Haruna, I asked you to sweep the floor
three times today! You are beginning to grow wings right?
Do these saying sound familiar?
“Young
people aren’t what they used to be.
They
no longer obey their parents.
Our
young people now love luxury.
They
have bad manners, contempt for authority,
and
disrespect for older people.
Children
these days are tyrants.
They
contradict their parents,
chatter
before company,
gobble
their food and tyrannize their teachers.”
The first quotation comes from a letter
written in Egypt 3000 years ago and the second from Socrates 500 years before
Christ.
You may sometimes hear older people
talking sadly about the young people of today.
That can be difficult because you are one of them. Take encouragement from those old
sayings. Young people are the same as
they always have been. Teenagers are
terrific!
A Guide for Me
But, we are more likely to succeed in
life’s adventures if we have someone to guide, protect and help us. The song below was written by a king who
learnt about life when he was a shepherd boy.
He used to take his father’s sheep out into the bush and the hills to
graze. He was away for many days at a
time and learnt to love the quietness and the beauty of the country and of the
stars at night. He also had all sorts of
adventures with lions and bears and other animals that wanted to attack his
sheep.
The
Lord is my shepherd,
I
shall lack nothing.
He
makes me lie down in green pastures,
He
leads me beside quiet waters,
He
restores my soul.
He
guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I
will far no evil, for you are with me;
Your
rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You
anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely
goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and
I will dwell in the house of the forever.
King
David – Psalm 23
Isn’t it amazing that God himself
cares about each one of us? If you like singing here is a song you will enjoy.
God does love us but he does not force
us to love and obey him. No, he waits
for each one of us to ask him to be our Shepherd and then to listen to him and
obey his instructions. So the first
sentence in Psalm 23 is important. “The
Lord is MY shepherd”. Can you say that
“MY”? If you can, you can look forward confidently to the adventures ahead of
you.
Adapted from adventure unlimited
For question and counselling, contact us on