“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity,” 1 Timothy 4:12.
Last week, I had the pleasure of taking 20 school age children to my favorite camp in northern Michigan, Camp Barakel. They spent an unforgettable week swimming, canoeing, hiking, playing team sports, climbing walls, zipping on the Zip line and learning new skills like archery and riflery. Along with all the activities, the kids spent time in chapel twice a day. They learned new worship songs and memorized special verses from Psalm 91. It was a sweet time of fellowship! When they came together for Sunday worship, the sweet voices of 250 children raised in songs of praise to God, SO touched my heart! It was a blessed time!
One of the themes that permeated the chapel talks was the importance God puts on young people and how He speaks to them. For example: Samuel was only 10 years old when God called him in the middle of the night and gave him a message for the priest Eli. Can you imagine the courage it took for that young boy to speak the truth to Eli? 1 Samuel 3:1 says, “In those days, the word of the Lord was rare, there were not many visions.” God had not spoken in recent days, yet He chose a young boy to give a priest an important message, “set an example for the believers……”
And how old was David when he was anointed king of Israel? About 15 or 16? Too young to fight in King Sauls’ army! Then an unexpected opportunity came along to visit his brothers fighting the Philistines in the Valley of Elah. Their champion Goliath would come out of his tent and sneer at the Israelites, challenging them to a “one on one” knock-out victory to the winner. The Israelites hid when they saw him, but David saw it as an opportunity! God used a teenager to win the fight with stones and a sling! The enemy fled when they saw their champion dead on the battlefield. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young…….” God blesses those who trust Him! The battle is the Lord’s!
And what about Mary? The Lord called her “highly favored.” She was only 15 or 16 when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced she would be the mother of the baby, Jesus. “He would be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” But how can these things be? Mary didn’t have a husband! “Nothing is impossible with God,” Luke 2:37. In spite of her fears, Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant.” “Be an example of the believer in faith and purity.”
How old was Daniel when he purposed in his heart not to eat the king’s meat? 16 or 17? His name was changed from Daniel, meaning “my judge is God,” to Belteshazzar, meaning, “protect the life of the King.” Daniel didn’t refuse to participate in learning the language, literature and culture of the Babylonians, but he did refuse to get sucked in and participate in it. He “made up his mind” to keep God’s dietary laws and restrictions for a healthier lifestyle. “Diseases of all kinds were rampant in the ancient world, mainly because of the unsanitary way food was handled and prepared, and the fact that people didn’t wash their hands before eating. The Israelites placed diseased persons and animals under quarantine. Because the Lord gave Israel intricate laws concerning which foods to eat, food sanitation, food preparation, personal hygiene and quarantine, Israel was the healthiest nation in the ancient world.” – Hal Lindsey
It wasn’t until the twentieth century we learned the significance of washing our hands!!
Your friend, Jean