8: Young Disciples Have Something to Offer
Key Passage
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
John 6:5-9
Devotional
God has a history of using young people.
Josiah became king in the Bible at 8 years old. David was probably around 15 or 16 when he killed Goliath. Jeremiah was commanded to not say, “I am only a youth” (Jeremiah 1:7). Joshua sought the Lord as a young disciple and did not leave Moses’s tent (Exodus 33:11).
In the story of the boy’s lunch, we see that God intends to multiply and expand His Kingdom through young people. We see this in the Bible and the many movements of God throughout the expansive history of the church.
While God has an agenda, so does our spiritual enemy, Satan. We live in a society today where the identities of young people are under spiritual attack like never before. In addition to spiritual warfare, today’s youth will have to address a challenging economic landscape, challenges related to globalization, and the increasing blur of the digital and physical worlds. It’s dizzying to think of the challenges to come for those that are 20 and under today.
In the midst of all of that, God is raising up a generation. The legendary miracle of multiplication that happened in John 6 occurred because a boy had some minor provisions - bread and fish. Young people are known to have this kind of faith. Their beginner’s mind can often be more open to the unusual expansion of God’s Kingdom. This may be one reason that Jesus reminded us, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
If you are a young person, receive by faith the revelation today that God can work miracles through you. He also invites you onto the journey of discipleship. You can begin your lifelong calling of multiplying His Kingdom through your life today!
Daily Prayer
“Lord, today I pray for the next generation. I pray that they would see your miraculous power and that you would expand your Kingdom through them and in them. I pray that many would take important steps on their journey of discipleship.”