Young People’s Blog

“The desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee” (Isaiah 26:8).

Recently there was some shocking news on the internet about pilgrims who were visiting Mecca in Saudi Arabia in large numbers. They were of course going there because it is the burial place of Muhammed, a sacred place for Muslims. However, because of the extreme heat, and since many were there without suitable accommodation, more than 1,000 of them died. Yet they were willing to risk their lives to get there, even though they have no guarantee that it will do them any good.

How different with you and me, who know Christ as Savior! He does not ask us to make a pilgrimage, or to endure severe hardships for Him. Rather, His simple request is that we remember Him in His death. It is a simple act, and we do not have to do anything profound. We simply partake of a broken loaf and a cup, remembering that He suffered for us in His body, and shed His blood for us!

“But they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).

This verse has often spoken to me, for it is very easy to compare ourselves to others, and then get a good opinion of ourselves. Men and women have done this for thousands of years, and have satisfied themselves that they are doing all right. The proud Pharisee in Luke 18:11 could say to the Lord, “God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are.” Then he proceeded to list a number of sins of which others were supposedly guilty, but he was not.

However, when we get into the presence of God, then we realize how little we have measured up to His standard, and how poorly we have performed according to God’s estimate. Even as Christians, we are apt to compare ourselves to others, but our true example is Christ. When we compare ourselves to Him, it will humble us, rather than lift up our hearts in pride.

“For he [Abraham] looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

Yesterday I mentioned something that I stumbled upon on the internet; today I saw something else. It was a list of thirty cities in the world that were called “the most livable” cities in the world. Evidently they make up this list every year (there are more than thirty cities in the list), based on things like affordability of housing, the level of crime, employment opportunities, availability of health care, and several other things. It was interesting to see which cities were supposed to be the best ones in which to live.

We can be thankful that there are pleasant cities in this world in which to live. However, we know that eventually all the cities in this world will fall under the judgment of God, and all the pride of men will be brought low. But as we see in our verse for today, Abraham looked for a city that God had built. If we are truly saved, you and I look for that same city—a heavenly city. No city on earth can compare to it, and most important of all, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, will be there!

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27-28).

While I was looking at the news on the internet today, a title caught my eye—“Thirty theories about what happens when you die.” I clicked on the article, and found thirty ideas from various religions and philosophies of the world. Some believed in reincarnation, where you become something else, or someone else, after you die. Others believe that you just vanish into non-existence. Still others have even more bizarre thoughts, such as that you just become part of the universe, and are not really dead. It seemed from the article that you could simply believe whatever idea appealed to you, and it would happen.

God’s Word tells us clearly what happens after death, and that judgment awaits those who die without Christ. It also tells us that we can be saved from the penalty of our sins by trusting in our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Whom will you believe—God’s Word, or the ideas of men?

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of this world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

This verse might seem to be a bit confusing at first, but it simply describes two kinds of sorrow after we have done something wrong. Godly sorrow means that I am truly repentant before the Lord about my sin, and for an unbeliever, this is the way he should come to God when he wants to be saved. That kind of sorrow is good, and is also the way a believer is restored in his soul, if he has sinned.

However, the sorrow of this world is not really for the sin itself, but rather for the effects of sin. I have seen many men (and women too!) in prison who were sorry for what they had done, but they were really only sorry that they got caught. I have seen others who drank too much alcohol and ruined their health, but again, they were really only sorry for the results of their sin, but not for the sin itself.

Let us remember this difference, and if we have done wrong, let us truly repent for the sin against God.

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

We saw yesterday that if we were willing to separate from unbelievers and this world, God would be a Father unto us. Of course, if we are truly saved, God is always our Father, for that is our relationship to Him in this time of His grace. However, we cannot enjoy that relationship if we allow sin in our thoughts or in our actions.

For this reason, our verse today tells us to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh [the body] and spirit [our thoughts].” What we think about, and what we fill our minds with, ultimately controls our actions. If we are careful to judge those wrong thoughts and actions, and confess them to the Lord as sin, then we will enjoy our relationship with God as our Father. Is it worth it? Indeed it is!

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord…and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you” (2 Corinthians 6:14,17-18).

The Apostle Paul had to remind the believers in Corinth to be separate from the unbelievers in this world. This did not mean that they should not interact with those unbelievers in the workplace, or as neighbors, for all Christians should be ready to give the gospel to those with whom they come in contact in this world. But they were not to mix with them socially, or to enter into business partnerships with them, or to marry them.

Paul reminds those believers that they could not get along with an unbeliever in any close relationship, for either we belong to Christ, or we belong to Satan’s world. There is no middle ground. If we want to enjoy the Lord, we must be willing to be separate from this world.

Some unbelievers are nice people naturally, but they all have one thing in common: they do not belong to Christ, and cannot enjoy the things of Christ.

“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him” (Luke 23:33).

Yesterday was Independence Day in the United States of America, and it reminded me of something Abraham Lincoln said in February, 1861, while he was on his way to Washington, D.C. to be inaugurated as President of the United States. He visited Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and in a speech he made there, said, “I am deeply moved to be standing in the place where the nation was founded.”

Most of us have never visited the place in the land of Israel where our Lord was crucified, but when we come together to remember Him in His death, do we feel “deeply moved” when we think of Calvary’s cross, and all that took place there? He has said that “where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Do we appreciate His presence there, and do we appreciate His desire for us to remember Him?

“I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot” (Revelation 3:15).

As I write this in June, 2024, I have just come home after spending three days in the hospital, having some tests done. Hospitals are not usually noted for their good food, as they concentrate more on good medical care. In particular, every day I was served lukewarm coffee, which I hated, and it reminded me of this verse. Most of us like our coffee or tea hot, and on a warm day, we like a cold drink.

In this verse, the Lord is speaking about your attitude and mine, and comparing us to hot and cold drinks. The Lord wants us “hot” towards Him and His claims, and “cold” towards evil. But the tendency of some Christians is to be lukewarm; just going along with the flow of this world, and not taking a strong stand for the Lord, or against evil. The Lord hates this attitude, and says in the next verse that He will spue those people out of His mouth, just as we might spit out some lukewarm coffee. Let us not be that kind of Christian!

“Jesus said unto her [Martha], I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” (John 11:25-26).

You might have trouble understanding these verses, but think of how they must have sounded to someone like Martha, who did not have the benefit of the New Testament. The verses refer to the Lord’s coming for us, but this truth had not yet been revealed. This is probably the first mention in the Bible of that wonderful truth, for the Lord Jesus did not speak directly about it until John 14. To use a common saying, Martha must have felt as if she had been thrown into the deep end of the pool!

All this is a good lesson for us. Perhaps at times you sit in a meeting, and find that you do not understand some of the things that are said. Just remember that the Lord Jesus allowed the same to happen when He taught, in order to challenge the hearts of those He loved, and to get them to dig further into divine things. The next time you hear something you do not understand, ask questions afterward and do some reading on your own. You can make it a learning experience!