Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – June 11, 2016
For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Psalm 71:5, 17
Start to learn the ways of the Lord when you are young. This is your wisest and best investment. Youthful learning is leverage for the Lord. When you start young, you don’t have to wade through the muck and the mire of disobedient living and its consequences. There is no need to stray and go your own way, for you may end up back at the point where you originally drifted from God. Stay the course of Christ while you are young, and you will develop into an obedient adult. God does a masterful job of molding the young into the image of His Son, Jesus. He infuses youth with His spirit, so they become His image bearer. Youthful dependence on God results in an adult who depends on God. Do not kid yourself into thinking that you can change your ways quickly, once unhealthy habits have been entrenched in your life.
There is tremendous energy and passion around youthful hearts engaged with the eternal. Do not despise your youth or let others do the same. Paul exhorted his protégé, Timothy, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, KJV). Take God at His word. Depend on Him for your confidence, wisdom, and security. God uses youth to accomplish His purposes.
Even as those older in the faith falter in fear, your heavenly Father frees youthful hearts to attempt big things for Him. Courage and conviction blossom in a young and hungry heart for God. The Holy Spirit is calling forth faithful young people to further His Kingdom. Listen to the heart of your heavenly Father and do what He says. People are dying of distress and neglect in their nutrition- deprived lifestyles. Yahweh is calling His youth to something much bigger than themselves. And you can facilitate their faith with prayer, financing, and training.
Help the youth start early in their engagement with God. Teach them, train them, model for them, and then send them out to serve on the Lord’s behalf. Youth do not need to be overly protected, but set free to think big for God. The larger their vision, the larger their God. So present them with a God-sized challenge. Expect great things from young people who have a heart to follow hard after God. Do not underestimate their ability to be catalysts for Christ. Release them to exceed your accomplishments in half the time. Pray for God to scatter young people across the connected planet. Now is the time to send them out in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Use today’s resources to prepare for tomorrow’s results. Youth need not be coddled as the status quo, but challenged to break out of boxes of unbelief that restrain them. Invest in and equip young people so they can roll up their sleeves and serve the poor. Children of the poor need your children to show them Jesus by loving them at their point of need. They can far exceed our efforts with your significant support, and persistent and powerful prayers. Support the young, for a youthful person, called by God and full of the Holy Spirit, can change the world.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, use me to pray for and mentor those younger in the faith.Application
What young person can I invest my time, energy and resources into?Post/Tweet today
Youth need not be coddled as the status quo, but challenged to break out of boxes of unbelief that restrain them. #WisdomHunters #startyoungWorship Resource
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