Here we are at day 3 of the Bible challenge for youth. The weekend is here and many of us are busy as ever going here doing this or that but don’t forget to leave time to study God’s word.
In the devotion today we talked about Daniel and how God is a a wise God. How many of you have ever met a person that you have that is very wise? Most of you have I’m sure what made them wise? The way they looked, the way they acted, maybe it was the way they spoke or maybe even with the talents that they had. Well maybe that is how we see wisdom by characteristics that others have but what makes God wise?
As I have gotten older I have become a little wiser and know somethings through experience and as I have grown to be a Christian I have learned whom I can trust. As a teenager you often want to be accepted and don’t always make the wisest decisions. That is all part of the learning process and hopefully you learn from those mistakes not to do them again. The book of Proverbs talks about wisdom a lot and how to gain it, do you know how to gain wisdom? One way is to read your Bible and pray and seek God’s will daily in your life, another is to have a Christian person in your life that helps you to make those right decisions.
I told a youth group once that once they get out of high school most of their “friends” wouldn’t matter. Most tried to say I didn’t know what I was talking about and that they would still be “friends” with the same people for the rest of their lives. I told them I thought the same thing they did when I was in there shoes but to face reality it didn’t happen that way. How do I know this well I just recently went back to my 20th year reunion sure I talk to some of my high school friends once in a while but not as much. Out of a class of 485 students that graduated with me I probably only keep in contact with 10. Of my closest friends from high school I probably rarely talk to 4 of them. Hard to believe but true. I was a very popular student in high school had all kinds of friends but yet out of my circle of friends hardly any have had a major impact on my life now.
Why do I say this and tell you about my friends, because you need to be wise in whom you become friends with. I had good friends in high school that didn’t do drugs or drink or smoke or other things. Your friends will often impact you in the present more than you know. I know some kids now that are in trouble because of their “friends” and have asked them where are they now and they don’t know.
The devil is a liar and what’s you to think that if you follow the crowd and do certain things it will make you happy but that is far from the truth. I think of I Peter 5:8 which say that he (satan) is looking for some one to devour. Be wise in your choices, trust God to lead you, listen to what He wants to show you , and pray that He will lead you.
May the Lord bless you and keep you as you continue to see where He wants you to go.
Juan