GIVING MY TIME

It seems as though people are busier today than ever--especially middle school students. When we were in middle school, there really wasn't much else happening. We'd come home from school and sit around, hoping to find something fun to pass the time. But life for you gets really busy really easily. You play sports all year round, you're in a couple of after-school clubs, you have tons of homework, and you probably go to church once or twice a week. When you do find yourself with a little free time, you probably spend it hanging out online, playing video games, or reading really cool books about middle school life! None of that stuff is bad. Heck, both of us enjoy going online, playing video games, and reading books, too!

But when you look around, it's pretty easy to see that lots of people are using some of their free time to do stuff that helps others and makes the world a little bit better. When a disaster like a hurricane or tsunami happens, people from all over the world chip in to help out. In the inner city, caring volunteers tutor and mentor children. Volunteers who enjoy sports and spending time with kids coach the sports teams you play on.

You're probably good at lots of stuff. In fact, take two minutes and make a mental list of everything you're good at. It'll probably take more time than that, but two minutes should give you a good start. God gave you those gifts and abilities for a reason: So you can use them! Not so you can use them just for your own fun and excitement, but so you can make a difference!

Are you good at sports? Then maybe you can help coach a team of younger kids.

Are you good at math? How about asking your math teacher if he knows of anybody who needs extra help?

Do you like little children? The children's department at your church is probably looking for extra help!

Life keeps us really busy. But most of our time is taken up being busy doing stuff that only helps ourselves. What if you slowed down just enough to spend some of your time doing something that makes a difference in someone else's life?

GIVING MY TALENTS

If you're reading this book in order, you'll probably notice that this chapter is a lot like the last one. In fact, this chapter is almost like part 2 of the last chapter. So you may want to read the chapter on giving your time before you read this one.

Jesus told a story about a landowner who was going away on a long trip. Before he left, he pulled aside three of his servants and gave them each some money to take care of while he was gone. He was gone for a really long time, and when he finally came home, he called his servants to see what they had done with his money (in the Bible, this money was called "talent"). Two of the three servants had used the money in creative ways to make even more money for the landowner. He was super excited and thankful. The third servant didn't do so well, though. He played it safe and did nothing with the money. Instead of using it to make more money for the master, he just dug a hole in the ground and hid it. In his way of thinking, it was better to play it safe than to take a chance and risk losing the landowner's money.

That doesn't sound terrible, does it? Well, it must have been, because the master was totally ticked off! He called the servant evil and lazy because he didn't try to use the money he had been given. The story doesn't say this, but it seems as though the landowner just wanted the three servants to do something...anything...with the money he left them. It would have been better for the third servant to take a risk and lose the money than to just bury it and not use it at all.

God has given you lots of gifts. You are good at lots of stuff. If you're a Christian, you are God's servant, and God gave you these talents to make a difference in our world. He doesn't care if you try and fail. He understands that using your talents for him feels a little risky. He's okay with all that. In fact, part of growing in your Christian faith is practicing using the gifts, talents, and abilities God has given you. When you start using your talents, you'll find out pretty quickly that things won't always work out exactly the way you think they should. The truth is you'll probably make lots of mistakes. But that's okay, because the biggest mistake is playing it safe, taking no risks, and doing nothing with what God has given you.

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Taken from "My Faith!" by Kurt Johnston and Mark Oestreicher, copyright 2006, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission.

Order the book here:

http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6544
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Creation Q & A

Q: What are "biblical glasses"?

A: Christians need to understand that because the Bible is the revealed Word of God, and a true record of history--we need to look at the world through the Bible. In other words, we should always put on our biblical glasses in order to understand the world.

For example, if you took your children to the Grand Canyon and they asked you how the layers of rock and the canyon formed, what would you say? If you put on your biblical glasses, you could answer this way:

Well, children, those layers contain fossils. The Bible teaches that there was no death before sin; therefore, these layers couldn't have been laid down millions of years ago--before Adam sinned. But the Bible tells us about a global Flood--this would have created layers burying lots of dead things. And the catastrophic runoff would have carved the canyon.

Here is another example regarding dinosaurs. When we put on our biblical glasses, we can say much about dinosaurs: they were created on the sixth day, so they coexisted with man; they ate plants before sin; they were on a huge boat that landed in the Middle East; and so on.

By building our thinking on the Bible--beginning with Genesis--we can put on biblical glasses so that we're always ready to give answers to a world that needs them.

For more information, see What's Your Worldview at:  http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/whats-your-worldview

Source: AnswersInGenesis.org