God is our refuge and strength

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
— PSALM 46:1

In bible times God commanded that there be cities of refuge. There were six of these cities. A city of refuge was a place of safety where someone could run if they had killed another person by accident. You can imagine that if a man killed someone, even by accident, there might be some relatives of the dead person coming after him to harm or maybe even kill him. But this man could quickly run to a city of refuge, and he would be safe. No one would be allowed to harm him there. But if he stepped outside of the city of refuge, his enemies would be allowed to hurt him. It was not safe for him to leave the city.

Children, we also must flee to a city of refuge, for we are all sinners. We have sinned against God’s law. The law of God says that therefore we must die. Our only hope is to flee by faith to Jesus Christ, who is God’s city of refuge for guilty sinners.

We have three great enemies which seek to have us—sin, Satan, and our own evil hearts. There are many sinful things in the world today for our eyes to see and our ears to hear, and also many sinful things to do. Satan is always trying to tempt us to sin. He tries to make sin not look so bad, and our evil hearts are willing to do evil rather than good.

But there is something wonderful. Although our enemies are mighty, God is almighty. In Jesus Christ, God is a perfect refuge. He is the only safe place for us to hide to escape these powerful enemies. We must stay near to God. In James 4:8 we read, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” How do we stay near to God? By praying to Him, repenting before Him, believing in Him, and worshiping Him. God is able to give these gifts to us. The closer we stay to God, the safer we are; but if we wander away from Him, then we will be in danger just as the killer was in danger if he left the city of refuge.

God’s Alphabet for Life: Devotions for Young Children
by Joel R. Beeke and Heidi Boorsma