Tip
The moso bamboo is a rare species found in the Far East of China.
After its seeds are planted, it barely sprouts for several years—
its growth is so slow it’s almost invisible.
But in the fifth year, something astonishing happens:
it begins to shoot up at an incredible rate.
Growing nearly 30 centimeters a day, it reaches about 15 meters in just six weeks.
If you dig beneath the soil, you’ll find roots spread so deep
and wide that you can’t even trace their end.
Long before it ever reached the sky, the moso bamboo was preparing itself—
quietly, steadily—for the day it would become a towering tree.
The Boy Who Took Down the Giant _David
After forty days had passed, David came to the battlefield to deliver food to his brothers. As he arrived, he heard Goliath’s taunts. Outraged that this giant would dare to mock the armies of the living God, David boldly declared that he would fight him. Even when his eldest brother rebuked him and King Saul tried to discourage him, David’s resolve never wavered.
David picked up five stones from the stream, placed them in his pouch, and, sling in hand, advanced toward Goliath. When Goliath saw the young, handsome boy approaching, he sneered and mocked him. But David was not intimidated and cried out boldly:
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty!”
David hurled a stone from his sling, striking Goliath squarely on the forehead. The giant collapsed face down to the ground. Seeing this, the Philistines fled in terror, and Israel pursued them and won a great victory.
Through his unwavering faith in God, young David saved his people. He would later become king of Israel and rule the kingdom according to God’s will.
1 Samuel 17
From an Eight-Year-Old King to a Leader Who Turned Israel Back to God _Josiah
In the eighth year of his reign—when he was sixteen—he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. By the time he turned twenty, he began removing every trace of idolatry from Judah and Jerusalem, tearing down Asherah poles, sun images, and pagan shrines. In the eighteenth year of his reign, after the land and the temple had been fully purified, he ordered repairs to the temple.
During the restoration, the priest Hilkiah discovered the Book of the Law and entrusted it to Shaphan the scribe. As Josiah listened to Shaphan read its words aloud, he tore his robes in grief, realizing that the nation had failed to live according to God’s commands written in the book—and that this disobedience had provoked God’s anger.
Josiah then gathered all the people and read the Book of the Law before them. Determined to uphold the covenant recorded in its pages, he restored the long-neglected Passover, turning the hearts of the people back to God.
Because Josiah consistently did what was right in the eyes of God, the people of Judah remained faithful to God’s commands throughout his thirty-one-year reign.
Ch 34:1—35:19
From a Child Raised on Scripture to a Leader of the Early Church _Timothy
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1 Ti 4:12)
Growing up with a sincere faith in God from a young age, Timothy matured into a man of upright character and unwavering belief. Even in the face of severe persecution and hardship, he remained steadfast, faithfully fulfilling his calling as a leader and prophet of the Church of God.
Ac 16:1—2; 2 Ti 3:15—17
A mighty tree lies hidden within a tiny seed.
To grow into that tree,
the seed must absorb water and sunlight from the very start.
Within each of us, a strong and mature person is quietly waiting to emerge.
If you want to become that person, now is the time to begin.
“Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.”
Job 8:7