Day 10 – Teen Devotion: You Don’t Get Time Off

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School is one of the fun parts of life. I’m sure most students don’t have that perspective because they don’t have anything to compare it to their current experience. In school, you get lots of breaks, and at the end of the year, you get summers off. Guess what? Being an adult is different; it’s one long mundane journey that ends when you die.

Read Rick’s 31-Day Devotions

• 31-Day Marriage Devotion
• 31-Day Parenting Devotion
• 31-Day Teen Devotion

My point is not to be morbid, but if you’re in the habit of complaining about school being long, hard, and no fun, you’ll probably join the crowd of weekend chasers who spend their lives trying to escape the misery of their jobs for a brief respite on Saturday and Sunday. You’ve ever heard a grown-up say, “I can’t wait for the weekend to get here.”

They are like school kids pining for the summer. Though resting is proper, it should not be the highlight of anyone’s week. Your best course of action today is to develop a game plan that includes hard work. Perhaps when you’re not doing your schoolwork, you can do things that transform lives—yours and others.

Don’t think that Christianity is just for the adults in the room. You are just as valuable in God’s kingdom as an adult with an adult job. Don’t minimize your value in God’s world (1 Timothy 4:12). You have value and gifting. What is your purpose? How can you use it today for the Lord’s fame?

Life with God does not begin at eighteen or twenty-one. It starts now. Today! Align your heart with God, not to cultural expectations for teens or their perceived rights. I recommend that you kick the word “teen” to the curb. If you’re thirteen, you’re a young adult. Call yourself one. More importantly, act like one.

Use your summertime as an excellent period to continue prepping for the rest of your life. I don’t know what that should look like for you, but I’m confident you can figure it out if you ask a few adult friends.

Time to Reflect

1. Are you fun-centered or work-centered? When you have downtime, do you think more about serving yourself or others?
2. What is one specific and practical way that you can change your work/fun worldview?

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Rick Thomas

Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.

In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).