Young People’s Blog

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20).

If you read the parable connected with this verse, you will find that a wealthy farmer thought that he had enough stored in his barns for many years. However, God told him that his soul would be required of him that night; that is, he would die. Then who would get all those things that he had stored up?

Many people today are like that farmer. They make sure that they have everything to make themselves comfortable in this world, yet make no plans for what happens after death. God calls that kind of a person a fool, for we are in this world only a few years, but all eternity stretches ahead of us after death. It is much better to be rich toward God than to be rich in this world. Even as Christians we can go after the things of this world, and neglect the true riches. Everything we have in this world we must eventually leave behind, but spiritual riches are ours for all eternity.

“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known” (Luke 12:2).

This is a very solemn verse, for it tells us that everything that has been done in secret shall eventually be brought to light. Last week in our area, a young man was killed in a car accident. It seems that another car came around a curve, and was driving in the wrong lane. The young man who was killed swerved to avoid a head-on collision, lost control of his vehicle, and landed in the ditch. He was killed instantly. The driver of the other car (who was at fault for being on the wrong side of the road) simply drove off. Since it happened on a country road in the middle of the night, no one saw him. Of course, the skid marks on the road made it clear to the police what had happened. The driver who was at fault may never be found out in this world, but God knows about it, and will bring it all to light.

However, this verse also works in the opposite direction. The immediate connection in Luke 12 is referring to evil things, but the verse also applies to good things. If you have done something for the Lord, perhaps no one knows about it, and you never got any thanks for it. Never mind; the Lord noticed it, and will reward you in a coming day.

“Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me. And he was sad at that saying” (Mark 10:21-22).

The young man in this story thought he was doing everything right, for he was trying to keep the law of Moses. However, as the Lord Jesus said to him, he lacked one thing. He thought he could earn his way to eternal life by doing what was right, but he was not willing to give up everything and follow the Lord Jesus. His riches meant more to him than the Lord Jesus, and he went away very sad. He was also not willing to give his wealth away to the poor.

The Lord Jesus was proving to him that he could not be saved through his own efforts, no matter how hard he tried. The only way to be saved is to come to the Lord Jesus and accept Him as our Savior.

“One thing thou lackest” (Mark 10:21).

I have recently been reading an interesting book about a sailing expedition in the year 1742. Several ships set out from England on a mission that would take them into the Pacific Ocean. That meant sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and around “Cape Horn,” the southern tip of South America. Cape Horn has some of the most dangerous seas in the world, so those outfitting the ships put in everything they thought the men might need—dried beef, hard biscuits, plenty of fresh water, guns, and many other things.

But several months into the voyage, many of the men began to get very sick. They lost weight, their teeth fell out, and their muscles shrivelled up. Some of the men died. No one knew what was wrong, but they were lacking one thing—vitamin C. Today we understand this. The men had “scurvy” because they had no fresh fruit or vegetables in their diet.

Eventually they were shipwrecked on a small island where hardly anything grew, but they found some wild celery and ate it because they were starving. Within a short time the disease of scurvy disappeared! Tomorrow we will talk about the spiritual meaning of today’s verse.

“For He [God the Father] hath made Him [the Lord Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Have you ever thought of what it meant for the Lord Jesus to be “made sin” for us? It means that God the Father dealt with the Lord Jesus as if He had committed the sins that we committed. The Lord Jesus took all the punishment for sin as if He had done all those wrong things. This was something you and I will never be able to understand. He has a nature that hates sin, yet He was made sin for us.

During those three hours of darkness on the cross, the Lord Jesus suffered more than you and I can ever imagine. But His love to God His Father, and His love to us, kept Him on that cross until all the judgment was exhausted. Have you ever thanked the Lord Jesus for what He has done?

“For without are…whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Revelation 22:15).

Usually, we talk about someone “telling” a lie. But do you know that you can tell a lie without speaking a word? Today in our Sunday school a man told us a story and showed us a picture. A long time ago (more than fifty years!) he was working with two other men on a small, barren island in the far north of Canada. A grizzly bear was on that island too, with no food, and he was looking for a good meal. In order to preserve their lives, it was necessary for one of the men to shoot the bear. The man who told the story showed us a picture of himself kneeling by the dead bear with a rifle in his hands. Then he asked the children to tell him who they thought had shot the bear. Of course they were all sure that he had done it! But the picture was “making a lie,” as our verse says. It was just a posed picture, as one of the other men had shot the bear.

God hates lying, no matter whether it is spoken with our lips, or just a picture that tells an untruthful story. Let us remember that God wants the truth, always.

“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42).

Mary and Martha were two sisters who lived in the same home with their brother Lazarus. One day the Lord Jesus came for a visit, and they prepared a meal for the Lord. Martha was very anxious that everything would be done right, while Mary (who had been working with Martha) went and sat down at the feet of the Lord Jesus to hear His Word. Then Martha wanted the Lord Jesus to tell Mary to come back and help her.

Sometimes we can get so taken up with doing everything just right in our lives that we neglect to read God’s Word, and pray. We can get so busy with life that our spiritual life suffers. That is what was happening to Martha.

Instead of telling Mary to go and help Martha, the Lord Jesus reminds Martha that “one thing” was “needful.” In our busy world, we have to remember our priorities, and give the Lord first place in our lives. No longer can we listen to the Lord Jesus in person, but we can read His Word and meditate on it. Then we learn more of Him, and this will be ours for all eternity. Good food is important too, but it will last only for this life. What the Lord Jesus tells us through His Word is forever.

“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also…therefore said He unto them…salute no man by the way” (Luke 10:1-2,4).

Here we see that the Lord Jesus sent out seventy of His disciples, to preach, and to heal the sick. He gave them instructions, and among their instructions they were told, “Salute no man by the way.” Does this mean that they were not to be polite or courteous, or speak to anyone they met on the way?

I do not believe that it means this. Rather, the Lord was telling them not to be “sidetracked” by anyone along the way. They were not to waste their time in idle conversation or visiting with those they might meet. Rather, they were to remember that they had been given work to do for the Lord, and they were to do it. When the Lord Jesus was only twelve years old, He said to His parents, “Wist ye not [do you not know] that I must be about My Father’s business”?

It should be the same with us. God has a work for each of us to do in this world, and we should be careful not to waste our time, but rather to do what the Lord has entrusted to us.

“Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things” (Proverbs 28:5).

Everyone in this world has a conscience that enables us to know right from wrong. However, our conscience is like our eyes; we need light for them to work properly. A good pair of eyes does not help us in a very dark room, and if our conscience is not guided by the Word of God, we will not understand right and wrong properly. Now that many people in Western countries have given up the Bible, they do not have a proper sense of right and wrong, and sometimes seem to lack common sense.

Man cannot live rightly without his Creator, and only those who know the Lord, and read His Word, can have a right sense of right and wrong. That is why we see so many wrong judgments being made in this world, and why men seem so unable to think properly. It is because their consciences are not enlightened by God’s Word.

“He that is least among you, the same shall be great” (Luke 9:48).

We saw yesterday that is wrong for us to want to “be somebody;” that is, we should not want to be somebody important. Here in our verse today the Lord Jesus tells us how to be truly great. True greatness lies in being the least among others, for then we become more like the Lord Jesus.

The Lord Jesus was the only man who had a right to be great, for He is the Son of God. He created this world, and upholds “all things by the word of His power.” (See if you can find the reference for this verse too.) But He voluntarily took the lowest place in this world, and went all the way to Calvary’s cross.

If you think for a moment about those Christians whom you like and admire the most, are they proud people who want to be important? No, they are almost surely those who take a low place, and who want to serve the Lord, and serve others.