DECEMBER 7, 2012
Just
Kids
Read: 1 Timothy 4:9-16
Let no
one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers.
—1 Timothy 4:12
After
high school, Darrell Blizzard left the orphanage where he
grew up to join the
US Army Air Corps. World War II was in full
swing, and soon he faced
responsibilities usually given to older
and more experienced men. He told a
reporter years later that
a four-mule plow team was the biggest thing he’d
driven before
he became the pilot of a four-engine B-17. Now in his late
eighties,
he said, “We were all just kids flying those things.”
In
the Bible, we find accounts of many people who followed God
courageously when
they were young. In a situation of corrupt
spiritual leadership, “Samuel
ministered before the Lord,
even
as a child” (1 Sam. 2:18). David faced the giant Goliath in spite
of being
told, “You are not able to go against this Philistine . . .
for you are a
youth” (17:33). Mary, the mother of Jesus, was
most likely very young when she
was told she would bear the Son
of God. She responded to the angel’s
announcement by saying,
“Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Paul told the
young pastor Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an
example to the believers” (1 Tim. 4:12).
God
values each one in His family. In His strength, the young can
be bold in their
faith, while those who are older can encourage
those who are “just kids.”
O Lord of all the upward road,
Keep strong our youth, we pray;
May age and youth together seek
To follow in Thy way. —Niedermeyer
Encouraging the young should never become old.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
