Preface: I came across this older post....(from June 6, 2012)....and thought that I would bring it back because in it I wrote that...."in ten years"....the young reader would have new friends....and new interests. Well it's only been eight years and eight months....but I think that's long enough to prove my point. Whatever college student may have read this post back in 2012....(and I left a lot of Special Dog pens on college campuses)....they probably cannot even remember much of that year....my point in this post for the young person of today being....you are not preparing for the eternal....because you value the things of the present too much....but those things that you value above your eternal soul....will in the not too distant future be replaced and often forgotten....just as the things of that young person from 2012 have long since been replaced and forgotten. Today is the day young person! You must consider taking the advice of those who talk to you from experience....everything will pale to Christ! Every moment of joy will be recognized as a blessing from Him! Every seemingly unanswered prayer will make sense! Every closed door....that you may cry over today....will be seen in light of God's perfect will for you! That is....if you today seek Christ first.....for if you do not....you will find yourself in an endless cycle....of always looking for something better that would finally give you perceived fulfillment that you value so much...but as the popular song of the 60s correctly warned us...."Kicks just keep getting harder to find."
Who Is Making Preparations For You?
Every once in a while I direct a blog solely to the youth....late teens….early twenties. I’d like to segue into this one by first giving a few lines from my blog of last June 11th....(that would be June 11, 2012)....that I had titled In Due Time.....“Life was black and white....heroes and villains....good and bad. I had no idea what I wanted to do in this life. I stumbled around in the confusion of unmentored youth until I joined the army and then marched around in the confusion of unmentored young adulthood. I married a wonderful young lady ( I still can’t understand how that happened) and then stumbled around a little bit more before God said....‘I will have mercy on that one.' I will never figure that out until He explains it Himself. And then a son came....and I only had one bit of wisdom from my past for what was within my scope of raising him; whatever I did in my youth....have him do the opposite! The television was stored in the basement for nine years and he later graduated with honors from law school.”
So where are you? Before you answer that I’d like you to consider a few things. The culture that I was raised in was bad….yours is ten times worse....if not more! I wasn’t raised on the concept of self-esteem....the authors knew more about their writings than we did....Twilight Zone was as close as I came to the occult....there were far more sane and patriotic leaders in our government than there are today....the news media actually cared about truth....and here’s the real kicker....a college education was worth the money. If I wanted to call a girl I needed a quarter and a quiet telephone booth….and maybe a push. With all those relative benefits....I barely made it through!
You live in somewhat of a Matrix only it's not machines that rule every thought....it's still the men who make the machines. What Solomon wrote is as true today as it was then....nothing is new under the sun....and all is vanity. So what do you have planned? Have you played with Lego's lately? Of course not. Well here's something to chew on....most of your hobbies....will have changed in the next ten years. Most of the friends that you have now will be replaced. What am I getting at? If you don't prepare for something....something will be prepared for you. You won't have choices and you will be running from regrets.
You want irony? The goofy kid who sits next to you in class. You know, the one who looks like he buys his clothes from Kmart? The one who goes to church? The one who seems to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose every minute? The one who looks like he'll never get a date? He'll have a good job....a pretty wife....and kids....because he didn't have the distractions that you value so much today....and deem indispensable.
You want another irony? This culture that constantly tells you that you are special....actually treats you like you are nothing....while God....who says that you are a sinner....has demonstrated love for you! There it is! There is only one friend who will always be there....only one king that will never forsake you....only one fear that actually gives life....and only one answer to the questions that haunt you in your dream world....and that is incarnate God....now ascended in glory....who knows your thoughts before you do....and even as you read this makes preparations for those who He has called. Has He called you? Respond as if He has....in humility....and you will find out!
