For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
I was thinking through ways that teenagers can influence their friends in big ways in 2022 and the Lord led me to this verse in my study for Sunday School. This verse shares with each of us a personal decision that has far reaching effects. God used Ezra to help an entire nation get back on track spiritually as well as to spark a revival that encouraged and strengthened many in a time of fear and change. Many of you know someone your age that is struggling spiritually or is captured by the fear of the unknown in their lives. You can be a source of strength, encouragement and help to them, but only if you are the person God needs you to be. In Ezra 7, we find this verse that communicates to us why God was able to use Ezra, during a time of great unrest, serving under a government that was anything but godly, to influence a nation’s people to return to God and thrive as His people. To be a teen that is used of God to help others and thrive where God has placed you, you must first ‘prepare’ your heart to seek God’s Word. We always need reminders of the importance of a daily walk with God and here we find one that can be a help. The word used here means ‘to apply one’s mind’ or to ‘purpose seriously’. Ezra was serious about the importance of God’s Word in his life and took steps to apply his thinking toward it as often as possible. Are you serious about God’s Word? How would others know this is true. Do you have a specific plan to be in it every day? Do you take the time to share it with others? Do you know how to apply it to the situations you face as a teen and then to help other teens do that in their life? If you want to be serious about God’s Word in your life and influence other teens in a Christ-like way this year, but don’t have a plan, please come see one of the youth sponsors and we will be glad to help. A second way that Ezra was used by God was his willingness ‘to do’ what he knew to be right. As he studied the Word, God taught him what he was supposed to do that was spiritually correct. Multiple times in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, we find him ‘doing’ what God’s Word states is wise and right. Studying and knowing God’s Word for the profit it brings to your heart and life and then NOT doing it can be defined as spiritual insanity. The rooms of your home and the halls of your school need to be filled with ACTION concerning the things of God. How are you doing in this department? To have an influence in a big way in the lives of your friends in 2022, you need to be obedient to God’s Word and be doing those things He asks of you. One last way to be an influence is to be ready to share with your friends the scriptural truth that has impacted and changed YOU! Ezra was willing to share God’s Word with those who God led him to. You have been led in your life to your family, your friends and your online ‘tribe.’ Find ways to influence those groups with the truths you have received and are living out in your own life. I am looking forward to hearing, seeing and being impacted by teens this year in Youth Life who have decided to be ‘serious’ about God’s Word this year. I cannot wait!!!
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