​Last week we talked about examples of people in the Bible who invested in the next generation. While investing in the next generation is important and we should each be doing that in the ways that God calls us, there are other ways that we can invest in people. There are plenty of ways that we see God’s people investing in one another throughout Scripture.

Some of those were next generation kinds of investments like Moses with Joshua, Paul with Timothy, or Barnabas with John Mark. In Numbers 27 we see Moses ask God to appoint a new leader over Israel to replace him and God told him to commission Joshua. Even before this time though, Moses had been developing Joshua as a leader. As far back as Exodus 17, we see Moses trusting Joshua to choose and lead men in battle against the Amalekites. Joshua was alongside Moses as he prepared to go up Mount Sinai to meet with God. There are many other references to Joshua working alongside Moses, and we know that he was one of the spies sent into the Promised Land and one of only two who stood up for what God was telling them to do. Moses spent years investing in Joshua, and helping to prepare him for what God  would call him to do.

Likewise we see this kind of mentoring of the next generation in Barnabas and John Mark. Paul and Barnabas took John Mark along with them on their missionary journey. He helped them and learned from them. Later when Paul didn’t want to take John Mark on another journey because he had left the last one early, Barnabas so strongly disagreed that he separated from his friend and co-worker, Paul. They went their separate ways and Barnabas continued to mentor John Mark. The investment that Barnabas made in the life of John Mark clearly made a difference because eventually Paul also began working with John Mark again and expressed appreciation for him. It is even believed that that John Mark is the author of the gospel of Mark based on Peter’s eyewitness accounts. Much like Barnabas with John Mark, we also see this same type of next generation mentoring with Paul and Timothy as they ministered along side each other until Timothy became a leader in ministry as well.

We also see examples of believers investing in the lives of other less mature believers to help them grow in their faith. Sometimes these less mature believers may have been younger than them, but other times they may have been the same age or could have been even older. Obviously the investment that Jesus made in the lives of His disciples is a great example of mentoring people and helping them grow.

We also see this example in the early days of Paul and Barnabas. When we think of this pair, we usually think of them as co-laborers on their missionary journeys. If we go back to Acts chapter 9 though, we see that shortly after Paul’s dramatic conversion from a persecutor of Christ-followers to a Christ-follower himself other believers were afraid of him, which seems pretty understandable. This is what we are told about the start of Barnabas and Paul’s relationship in Acts 9:26-27

“When he (Paul) came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.”

We’re also told in Acts 11:25-26 that:

“And he (Barnabas) left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

Barnabas supported and encouraged Paul, he introduced him to the disciples, and he reached out and brought him along to do ministry with him in Antioch. Paul was able to do all of the things he did because Barnabas was obedient and invested in him.

We see all of these accounts of people investing in others throughout the Bible, so the question is, who has God placed around you that He is calling you to invest in? Will you do it?

During the last few weeks we’ve been talking about the importance of investing in others. In particular we’ve been talking about investing in the next generation. We’ve read through several verses in Deuteronomy chapter 6, as God led Moses to share his command to the Israelites about teaching their children about Him and His words. if you haven’t been able to read those articles yet, take time to go back and and check them out on the website. Today we’re going to talk a little bit more about what it means to invest in the next generation. We see examples of this throughout Scripture. At first glance examples of parents or other people teaching children in the Bible may not jump to mind, however if you look close enough there are several examples.

First, let’s start with a pretty well-known figure in the Bible. Let’s talk for a moment about Moses. When you think of Moses you may think of the parting of the red Sea, the 10 Commandments, or the plagues in Egypt. Moses was a great man of faith and a great leader of the nation of Israel. How did he get to be that way though?

Of course, we can point back to God calling him as he stood listening at the burning bush. Yet how did he know that it was God? God told him, but did he know who God was? He grew up in Pharaoh’s house, but in Exodus 3:3-6 we see this:

“So Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said also, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

Clearly what God was saying Moses recognized in some way. How would he have learned about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, let alone God, while being raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.
To find the answer to that maybe we need to go back more to the beginning of the story of Moses. When Pharaoh’s daughter found baby Moses in the basket in the Nile, a young Hebrew girl named Miriam happened to be nearby and offered to find a nurse to care for the baby. Of course Miriam “happened” to be near because she had been watching over the basket and young Moses. So Moses’s mother, was paid to take Moses and nurse him. During that time, this would have been for a period of a few years. So although Moses grew up as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, his early, formative preschool years were spent in the house of his Hebrew parents. Parents who clearly taught him and shared with him about God and their faith. The Bible doesn’t describe that teaching for us, but his recognition of what God was saying when he encountered Him in the burning bush certainly suggests that his parents did their jobs teaching him in the limited amount of time they had.

