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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 2, NUMBER 24, JULY 14, 2002 WHAT’S
THE POINT OF BEING A CHRISTIAN WHILE YOUNG?
As a young person grows and matures, they find themselves faced with more
and more decisions that they must make every day.
When a small child, most of the decisions were made for them.
What they were going to wear, what they were going to eat, where they
were going to go – just about everything is decided for the small child by the
parents. When the teenage years
come, that begins to change a little bit. More
and more young people are called upon to make decisions for themselves and the
further along they get in their teenage years the more decisions they will face. Here is
where the real relevance of being a Christian for a young person comes in.
In addition to the tremendous peace that comes from knowing that they are
saved and will go home to heaven should the Lord return, there is real
practical, everyday value in being a
Christian as teenager.
It is found in helping the young person make the proper decisions in
their lives – decisions that they can feel good about; decisions that will
benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Those who are outside of the body of Christ do not have an absolutely
trustworthy standard by which to make those kinds of important decisions.
If a young person makes the most important decision – to become a
Christian and serve the Lord faithfully – they will have that guiding standard
in all other questions they will face.
The most important decision that a young person can make, that any person
can make, is to be a Christian. I am
not talking about being a Christian in name only.
I am not talking about just getting wet in the baptistery because their
friends did. I am talking about
being a real Christian, one who steps up and assumes the responsibilities
of such a life gladly. Once that
decision has been truly made, than all of the other decisions of life are going
to based upon the fact that that young person is a child of God.
Consider the words of David from Psalm 119:5 – 16.
David wrote, “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy
commandments. I will praise thee
with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.
With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy
commandments. Thy word have I hid in
mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord: teach me Thy statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of Thy mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways.
I will delight myself in Thy statutes:
I will not forget Thy word.”
Young people have a lot of decisions to make; decisions that will
profoundly affect their lives now and in the future.
They have moral decisions that must be made.
Young people may not realize it yet, but they will learn that making a
decision to participate or not to participate in certain things based upon what
they know would be pleasing to God is not only right – it is eminently
practical. God did not make any
useless rules or regulations. He did
not forbid anything because He did not want His people to have fun.
Everything that God has taught is for our benefit.
A young person who is a Christian will find that to be true.
There is the decision concerning college.
Will I go? Where will I go?
What will I study? If
I choose to go away to college, is there a strong church that I can be a part of
and have that ready-made network of friends to associate with?
What am I going to study? Will
my chosen course of study jeopardize my faith?
There are decisions to be made related to a chosen career.
What will I do? It is upright
and honest? Does it provide me with
the opportunity to attend the services of the local congregation of which I am a
member? Will I have to
compromise my principles to be successful in this field?
Will I marry and who will I marry? Will
he or she be a Christian? Will their
primary concern be serving the Lord and helping me to get to heaven?
Will they be a spiritual drag to me?
All of these are decisions that are so better made when the one making
them is a Christian. It is
preeminently practical and decidedly relevant to be a Christian while young.
FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES
I read story about a little boy who came running in and started to excitedly tell his mother about how he and his friend had killed a rat. “Mom” he said, “we beat that rat and bashed it and clubbed it” and then he noticed that the preacher was there and he finished his story with “Until God called him home!” In Bible Class the teacher asked the kids “Who were Matthew, Mark, and Luke?” She got a correct answer. She asked, “And who was Peter?” A little boy piped up, “He was a rabbit.”;
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