A humorous picture that circulates on the Internet is the picture of a young man sitting on a bench next to a figure symbolizing Jesus and the caption below which reads “No, I am not talking about Twitter. I literally want you to FOLLOW me – Jesus.” A major demographic of our population today are young children and teens that primarily constitute the ‘youth’ category in our generation. And in the absence of positive influences in their life, these youth can be easily swayed into habits and activities (e.g, gangs, sex, drugs, alcohol, etc.) that can destroy their lives. A youth worker specializes in working with children, pre-teens and teens, interacting and counseling them often, and functioning as an older brother or sister or friend/mentor, guiding the youth in the way they should go.
Jesus is the ultimate Youth Worker. The Bible in Luke 2:41-51 gives us a glimpse of Jesus as an youth and what we can learn from that account is that Jesus was all about doing the will and work of God (about God the Father’s business). He was so engrossed as a youth working for God the Father, that he tarried behind in Jerusalem, while his family traveled a day’s journey without realizing that he was not with them. But the account does not end there, after his parents found him, the Bible states that he went back with them and was subject (obedient) to them.
Points to ponder:
The Bible says remember your Creator in the days of your youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and like Jesus be obedient unto God (being about His business) and be ye obedient to your parents. Follow (@jesuschrist) in the example of Jesus The Youth Worker.
Ecclesiastes 12:1 (KJV)
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