Moses isn’t the only one who seems to have been taught by his parents. In 1 Samuel we see Hannah and eventually her young son, Samuel, who would grow up to be a godly and faithful leader. Although Hannah followed through on her pledge to God and brought Samuel to live with Eli the priest, she raised young Samuel in the first years of his life and seems to have laid a foundation of God‘s commands. Samuel was a much more faithful servant of God than Eli’s own sons were. It would also appear that Hannah’s commitment to the Lord was not just giving her son back to Him, but teaching her son about Him in ways that Eli neglected to do with his sons.

While both of those examples require us to presume that the parents were teaching their children our final one does not. The apostle Paul worked with several different coworkers along his many journeys. One of those was a young man with a Greek father whose name was Timothy. Timothy and his faith were frequently recognized by Paul, and in 2 Timothy 1:5 he says about Timothy:

“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”

Timothy was someone that Paul trusted to work with these churches that he had planted. He not just trusted him, but he encouraged him. Timothy clearly was who he was because of the influence of his mother and his grandmother. They were faithful to teach him about the Lord. He was ready to be taught and serve alongside Paul because his mother and grandmother had first taught him.

While these aren’t the only examples in scripture of people teaching their children, I believe they are some pretty powerful ones. Between these examples that God has given to us and Jesus‘s words to the disciples about the importance of not hindering children from entering the kingdom of God, we see a consistent pattern of God‘s design for faith to be passed down to the next generation. So what does that look like for you? Who is the next generation in your life? It might be your family members or it might be others that God has placed in your life or is calling you to reach out to. Whoever it is, there is a next generation that you are called to invest in. There many different ways to do that, but we need to be faithful to actually do it. God has blessed us with a relationship with Him. We aren’t to hoard that blessing. We need to share it, with others.

Last week we talked about the wonder of children and how Jesus welcomed them and taught his disciples that they should have faith like children. During this last month we’ve also been talking a lot on the website about the importance of investing in others, especially in the next generations. Building on those two ideas, today I want to explore the wonder that comes when we pass down our faith.

For many, the thought of sharing or passing down your faith may not bring to mind the word wonder. Instead, you might find that words like terrifying, scary, or awkward come to mind. If sharing your faith with others, whether they be the next generation or anyone else, is not something that you’ve ever done, then the fear of the unknown or the fear of failure or rejection can be very strong. Sometimes that fear can even become crippling and stop us from doing what we know Jesus has called us to do:

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Even if you have shared your faith with others before or have been actively passing down your faith to the next generation, there are still times that the fear can creep back in and the resistance to being faithful to obey feels strong. With all of that, how can we say that passing down faith is a wonder?

While getting past that kind of fear can feel tough, for those who do and are faithful to share and pass their faith along to others, wonder and joy are so often found on the other side. Yes, rejection is possible. Even in the rejection though there is a joy that comes from being faithful and being reminded of good news of Jesus yourself. So many times though, rejection is not what you experience in these situations. Whether it’s teaching children, students, or even adults about Jesus and seeing something spark and take hold in their lives, or actually leading someone to a relationship with Christ, there is no feeling quite like it. Moments like that are definitely full of wonder, amazement, and joy.

In my ministry, I have had the opportunity to do this countless times. I have also had the privilege of working with many different leaders some of whom have had to overcome their own fears about sharing their faith. One such leader had been helping to teach children in a church for several years, but had never actually shared the gospel with a child or anyone else. Fear made her always leave that to other leaders. She reached the point that she knew she needed to be faithful, and felt strongly that God was calling her to step up and share with a child at camp that year. With much encouragement, she did just that. The child chose to follow Jesus and those of us around were celebrated, but beyond the child’s eternal decision there was always almost equal excitement for the one who had shared. This woman who had been so frightened of sharing her faith came out of the situation with so much joy and wonder that you could see it all over her face. She kept saying how awesome it was and the passion to pass along her faith was ignited in a new way. Her wonder and excitement became contagious.

