Ecclesiastes 11:9 & 10 "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes:…
There is no time in a person's life like the days when you are young. You have energy and strength and very little worry. The weight of adult matters are not yet fully upon you. Rejoice, be happy and enjoy yourself.
However, know this one thing, your youth is not an excuse for sin and rebellion and for not coming to Christ. Right now you 'walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes.' But "every imagination of the thoughts of the heart [are] only evil continually." And "hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." (Genesis 6:5, Proverbs 27:20)
When you follow the lust
of your heart and the desire of your eye you disobey your parents and their
guidance, lying and betraying their trust-even worse you disobey God! "Children
obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor your father and your
mother; (which is the first commandment with promise) that it may be well with
you, and you may live long on the earth." "A foolish son is a grief
to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him."(Ephesians
6:1-3, Proverbs
17:25)
God has made you rich to have parents whom Christ has redeemed; parents to whom
God has given spiritual understanding in his word; parents to whom you can ask
spiritual questions and obtain accurate answers. They are more capable than
unbelievers in guiding you in right ways that will be for your good and to the
glory of God. The next time you are about to do something that is questionable,
ask yourself this question: Will this bring honor to my father? If it does not
bring honor to your earthly father then rest assured it will not bring honor
to your heavenly Father!
but know thou, that
for all these things God will bring you into judgement.
You may fool men but not God "…man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart." "Shall not God search [you] out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart." (1
Samuel 16:7, Psalm
44:21) Nothing is hidden from God. Your sin and rebellion is the same
as when that angry mob pressed a crown of thorns upon his brow and spit in his
face as they led him to be crucified-sin and rebellion is truly that bad! If
you pass from this world an unbeliever, having never known the peace and liberty
of being forgiven by Christ's shed blood, having never confessed your sins before
God and your need of Him. Having never followed through with a profession of
faith proclaiming to all that you belong to Christ and that he belongs to you.
Then I assure you there will come a day when you will have to stand before the
just Judge pleading your own case on your own behalf "for God shall
bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good,
or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes
12:14)
Therefore remove
sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth
are vanity"
How can you 'remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh'?
By trusting in the one who took your sorrow and your evil upon Himself when
He took your place under the wrath of God's judgement.
God has made Christ, who was without sin, to be sin for us. If you are God's elect, then Christ was taking your place on the cross. That is what preachers mean when they call Christ our 'Substitute'. (One that takes the place of another-kind of like a substitute teacher) Why did Christ take the place of God's elect? So that we can have the same righteousness as God, so we can be perfectly holy before God. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Phillipians 2:15, 1 Timothy 1:15)
We can not be without sin and righteous outside of Christ. If you are in Christ then instead of coming before the just Judge and pleading your own case Christ will say 'He's mine.' And God will be as pleased with you as He is with His own Son.
All the things that you
value most right now are vanity. One day soon they will bring you no pleasure.
Continue in your sins-evil days are sure to follow. Without you even noticing
your desire for reading scripture will fade. Your desire for attending worship
services will end. You will cease to pray. Any desire for fellowship with believers
will disappear. You will seek joy and peace of heart and conscience and find
none. "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the
evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shall say, I have no
pleasure in them." (Ecclesiastes
12:1)
I pray continually that God would convince you of your sins till you have no
where else to flee but Christ.
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