Let No-one Despise Your Youth

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

(1 Timothy 4:12-16)

Today, some of the things people often associate with youth are disrespect, rebellion, self-absorption, conformity to peer pressure, indifference to serious issues, and a fixation on fun as the only thing that satisfies. Paul says in verse 12, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." It is obvious that even in Paul's time the youth had lesser expectations of them. Paul is telling Timothy and us to care about this. "Let no one despise your youth." We are to do what we can to erase this predominant image of youth. How does Paul say we should do this? How does he tell us to cease this adult hatred of youth? 

Get Wisdom! (3)

Proverbs 4:8
Exalt her, and she will promote you;

She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.


We know what wisdom is. We know how important it is to get wisdom. We must desire it earnestly, prize it highly and 'exult her.' Wisdom must be valuable for us. We must be willing to sell all in order to buy it (Proverbs 2:4). We must do everything we can to obtain it. That requires knowing how to obtain it.

After examining Scripture I have come to the conclusion that there are at least four things we must do to get wisdom apart from earnestly desiring it.

Get Wisdom! (2)

Proverbs 4:5-7

⁵ Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
⁷ Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.

Blaise Pascal said in his pensees that “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” I agree with him. All men want to be happy. This longing for pleasure is not bad, but good. Faith in Christ and glorifying God brings pleasure to us. We receive happiness from that. Thus it is good to pursue happiness. But what’s this got to do with the title, “Get Wisdom”?

In this meditation I’m going to deal with the importance of getting wisdom. 

Get Wisdom! (1)

Proverbs 4:1-13

¹ Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
² For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
³ When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴ He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
⁵ Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
⁷ Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
⁸ Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
⁹ She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”

¹⁰ Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.
¹¹ I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
¹² When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,
And when you run, you will not stumble.
¹³ Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.

The point of this passage is the command to “get wisdom.” Wisdom is the principal thing, says verse 7. Instruction is your life, says verse 13. Notice the message is not just directed at school or college students, and apprentices. Verse 13: “Take a firm hold of instruction, Do not let it go.” Ever. In today’s society the implication seems to be that education comes from professional institutions only and it stops as soon as you leave student life. However growing in wisdom and knowledge is a life-long process of growth. It is not good to be satisfied with the knowledge of formal education. We should not think that the only way to ‘get wisdom’ is to take more courses. The command comes to us all: “Get wisdom! Get understanding!” What does this mean? How do we do it? And why is it important?

Sins Turned to Our Benefit

Jeremiah 2:19:
“Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.”


Among the condemnation-filled tirade of the book of Jeremiah is a verse that stands out in its context. It is a verse that provides us with an aspect of comfort in God’s providence. Chapter 2 verse 19 states that God turns our sin to our own benefit.

Anger at God

Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

(Jonah 4:9)

The fall into sin causes very awful things to happen in an individual’s life. Sickness, loss of friendship, death, etc. can and does happen to God’s children. In these cases is it all right to be angry? Is it permissible to even be angry at God? Was it right, for example, for Jonah to be angry at God for showing mercy to Nineveh (Jonah 3:10-4:1)?

Glorifying God in Christian Education

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
(1 Corinthians 10:31)

I have previously meditated on how to glorify God in our eating and our work. Another aspect of my life at the moment is education. I am really very blessed to receive Christian Reformed education, and so I'll focus on how to glorify God in Christian education.

Bless the Lord O My Soul

Psalm 103

“As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.” 
(Verse 13)

The full psalm can be viewed here. 

Today in Australia we celebrate Father’s Day. I have dedicated this meditation to this event, and thus I will begin at verse 13: “As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.”

Acquire Knowledge

Education is a blessing. Especially God-centred education. However we have a responsibility to take advantage of this blessing. This involves a few biblical truths relating to knowledge.