Do Not Say, "I Am A Youth!"

DEVOTION FOR YOUTH SUNDAY
Ecclesiastes 12:1

Morning Service, February 19, 2012


I would like to begin this brief devotional with a short account concerning a great evangelist in recent church history. “Dwight L. Moody was once asked, ‘How many converts did you have last night?’ Moody answered, ‘Two and one half.’ The other person said, ‘Two adults and a child?’ ‘No,’ Moody replied. ‘Two children and one adult.’ A child converted is an entire life converted.”

Dwight Moody had a deep respect for youth. He realized that they are the future, and that they will carry throughout their entire lives what they learn while they are still young. People are best reached for Jesus Christ in their younger years, and they are best taught Christian morals and values while young, as youth are not yet completely set in their ways, and as they are still moldable and shapeable.

If we try to talk about Christ to an adult who is already set in his or her ways, that person is more likely to reject what we have to say. If the adult individual accepts the message of salvation in Christ, he or she is still likely to regress to their former habits. If we reach a young person with the gospel they will more readily accept it, and be more apt to hang on to their beliefs throughout the rest of their life.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 expresses this viewpoint when it says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’.” Youth, it is very important for you to know the Lord now before you encounter the difficulties of life. Some of you have already endured some hard things; but the truth is that life only gets harder, not easier; but if you take the Lord with you, then you can endure what lies ahead. If you don’t then you will likely say, “I have no pleasure in life.”

“A man came rushing up to a ferry [boat], breathless after running at an [extremely fast] pace, but he got there just as the gateman shut the door in his face. A bystander remarked, ‘You didn’t run fast enough.’ The disappointed man answered, ‘I ran fast enough, but I didn’t start on time.’ [The point is this]: To try to accomplish the most for God in a lifetime, you must start early – ‘in the days of your youth’.”

I want to extend an invitation to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, if anyone here today does not know Him. I wish to share with you again Ecclesiastes 12:1 which says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’.” Don’t wait too long to accept the Lord. If you don’t have Jesus Christ in your heart and life, then who are you going to turn to when you are lonely and hurting?

So how do you receive Jesus into your heart? (Share Romans 10:9-10).



DEVOTION FOR YOUTH SUNDAY
Jeremiah 1:4-12

Evening Service, February 19, 2012


This morning I addressed our young people about how we must come to know the Lord in our youth. However, tonight, I wish to share with you how we must begin to serve Him in our young