Young People’s Blog

Prepare

“Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12).

As life goes by, we become very busy in the course of normal events — and don’t think that it slows down any as you get older. But sometimes the unexpected intrudes into our “normal” lives, with results that could not have been foreseen. This is why it is so important to be prepared to leave this world at a moment’s notice. We need to be prepared for eternity like those tiny creatures, of which Solomon wrote, “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer” (Proverbs 30:25).

Here is one incident that proves this point:

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1983, a poodle named Cachi fell 13 stories and landed on a woman’s head. The poodle and the woman died instantly. Another woman who was standing on the edge of a crowd that had stopped in the middle of the street to watch what was happening died instantly when hit by a bus. A man who saw both events had a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital.

Where would you be if you had been one of these three persons? Heaven or Hell?

Rest

“Rest a while” (Mark 6:31).

For many of us, Friday is the end of a work or school week and we can look forward to a day or two of relaxation or at least a change of pace.

In Mark chapter 6, we learn that after busy, active service, and the burying of John the Baptist, the disciples came to the Lord and told Him all about it. No doubt they were weary and perhaps even a little discouraged and puzzled over what had taken place. The Lord then invited them to come apart with Himself for a few moments of rest. However, it didn’t last very long, and we soon read that a great multitude had come to hear the Lord preach, and, at the end of the day, the disciples are feeding several thousand people with the loaves and fishes that the Lord multiplied.

Maybe the Lord has some little service for you to perform this weekend. It could be visiting someone who needs encouragement, helping with a gospel outreach, Sunday school, Bible study, or some little service that nobody else knows about. While you have a break from the weekly routine of life and a needed season of rest, don’t forget that there is much to do in the Lord’s service. No doubt He has a work for you to perform this weekend.

One Hour

“Doth not even nature itself teach you” (1 Corinthians 11:14).

Here is some more insight on my lizard friend I mentioned yesterday.

Each morning as we are sipping coffee and having breakfast, mister lizard appears on the inside of the window by the table. Almost simultaneously, another lizard of about the same size appears on the outside of the window. For one hour, they stare through the glass at each other. I assume they must communicate with each other in some lizardly way, but whatever it is, there they remain, so that you can almost set your clock by the timing of their meeting and subsequent length of their rendezvous.

As I considered this quirk of nature, I thought of the following rebuke spoken by the Lord Jesus to His weary disciples in the garden of Gethsemane: “What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:40-41). How much time each day to we spend quietly in communion with the Lord and in contemplation of His lovely person and great work?

Flee

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace” (2 Timothy 2:22).

Earlier today, in Dickson Village, Saint Vincent, I sat at the table with my missionary friend eating a delicious soup his wife had kindly prepared for us. During the meal, I noticed an 8-inch lizard stealthily climbing the window curtain across from me. His goal was a large black fly he was planning to have for his lunch. However, as the lizard made one final move, the watchful fly flew off and was safe.

It made me think of the above verse, as well as of the Lord’s exhortation to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He said, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Like that fly, we need to be on guard as to our enemy, Satan, lurking about to discourage us and get us to sin and spoil our joy and testimony. We also need to get as far away from sin and Satan as we can. Like the fly, we need to “flee.” When there is danger, we need to quickly and directly get out … get as far away as possible. We need to flee to the Lord Jesus, the only safe refuge and help when Satan tries to tempt and harass.

Talking With Jesus

“Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way?” (Luke 24:32).

Do you ever talk with Jesus,
As you move about your day,
Performing tasks and duties,
While you hurry on your way?

When you have a quiet moment,
When you have a little space,
Do you speak in sweet communion,
Do you seek your Savior’s face?

No matter what the hurry,
No matter what the care,
Do you keep an open line,
With the One who’s always there?

Do not let the world’s confusion,
And the busy life you lead,
Distract you from His presence,
And His fellowship you need.

Dear Young Christian:

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).

The Christian life is a journey, and that means taking one step after another and living moment by moment and day by day. When the going gets tough, just keep going and let God your Father have His way with you. When you are weary, rest in Him; when you are weak, draw on His strength; and when you are discouraged, do as David did, who “encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6). When the road seems uphill, remember the words of the hymn written long ago by Frederick Whitfield (1829–1904):

This name shall shed its fragrance still
Along this thorny road,
Shall sweetly smooth the rugged hill
That leads us up to God.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Behold

“Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:36).

Sometime in the late 1700’s, Joseph Hoskins wrote the following hymn, which I believe is a good focus for us today as we remember that mighty work done at Calvary.

Behold! behold the Lamb of God
On the cross;
For us He shed His precious blood,
On The cross.
Oh, hear the overwhelming cry:
“Eli lama sabachthani?”
Draw near and see the Savior die
On the cross.

Come, sinner, see Him lifted up
On the cross:
He drinks for you the bitter cup,
On the cross;
The rocks do rend, the mountains quake,
While Jesus doth atonement make — 
While Jesus suffers for our sake,
On the cross.

Not Works

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

I recently read a biography of the reformer John Wesley. One day, in the north of England, he stopped to speak to a man about his need of salvation. The man was sure his good works would gain him entrance into Heaven. Wesley asked him what he would do in Heaven, which was something the man had not considered, and in return asked what others would do there. Wesley told him that they would sing, “Glory to God …” But Wesley added, “Your song will be glory to myself, for I have qualified myself for Heaven!”

The man listened to the gospel as John Wesley presented it in its simplicity. After listening awhile, the man exclaimed, “What you say is enough to drive anyone to despair.”

“Yes,” replied the preacher, “It is well for a man to despair of saving himself that he may be driven to the Lord Jesus to be saved by Him.”

Indeed, God and Christ will have all the glory and praise in that day. We will sing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory …” (Revelation 5:12).

Send Me

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

I met Sandra at a missionary compound we were staying at in Lagos, Nigeria, several years ago. She was the resident missionary in charge, and I appreciated her genuine love for the Lord and care of the missionaries that passed through that area. It was the early 1990’s, and President Sani Abacha was in power (reputed to be the 4th most corrupt leader in history). The country was in turmoil, and unsafe for travel.

When Sandra was a young lady, she felt the Lord calling her to serve in Nigeria. When she told her mother, her mother was distressed because of the dangers of such a mission field and said, “If the Lord wants someone to go to Nigeria, He will call them and send them.”

Sandra’s reply was, “Yes mother, He will, and He has. He has called me, and I am going.”

Maybe the Lord is calling you to some work in the mission field like He called the prophet Isaiah, Sandra, and many others. Are you listening, and are you willing to answer, “Send me”?

Building Up

“Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints … . building up yourselves on your most holy faith” (Jude verses 3, 20).

We cannot rightly contend for the faith (the truth of God contained in the Bible), unless we are building up ourselves in our most holy faith. We are not called to build ourselves up in all the different forms which evil may assume. We shall not be able to resist error by simply having an acquaintance with error. We can only meet error as we are built up in the truth. Moreover, our faith is a “most holy faith,” so that in being built up in the faith we are not only gaining a deeper acquaintance with the truth, but we are increasingly worked upon by the truth. It has a holy, sanctifying effect upon our souls, leading to a greater separation from the evil by which we are surrounded. As the Lord prayed, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).

The power, attitude, and purpose of this is as follows: “praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude verses 20-21).