Week 34 Bible Reading: Matthew 17:24–27

My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

Andrew Cheatle lost his cell phone. He had been at the beach, and he was sure he’d never see it again.

About a week later, a fisherman named Glen Kerley called Andrew—on Andrew’s phone! He had pulled the phone, still working after it dried out, from a twenty-five-pound cod! It sounds fishy, but it’s true.

Life has a lot of odd stories. And so does the Bible!

One day some tax collectors came up to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher [Jesus] pay the temple tax?” (Matthew 17:24). Well, He didn’t really have to; He was of King of kings. Also, taxes weren’t collected from the children of the king, so the Lord said neither He nor His followers (His “children”) owed any temple tax (vv. 25–26).

But Jesus didn’t want to offend anyone (v. 27), so He told Peter to go fishing. He did, and he found a coin in the mouth of the first fish he caught. They paid the tax with it.

What is Jesus doing here? He is the rightful King—and when we accept His role as Lord in our lives, we become His children.

Life will still throw its various demands at us, but Jesus showed that He can provide for us.

It has been estimated that seventy million cellphones are lost every year, and about five million of them are never found.