| “And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old … fifty shekels of silver … And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be … twenty shekels … And if it be from a month old even unto five years old … five shekels of silver … And if it be from sixty years old and above … fifteen shekels” (Leviticus 27:3-7). |
| We will not go into all the details of the passage in which these verses are found, but it is very interesting to see the value that was placed on individuals at various ages, under the law. We see that small children under the age of five were valued at five shekels, and those from five up to twenty were valued at twenty shekels. That is probably the age group in which most of you are! |
| Then, those from twenty to sixty had the most value — fifty shekels. Finally, those who were over sixty were valued at fifteen shekels. |
| It is perhaps easy to see why those from the ages of twenty to sixty were valued the highest, for those are the years of our life when we have our greatest strength, and can do the most work. However, it makes some of us in my age group feel rather small, for those over sixty were worth only fifteen shekels. I left sixty behind many years ago! |
| Notice that you young people are valued at more than we who are over sixty — you are valued at twenty shekels, and soon, if the Lord does not come, you will be over twenty, and be worth fifty shekels. Although I feel sure that the Lord is coming soon, yet He may leave us here a little longer. Then you will have the privilege of taking on more of the work of the Lord, and of taking the responsibility of honoring Him in this world. Of course, we trust that you are doing that already, but there comes a time in all of our lives when we must step out and take responsibility. |
| I knew a man who started out well for the Lord, but who decided about the age of twenty-five to live for this world instead. He was successful in business and well-liked in worldly society. He lived for this world for about forty years, but then he became ill, and the Lord used this to draw him back to Himself. He really wanted to live for the Lord again, but he was old and not well, and he did not have the strength to do much. Eventually he went to be with the Lord after two years. How bad he felt that he had wasted most of his life! You do not have to do that; you can choose to live for the Lord while you are young. |
