Remind!

A Daniel and an Esther

Rachel shared the piece about raising a Daniel or an Esther.

I’ve thought a lot about that.

There are people in the Bible who lived through evil times and stood up with a faith in God that surpassed what the world could bring.

The list grows as one considers:

Daniel

Esther

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Paul

Elijah

Every prophet who was called to preach before Israel

Where did these come from?

Paul - Zealous and God called him and the zeal turned towards truth.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - Something before the age of 12-14 (when they were taken into captivity)

Taught well

Had friends who would go through the fire with them

Esther

Had a mentor who was willing to push her in the right direction

For many others we just do not know

What indications do we have?

Judges 2:10 “That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.”

Deuteronomy 6:1-10 ““Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall…”

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

What does it

Follow God with our hearts and souls and minds as teachers and leaders

Teach our children the truth of God

Train them up in the way they should go

Don’t coddle them to get them ready for an easy world, prepare them to confront a dangerous world