Wednesday, April 6, 2011

An old favorite, revisited :)

For years, we have known and loved the verse found in 1 Timothy 4:12 that reads: "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."  In fact it has been a favorite of Sean's since he was very young (a teenager).  Our kids know this verse already.  They have a little song that they sing from our Seeds CD.  They call it "the Timothy song."

All the singing of this wonderful little song got me thinking a little deeper about this verse.  It's easy to see why young people love this verse, right?  "Don't let anyone look down on you.."  I can just hear young people everywhere reading this verse.  They are saying to themselves, "That's right!  They can't look down on us!  We won't let them look down on us!  No way!"  Do you hear them?

I think that personally, I get so excited about that first little bit (Don't let anyone look down on you..) that I forget to really think about what the rest of the verse says.  "...set an example for the believers..." Do you realize what God is saying through this verse?  As young people, we have an awesome opportunity to lead believers by our wonderful example.  Now that really is amazing!

So my encouragement is this: Young people, don't use the excuse that world presents you with to live carelessly now because you are young and have plenty of time to get your act together.  Instead be the example, set the standard by living Biblically now!

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