As parents who want their children to grow up and love Jesus, we spend a lot of our time teaching them to believe in Jesus. But what we don’t do often enough is teach our children that Jesus believes in them. 

Jesus was a Rabbi. “Rabbi” is a term of endearment given by the community to a teacher who excelled in their understanding of God’s words. But Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary Rabbi. Jesus was a Rabbi who had disciples. In the 1^st century, being a disciple meant that you not only wanted to know what your Rabbi knew, but you wanted to be who your Rabbi was. Jesus’ desire was that His disciples would be just like Him, and it is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. Jesus wants us to be like Him. If discipleship works, the world will know what Jesus is like by the way we live our lives. 

In 1^st century disciple making, the normative practice was for Rabbis to wait for “want-to-be disciples” to approach them and ask to be a disciple. The Rabbi would then make the decision if the student was “good enough” to make the cut. The amazing difference with how Jesus got His disciples is that He sought them out and invited them to follow in His footsteps. He believed in them even when many times they didn’t believe in themselves. 

We must teach our children that Jesus believes they can be like Him.

There is evidence in the Bible (as well as by scholars who have studied the educational system of the day) that most of the disciples would have been teenagers, somewhere between the ages of 16 and 20. The Greek word used to describe the disciple John indicates that he could have been as young as 13 years old. When put in the correct context, the story of Jesus and the disciples is a story about Jesus believing a bunch of kids can be like Him—and those kids then change the whole world. 

This is the story that we get to tell in our new picture book, The Youngest Disciple, written in lyrical rhyme. It’s the story of John and his adventures as he follows in the footsteps of Jesus. From the shores along the Sea of Galilee to the empty tomb in Jerusalem, The Youngest Disciple takes children of all ages on a journey to discover how they are called to be disciples too. 

You can now order The Youngest Disciple at www.freshwindstudios.com.

Be sure to sign up to receive updates of each new post on our Christian Children’s Authors blog. Follow us for new book news, free resources, parenting tips, and encouragement!

By Eric Schrotenboer

#christianchildrensauthors #christianbooks #christianbooksforkids #discipleship #Jesus