“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come…” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
Welcome to our Campus Sunday Service! One of the things that we can often take for granted is our youth. We can fail to recognize the tremendous value that the days of our youth represent, or we can fail to realize how fleeting the days of our youth really are. In either case, all of us eventually grow older only to look back and think, “I wish I had done this” or “I wish I didn’t do that.” We come to realize that time is a one way street. There is no reversing it, and there is no possibility of ever going backwards. If only we hadn’t been in such a hurry to get where we were going, we would have been able to do so much more in the days of our youth.
When it comes to our relationships with God, our youth is easily one of the hardest things to give up. We think, “I have all the time in the world. I can always get serious about God later in life when I don’t have much going on, or when I have already cashed in all my ‘fun’ chips and I am ready to settle down.” After all, if we choose Christianity at such an early age, won’t we have to be faithful longer? Won’t we have to persevere through more?
That’s certainly one way to look at it. It is true that giving up your youth for Christ is a challenge, and it likely does mean that you will have to prove faithful longer. But on the other hand, what if you chose to give your youth to God? I mean, is “fun” really all that fun? Does it really fulfill you, or just make you feel guilty? What if you were to sacrifice all that for God, what could God do with you in the days of your youth?
This is precisely the challenge that Jeremiah faced when God called him to be a prophet. Likely just a teenager, his reluctant response to God’s calling was, “‘Alas, Sovereign Lord,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am too young.’” (Jeremiah 1:6) It probably made perfect sense to him. Who would listen to a teen-aged preacher anyways? How could he, being just a “child” (some translations), have an impact for God in a grown-up world?
Unfortunately (and actually fortunately), for Jeremiah, God didn’t see things the same way. He clapped back in his reply to Jeremiah’s protest, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you…” (Jeremiah 1:7) For God, Jeremiah’s youth wasn’t a disadvantage; it was one of the reasons He called Jeremiah! He wanted him while he was young. Why? Because Jeremiah would be able to learn, train, grow, preach, and do so much more, while he was young! That way, he would be able to accomplish more for God throughout his lifetime!
Interestingly, although Jeremiah’s initial reluctance to follow God in the days of his youth is well noted, he later writes the following words in his lament for King Josiah – another youthful leader in God’s Kingdom, “It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.” (Lamentations 3:27) I believe that after Jeremiah made the radical decision to follow God, and to give up his youth for God, he realized how much God was able use him in his formative years. And different than many of us who choose to live for ourselves and end up with years of regret, there was zero regret for Jeremiah!
I want to challenge you today, if you are in the days of your youth, don’t wait until it is too late, or until after you have already squandered all of your youth for worldly things. Choose to follow God now, while you are still young. Choose to give God the very best years of your life! And then, just watch and see what God will do with you! To Him be the glory!
Evan Bartholomew