If you have never experienced this particular kind of wonder, then I challenge you today. Pray. Remember that Jesus’s command to go and make disciples was prefaced by him saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth” and followed by “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We all can remember His words to help us overcome our fear because what waits for us on the other side when we choose to pass along our faith is wonder and joy.

Today we are continuing our series about the importance of investing in others, especially younger generations. We’ve talked about beginning that investment by making sure our faith and relationship with God is something worth passing on to others. We’ve also talked about sharing God with others as we go about our days and surrounded ourselves with reminders of God and His Word. We’ve been looking at Deuteronomy chapter 6 and what God said about investing in the next generation in those verses. Today we are going to pick up in verses 10-13 which say:

“Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.”

While these verses contain some specifics about the Israelites and what would happen when they entered into the Promised Land, the principle and warning apply to us as well. God knows us, His creation, well. He knows that as He provides for us and blesses us, like He was about to do with the Israelites, that we have a tendency to become complacent and take things for granted.

Just like the Israelites were going into a land where they would have all sorts of good things that they did not work for, we often have blessings in our lives through no effort of our own. We don’t control where we were born or who are parents are, yet both of those things often establish aspects of our lives. God, directly or through others, often blesses us in so many ways. Sometimes we recognize those blessings, and other times we are so focused on what He hasn’t given us that we miss so many of the good things He has. Oddly enough, the more blessings we have received, the more it seems that there is a temptation to take the blessings for granted and either ignore God’s generosity in our lives or be discontent and disappointed because we expect more.

God knew this about the Israelites and He knows it about us as well. That is why we see His warning and command in verses 12-13: 

“then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.”

As we are following God and seeking to invest in others, we need to remember this. We need to stay focused on God. It is so very easy to get distracted by life’s demands, pleasures, and disappointments. This is something that we struggle with and something that those we are investing in will struggle with too.

We need to be intentional about not forgetting God and what He has done for us. Some of that starts with surrounding ourselves with reminders like we talked about last week, but the very act of investing in others also helps us to not forget. If we are spending time teaching others about God and His commands, it makes it easier for us to stay focused on God. It also helps the next generations learn more about Him too. When we leave it up to others to share God’s message with those He has placed in our lives, we aren’t just neglecting them. We aren’t just neglecting to do what God has told us to do. We are also neglecting our own relationship with Him. We are neglecting our ability to not forget Him and all that He has done in our lives. The more the tell our story, our God story, the better we remember it ourselves.

God’s design for investing those around us is amazing just like Him. Doing what He has asked us helps others, helps us, and helps our relationship with Him. So don’t forget. Who will you share your God story with today? Who will you invest in today?

This week we are continuing our series about the importance of investing in others, especially younger generations. We’ve talked about beginning that investment by making sure our faith and relationship with God is something worth passing on to others. We’ve also talked about sharing God with others as we go about our days. We’ve been looking at Deuteronomy chapter 6 and what God said about investing in the next generation in those verses. Today we are going to pick up in verses 8-9 which say:

“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

We know from our previous articles that God was giving these instructions through Moses to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. During the Second Temple Period, after the return of some of the exiles from Babylon, some in the nation of Israel began to take these verses literally. They began putting mezuzahs on their doorposts and wearing phylacteries, or tefillin, on their arms and foreheads. These small boxes held parchment with scripture passages. I don’t know that these were supposed to be taken that literally, and even the Israelites generally only wore them during prayer times.

In American Christian culture though, our modern equivalent probably looks more like decorative signs from Hobby Lobby and shirts with Scripture or Christian sayings. Whether or not you like wearing Christians t-shirts or decorating your house from Christian bookstores, it is the principle in these verses that needs careful attention. Just like the previous verses emphasized the importance of teaching others about God and His commands throughout our entire day and everywhere we go, these verses give us another important insight about how we can help invest in the next generation.

As we read Deuteronomy 6:8-9, we see that we are to surround ourselves with God’s Word. Whether we take the verses literally as the the later Israelites did or look at the general principle, we see that we should be intentional about placing God’s Word and reminders of God’s Word all around us. We can do this for those we are investing in as well.

