vine
plants (vs. 4), cut hers or his hair (vs. 5), or go near dead things (vs. 6).
The goal of these prohibitions is to become “separate” and “holy” (vs 5).
The vow
seems to last eight days (vs. 10), after which time, the person making the vow
will bring a series of offerings to a priest at God’s Tent of Meeting, who will
offer them to God. Interestingly, the hair of the person making the vow is
included in this offering (vs. 18), and even after the author elaborates on a
list of offerings, the text allows for anyone making a vow to bring additional
offerings if they can afford it (vs. 21).
Morals or truths
behind the text: Following
through on our commitments, especially to God, may be demanding.
Personal Question: Have
I made vows or promises that I could not follow through with or that I’ve been
unwilling to follow through with?
Research Question: (Literary
Critical Example): The author does not indicate that Moses ever delivered these
instructions to the Israelites, so should we read this as a narrative or as
some other type of literary genre, perhaps as notes?
(Historical Critical Example): What could the average
Israelite afford to give to God (vs. 21), and are the mandatory offerings
within the means of a normal Israelite?
