When a hen lays its egg, it sits on it: providing it heats and warmth. It continues to turn it at least once a day among other processes until the chicken is ready and fully prepared to break out of its shell. Let us imagine a world where the chicken is forced out of its shell before its due time. It will most probably die.

Such is the life of a child. A child and “baby Christians” need the nurturing of his parents and spiritual leaders. Children need food that is suitable for their growth and development, and in this case the ways and the Word of God. The devil is out with an agenda to kill potentials and all good things before they have the chance to blossom into their full glory. He will prey on the naivety of children and corrupt their hearts and minds if they wander into the world not fully armed with the Word of God. We need to ensure that the darkness in the world does not suck us in with half-truths and lies. If the people charged with this enormous responsibility of raising the little generation and taking the mantle of leadership accept this charge in obedience, God’s promises to us will come to pass.

Gen 18:19 “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him”

Abraham acted in obedience and nurtured his children (including Keturah’s children), and his descendants were blessed.  Because his children were taught the ways of God, even when they went into the world, they still served God. Lot ventured into the world and lived in a town that disregarded the authority of God and engaged in sexual perversion of all sorts, but he remained true to God.

Jethro, a descendant of Abraham through Keturah, lived in the world but still lived to please God and it was accounted to him “a Priest of God” in spite of the fact that he did not come from the line of Levi. One unique thing that these men of God had in common is that they had a very strong foundation in God and His ways. This kept them from belonging to the world and compromising their faith and all that they knew to be true. When a house is built not on a strong foundation with the right worldviews, it can easily be shaken and demolished when confronted by the storms and mischief of this world. Children and born-again Christians need to be taught the ways of God. The truth of God and His nature will shine through us so brightly that we would not need to conform to the wickedness of this world. Our lives will also draw others to Christ as did the burning bush to Moses. As leaders, we must be proactive and point others to Christ: through our deeds and every facet of our lives. God is not to be revealed only in the church.

One very evident way we see the importance of nurturing our faith is in the life of Jethro. Jethro was a descendant of Abraham through Keturah. However, his line and that of his kin were left out of the promise God made to Abraham’s descendants. He could have been in bitterness and lived his life in resentment toward God and his ancestor, Abraham. Because his foundations were robust in the Word of God, his gaze on God never shifted. Jethro, regardless of being in the world, kept the faith. His diligence and faithfulness afforded him the opportunity to mentor Moses, the deliverer of the Israelites in Egypt. This unique opportunity paved a way for the Cushite’s, black people, to be brought back into the promises of God.

As believers, we must rise up to the occasion of ensuring that those within our sphere of influence are equipped and grow in the ways of the Lord. We are in the world but definitely not of the world; things around us may be crazy but if we keep the faith and remain faithful to the Lord, no good thing will pass us by.
– Written by Fellow Josephine Awaafo