Memo 1118: A New Series

It's time to start a new series, this one titled "Never Too Young." For the next six months, we'll look at examples from the Bible of young people, some infants or children and others in their teenage years who God used in some significant way. We will look at people like Genesis Joseph, Samuel, David, Mary the mother of Jesus, Moses, Miriam, John the Baptist, and Daniel along with passages from Proverbs, Psalms, Acts, and the gospels that are consistent with our theme. Then when we have about 25 entries, I will compile them into a book.

Over the years, I've been regularly asked if I had any purpose material that was age appropriate for a younger audience. Then recently when my Colombian friend Yair asked if I had anything he could use with his classes, I concluded God was speaking to me and it was time to write something. The good news is that Yair will be translating each entry into Spanish, so I will be in essence be working on two books every week.

YOU CAN HELP

I know you probably don't fit into the youth category for most of my readers are older because I speak most often to adult audiences. I'm confident there will be purpose insights from which you will benefit, so please read as you always do, but then I want to ask for your help. When you get an entry in this series, pass it on to some young people you know. That may be your children or grandchildren, nieces or nephews. If you work in a school, then share it with the students. If you work with youth in your community or church, give them a copy. Don't just give it away, however, but also be willing to talk to them about what they are reading to help them become a young person of purpose. Don't you wish someone had done that for you when you were younger and the question started coming, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"?

My premise for this series will be the same for any series in which I have written about purpose and that is that God wants you to know your purpose so you can fulfill it—and that goes for the youngest members of our society and churches as well. If God wants someone to do His will, and of course He does, then He must reveal what that will is. Won't it be great when this series helps your young loved ones and friends find a life of purpose? And if it helps you do the same along the way, then all the better.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Everything I write about will have one common assumption and that is this: There's no baby or adolescent version of the Holy Spirit. As we'll see, when God revealed himself to the youth of Scripture, He didn't talk baby talk to them. He didn't discuss matters that would only pertain to an audience of youth. God treated them like adults and gave them serious responsibilities. He told the boy Samuel that there was sin in Eli the priest's family. The Spirit made a teenage girl the mother of our Lord Jesus. God took teenage Daniel from his home in Judea and sent him to a Babylonian university where he stayed for the rest of his life. God didn't treat these young people like they were in the minor leagues, He spoke to them, revealing things that indicated He expected them to play at the major league level. And play at a high level they did, winning victory after victory for the Lord, often while their adult counterparts were relegated to being spectators in the stands.

It's the desire of every young person to grow up and be treated as an adult—even when they're not quite ready for that. However, I have told youth audiences that there is someone they can go to where they will always be treated like an adult and that someone is God. If they have faith and pray, it will be as effective as any bishop, pastor, or other adult leader. Their faith can move mountains just like an adult's can, for God is no respecter of persons, and that includes the young. If they have faith and trust Him, then He's ready to use them in significant ways. How cool would that be for a youth to hear? Do you think that would impact their behavior, their studies, their participation in church?

So next week, we'll take a look at the boy Samuel as we start our series. I won't present these in the order in which they are found in the Bible, but will mix them up as we go. And someone like David is going to merit more than a few weeks because we know so much about his young life. Who knows, we may end up with more than 25 entries, and I'm going to rely on Yair to tell me if something I'm writing is too advanced for the youth he's working with. This may be one of the more important books I have written, so I also solicit your insight and feedback if you have any comments or ideas for posts on this important topic "Never Too Young." So there you have our direction for the coming months. Before we start, I wish you a blessed week from here in Kenya!