Topic: Youth
Have you been discouraged when you were in your youth from your parents, peers, friends, and teachers? Or did you have a good time while you were in youth?
As we continue studying this series on “God’s Calling for Younger Generation,” I would like to bring the subject on seeking God in early life. Why I bring out this subject? As we read about the life of Jeremiah, God called him to be one of His chosen prophets before his arrival from his mother’s womb. And God called him to bring out the people of Israel and lead them into Him. Even though Jeremiah received some negative responds from his people in his young age, he continued to do God’s will.
Although to be in youth age, God called children to rejoice in their lives. Read with me Ecclesiastes 11:9-10.
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
God will bring you into judgment.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.
Being in the first 16 years of life that children are in is great point of start life. Yet, after children reach the age of 18, the word youth will become useless in their lives, because they are in adulthood. From ages 1 day to 2-years old, the child will get a lot of attention from mommy and daddy. From 3 to 5, they would begin to learn ABC, counting the number, and will have little responsibility. As they get older, they will have more responsibilities as they are in the care of their parents. Of course, they will have a lot of free time of doing many activities while they are in home and schools.
Also, the children are in good ages to seek the community and variety of touching and looking at materials and other people around them. But we also want let our young people to know who brought them into this world. When the baby comes out from his mother’s womb, he will first hear the words, momma and dada. As the child starts to learn the first two words, he uses to using these simple words throughout his infant stage.
We also need to teach the child the name of Jesus or God. Most time, in a Christian family, people fail to teach the child the name Jesus in his early life. Most people would think that they brought the children into the world themselves and don’t teach them the word Jesus to them. For example, in Catholicism, many believers worship Mary, the mother of Jesus; because they believe that she received a divine power from God to bring Jesus into this world as coequal to God; instead of, God called Mary to bring His Son to this world to take care Jesus for Him until He would depart from her to reunite with His Father after His mission.
If we devote to teach the child about the Word of God before he/she would become adulthood, that child will have fully walked with Jesus Christ throughout his/her life. Deuteronomy 11:19 says that we need to teach our youngsters what God had done in our lives, not for our sake but His. As the child receives the Word of God in his hearing, that child will continue to desire for God in his life.
Now let me to talk with youths and young adults. Being in young generation in your life is not easy. Although some of you live with your family, there will be new responsibilities and challenges to take care yourself and your family. Couple years ago, one of young women came to me and shared with me about how she wanted to live her own, to get out from her family, so she could have easy life. If she likes to live her own without further planning, she would have great deal of problems in her life. Being independent living is not easy, she still have responsibility to live with. I’m living independently with personal assistant now, but I’m still struggle with my life. Being in government financial assistant doesn’t help much with living expenses. I still struggle to meet my bills deadline. DEADLINE is ugly word in our vocabulary, because we need to pay bills by such date. If we don’t meet deadline, bill collectors will add about 1.5% more from previous bill amount.
Even though God tells youths to enjoy their lives while in their ages, they need to know that God will judge them according to what they would have done. He will be either as their Savior or Judge. Although they are young, it doesn’t mean that they’d be freed from the judgment according to God’s book.
And we also need to encourage young people and to help them to understand the way of God. If we let our youngsters do according to our wishes, they would feel corruption. But if we suggest them, they would feel much safe to do their accomplishments.
If you are youth or young adults, don’t feel like that you are useless, when other people say to you that you cannot do it. You are precious child to God. Just as Jeremiah, God knows you what you can do or you cannot do. Even though you hear all the negative things about you, there is only one person who will not let you down. That is God. God, who created you. God, who knows everything about you before you were born. If your parents decide to disown you because you have found the truth from the Word of God, you still have your Father in you—God. He will never forget you or forsake you, unless you’d decide to follow other ways to live life.
MTV will not help you, but they will make you more miserable. Playing lottery tickets will not help you to get $1 million, but they would make to loose that money. Trying to reach more success will not help you to gain more business achievements rather than they will make you apart from God, family, and friends.
Hold what you have accomplished while you were in schools, with family and friends who were devoted to God. Don’t make yourself to be in jail bar. Paul says in I Timothy 4:12, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
What do you have in your hand to avoid from going to Satan’s traps? What do you have in your hands to reach others with the love of Jesus Christ? What do you have in your hands to pass your senior year of high school? What do you do if your parents do not have Jesus Christ in their lives?
Although these questions may make you confuse, God knows what you can accomplish. Even though you cannot make your parents come to Christ, God will work on your behalf to continue knocking their hearts. You only need to trust Him and do whatever you are doing.
Are you saved? Are your love ones and friends saved in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? The purpose of this study is to help you to become closer relationship with Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3.)
If you are lukewarm in your relationship with Jesus Christ and want to know Him as your personal Savior and Lord of your life, please consider asking Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life. Paul says, "That if you confess with your mouth, `Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believed and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:9-10.) If you have done in your private room or workplace, then you need to tell to your friends or love ones about what you have done, so they may rejoice with you and want to have that relationship with Christ in their own life. There are many occults in the world, which do not know the love of God and His great plan for those who believe in Him. As it is written in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