We live in a day and age where the options for Scripture reminders are endless: bookmarks, signs, stickers, bumper stickers, toys, clothing items, jewelry, bags, pillows, and the list goes on. If you can think of it, you can make it or have it made. The number of Scripture themed products that are available with the click of a button seems unending. These can be great tools, but we can even use simple things like post it notes or index cards and make our own Scripture reminders.

The point is, it doesn’t really matter exactly what types of reminders you are using or where all you are putting them. It’s more important that you actually use them. Surround yourself with reminders of God and His Word. Find the reminders that work the best for you. Place them in spots that you will frequently see, and change them up from time to time so they don’t just become a part of your routine background.

As you invest in the next generation, or others in general, and teach them about God and His Word, consider the reminders that might be most helpful for them. Some of the reminders that you use, might be great to share with others, but different types of reminders might work better for others as well. If you know someone who likes to draw, you might suggest that they consider making their own artwork as reminders. If someone spends a lot of time in the car,  helping them find reminders to put in that location can be good. Do they like jewelry? Do they read a lot? Do they spend a lot of time looking in the mirror? Is a lot of their time spent in the kitchen? Once again, the sky is the limit. The options are only limited by your imagination, but getting to know those you are investing in will help you figure out how to best help them surround themselves with reminders of God and His Word.

We are currently in the middle of a series about the Wonder of Discernment. So far we’ve talked about the importance of taking time to slow down and spend with God to seek discernment and putting it into practice as well.  This week we will be talking about the value of training our discernment.

In Hebrews 5:12-14, the believers were being challenged about the maturity of their faith:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

The author of Hebrews was really chastising these Hebrew believers for their lack of spiritual maturity. He indicates that those who are mature in their faith have practiced training their senses with discernment. Discernment is kind of like a muscle. The more we exercise it the stronger it grows. While discernment can be a spiritual gift, meaning that some people have been spiritually gifted with stronger discernment muscles, it is something that all believers are called to exercise. We all need to be able to discern good and evil and be able to use discernment, but we get better at it through practice. We need to train ourselves.

When it comes to exercise, I know there are some people who really love to exercise. For many of us though, it’s not something we necessarily love to do. We may have learned to love the outcome and benefits. We may just know that it’s something that will benefit us. That knowledge might be enough to motivate us to put in the time and effort to exercise and train our muscles and body. The same might be said of training our discernment. It might not always be enjoyable at first, but we are called to do it. The more we understand the importance of discernment the more likely we are to begin to exercise it. Eventually, with consistent exercise we begin to actually experience the value of having strong discernment. This in turn can motivate us to exercise it more.

There is another important parallel in the example of exercising our muscles. When we put work into training and developing our muscles, we grow stronger and we need to be wise in how we put that strength to work. We can use our strength to help others or we can use our new found strength to hurt other people. Unfortunately the same can be true as we train and develop our discernment muscles. We can use our discernment to help others, or we can turn our discernment into something hurtful and condemning. It goes back to the idea that our discernment must be rooted and practiced in love.

So how do we train our discernment? To find the answer to that we can look back at the verses from Hebrews 5 and consider the milk versus solid food analogy. To train our discernment we need to be growing in the Word. Just like a baby goes from milk to soft foods like cereal and purees to increasingly solid foods, we must go from learning basic spiritual truths to deeper and more substantial study of God and His Word.

I also find it interesting that these verses start off with them being told that they should already be teachers instead of having someone “again” teach them the “elementary principles” of God. If all we are doing is going to church on Sunday morning expecting someone to “feed us” spiritual nourishment to last us for the week, we are not practicing our discernment or growing. Practicing discernment and getting to solid food means going deeper than any preacher can go in twenty to forty minutes on a Sunday. We need a steady diet of increasingly solid food.

Instead of still being continually fed the basics, they should have been teaching others by this point. While you need to have some discernment in place to be teaching, interestingly enough the act of teaching itself helps to train your discernment even more. There is a famous quote from Aristotle that says, “Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” When you teach others something you have learned, or are learning, it helps you to understand it even better. Last Thursday, we started a series on the importance of investing in others, especially the next generation. So often Christians are hesitant to share their faith or teach others, formally or informally. Yet, in these verses we see that at a certain point we should be doing exactly that. Instead of waiting to feel like we’re “ready” or “equipped” or “know enough” to be talking to, or teaching, others, at some point we need to just try it. We will never really grow our muscles of discernment until we begin using them.