It’s funny to me to see school-aged kids wearing the fluorescent colors of my childhood. I thought those crazy, neon t-shirts had died with parachute pants and pegged jeans. But they seem to be back… and with a vengeance. Why? I suppose it’s in part because they are so bold.
Our kids are longing to take risks and to stand out. But for too long we have struggled to minimize their risks, and cause our children to fit in.
When God says to Moses in Deuteronomy 3:28, “But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see,” God gives him three responsibilities in the life of Joshua. He says, Commission him, encourage him, and strengthen him. We have already looked this week at how to pray for our own children in light of these three directives.
But the fourth is different. God’s final words to Moses are not about what God wants Moses to do. They are a reminder of what God Himself will do through Joshua and for His people.
For Joshua, it would take a collision of influence, courage and character… and boldness based on his knowledge of the faithfulness of God. To accomplish what God had planned, Joshua would have to take some serious risks and be willing to stand out from the rest.
He will lead this people…
God has a history of choosing and empowering leaders. He chose Adam to lead in his relationship with Eve. He choose Noah to lead in the construction of the ark. He chose Moses to lead his people out of captivity in Egypt. And now he is saying to Moses, I have chosen Joshua to lead my people into the promised land.
Our kids need to know that God has chosen them for a purpose. Not just to follow along. Not just to walk in obedience to God’s will. But He has chosen them to stand out from the world, to stand up for truth, and to be an instrument o lead others into relationship with him.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…”
By nature of our children’s position in Christ, they are his ambassadors (verse 20).
Recently I heard my friend Al Weinberg say, “Our kids are not the future of the church, they are the church today.”
God will use them to accomplish his purpose. He has chosen them to be his ambassadors and will use them to lead others to himself.
He will cause them to inherit the land…
The thing we have that Moses and Joshua didn’t have, is the end of the story. They had to act in faith, to lead in faith, and to step into the water in faith. But we can read to the end and know that what God said here in Deuteronomy 3:28 actually did come to pass.
Being bold means acting in confidence of the outcome. Though our children do not know how every circumstance and situation will end, we do know that in the big picture of God’s story, the end is amazing.
We need to help our kids understand the bigger story of God’s plan, so that they can live and act in boldness today, confident of what God will do through them and for his people.
Today’s prayer for your child: Dear God, today I lift to you my children, confident myself of your plan and will for them. Continue to do your work in and through them, that they might be a blessing to all your children. Give them an abiding knowledge of your faithfulness that they might seeak and act in boldness both today, and every day. Amen.
Also in this series from Deuteronomy 3:28…
Day 1: Pray for influence, and inspire them