FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022
DEALING WITH BIBLICAL ILLITERACY AMONGST THE YOUTH.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: Psalm 1:1-6.
EXPOSITION: As a young Christian, I used to memorize and mediate on the Bible and still do so now. I remember as a teenager we used to have a competition called “sword drill” in church where our ability to easily open any book of the Bible in the shortest possible time was tested. The best amongst us was given a gift as a way of motivation to study the Bible and also be familiar with the word of God. As a minister whose ministry deals a lot with young people I have seen that there is a famine among the youth. A famine of knowing the Bible. During a famine people waste away for lack of sustenance. Some people die. Those who remain need nourishment; they need to be revived. These days many of us don’t even know basic facts about the Bible. I remember a student (not a new believer), who asked a question after class about Saul’s conversion in Acts 9. She wanted to know whether this was the same Saul who was king over Israel. No! King Saul’s story is found in the Old Testament; the Saul of Acts, also known as Paul, is found in the New Testament.
When God commissioned Joshua (the son of Nun), he charged him with these words: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it” (Josh. 1:8). How often should you meditate on it? Day and night. Why? So that you do what is in it. The Old Testament book of Psalms leads off with these words: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Ps. 1:1–3).
PRAYER GUIDE: Dear Lord, grant me the strength to be enlightened in your word. Amen.
MEMORY VERSE FOR THIS WEEK: 1 Timothy 4:12-13: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”