Hey Uncle John,
I was talking with a young person a few weeks ago, and he asked me, “Why should I learn this? What’s the point? I know I won’t use this later in life.”
The subject I’m teaching him has some benefits, but as I started to try to explain those benefits, I felt I was going the wrong direction with the conversation. I remembered a section of your Solomon’s Wisdom book that I had read with the young people about a year and a half ago that has always stood out to me (attached PDF).
I explained to him, “God has a secret for you and you don’t know where it’s hidden. You, like everyone, are going to have things to learn that feel hard or that you don’t enjoy. But if you don’t put your whole heart into those things, you’ll miss God’s secret for you somewhere along the way. You can’t only work hard at learning subjects you love from the beginning.”
Then I told him about how when I started learning Biblical Hebrew, I didn’t love it. It was difficult! But as I worked at it, over time (weeks or months), it’s like a light switch flipped and I loved it. If I hadn’t put in the work, I would never have found God’s secret for me. I certainly didn’t think I would ever use Biblical Hebrew. But look at what God’s done!
It wasn’t a long conversation, but I pray it had an impact on that young man, and maybe it will be a good reminder for other young people in similar positions. You don’t know where God’s secret for you is, if you did, it wouldn’t be a secret. Do your work with your whole heart and see what Jesus will do!
Aaron
God’s Secret Concerning Each Young Person
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