1 CORINTHIANS 16:13

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

TO PONDER

I think this is a very fitting Bible verse from the New Testament that echoes the call of God to Joshua and then from Joshua to the Israelites when we began going through the book of Joshua some 8 weeks ago, "be strong and courageous".

One of the thing my wife Elise (a Primary School teacher) and I have been talking about recently is the lack of resilience that seems to be present in young people these days. I'm sure there are lots of different contributing factors to the decline of resilience in young people but it seems to me that one of the biggest things is hat we no longer expect people to do hard things. I'm sure many of you reading this will be my vintage or older and remember a time where if you found a task or a subject as school difficult, you were told by both your parents and your teacher to work harder, to practice more, and stick at it until you got it done.

That just doesn't seem to be how things work any more. If something does not come easily to a child, parents are much more likely to say these days, how are you going to make it easier for my chid to succeed. Now please don't mishear me, there are children who have genuine additional needs when it comes to education and legitimate adjustments do sometimes need to be made, but just because something is difficult, doesn't mean you give up on it.

This is an important skill because Jesus said following him would not be easy. In fact, there are many people I know who used to be followers of Jesus who now no longer follow him simply because it was hard. It was easier in the long run to go out with their friends on Saturday evening and get outrageously drunk and then sleep it off on Sunday morning than it was to exercise some self control, set a good example and still be okay the next morning. It was easier to accept the evolutionary arguments from their academic friends about evolution and the origins of life, than to think deeply about the truth of Scripture and defend their beliefs in the face of criticism.

Being a follower of Jesus today requires resilience, strength, and courage. It always has and it always will.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, nothing is more courageous that your decision to go to the cross for my sake. I pray that you might use my life in such a way that others may come to know what you have done for them as they see you alive in me. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.