Young People’s Blog

“To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you” (2 Corinthians 10:16).

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2).

The Apostle Paul felt the urgency of preaching the gospel. For him, he had before him regions that had never heard the gospel before. In his day, most of the world worshiped idols, and he wanted them all to hear about Christ and His great salvation. He preached the gospel in Asia, and then carried it to Europe.

For you and me today, we need to remember to use every available opportunity, as our verse in 2nd Timothy tells us. We may be called to go to some foreign land for there is still a need for that kind of preaching today. But it may also be simply to look for another chance to tell someone about Christ. The time is short, and the Lord’s coming is near.

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

In our verse for today, we have another encouragement to help others, and this time it concerns our money. The Apostle Paul had been encouraging the believers in Corinthians to give something to help out those in Judea, who were experiencing a shortage of food.

After giving them some instruction in this kind of giving, he ends up by reminding them of God’s gift—a gift that he calls “unspeakable.” This word means something that is indescribable, and it is the only time this word is used in the New Testament.

Truly, the gift of the Lord Jesus is indescribable; it is a gift that we cannot measure, for God gave the most precious thing He could give—His only Son. When we think of God’s gift, how little our gifts seem in comparison! Yet the Lord appreciates the response of our hearts, and it is not the amount that we give, but the love of our hearts that really counts.

“For which cause we faint not…while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16,18).

Here is one final reason not to faint, and again, it is the same word in Greek as we had on October 18th. It is true that sometimes the problems we have in this life seem to be so big that we think we cannot handle them. However, the Lord wants us to go to Him, for He will give us the strength to handle those problems. He has allowed them in our life, and He knows just what He is doing.

As we see in our second verse today, the Lord wants to direct our eyes to the things which we can see only by faith. Everything in this world is temporal; it will eventually come to an end, even our problems. But there are things that are eternal, and the Lord wants us to look at them. We can get so taken up with things in this world, and forget that what really matters are those eternal things. When we think about those things, the problems in this world seem quite small.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

It is a real privilege to help other people, and particularly other Christians, when they are in trouble. However, there are times when others may seem to need a lot of help, and perhaps we sometimes feel that they could do a little more to help themselves. Even when we are young, we may find that there are those who always seem to be in difficulty, and needing help. It is easy to become weary of helping them.

The word used here for “weary” is the same word in Greek as we had yesterday for “faint.” It means to lose heart, to become discouraged. But the Lord tells us not to become weary in well doing, for He will reward us in a coming day. There will always be those in this world who seem unable to manage their own lives properly, and who need more help. But the Lord loves them, and if He has given us the strength to help them, let us be thankful, and not faint.

“And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).

The word that is translated “faint” in this verse has the thought of becoming discouraged, or losing heart. It is used several other times in the New Testament, and in each case we are told not to faint, or not to become weary in doing what is right.

All of us can encounter real difficulties in our Christian pathway, and especially because we are following our Lord Jesus, who was rejected by this world. When we are having problems, Satan may whisper to us that we should just quit, and not carry on faithfully for the Lord. But our verse today, from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself, tells us always to pray, and not to faint.

When we pray, we acknowledge our dependence on the Lord, and we ask for His help. He will give us the strength for whatever He sends into our lives, and enable us to live for His glory in this world.

“If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 JND).

I was born during the latter part of World War II, and I can remember that many people came to Canada from Europe right after the war. Most of them had known only war and bloodshed for a number of years, and some came from countries where the governments had been very harsh and oppressive. They were glad to come to a land where there was freedom and an easier life.

After living here for some years, many became Canadian citizens, and then they were no longer citizens of the country where they had been born. They called themselves Canadians after that, and often did not want to refer to their original citizenship.

You and I are like that as Christians. We now have a new life and are a new creation. We do not belong to this world anymore; we belong to Christ. We are heavenly citizens, and as we saw yesterday, we are now fitted to go back into this world as ambassadors. Only those who have new life in Christ can do this.

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

It is a great honor to be an ambassador, but also a big responsibility. What are ambassadors? They are people who are sent out to represent one country in another country. It involves living in that foreign country, and acting in the home country’s interests over there. An ambassador is expected to take a real interest in the affairs of the country to which he is sent, and especially as those affairs affect relations between the two countries. He is also expected to act in a sober, proper, and respectful way, so as to represent his home country in a good light.

As Christians, we are also ambassadors in this world. We belong to heaven, but God has sent us back into this world to bring the gospel to those who are not saved, as we see in our verse for today. But to be able to do this, we must take an interest in the people in this world, and we must also act in a proper way, so that we represent Christ to them. Are you and I willing to take on this responsibility?

“All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field…the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:6,8).

God has given us beauty in His creation for us to enjoy, but from our verse today, we see that it is all temporary. Even trees, which sometimes live for hundreds of years, eventually get old and die. I remember the sad feeling I had when a large elm tree on the farm where I lived, probably over 100 years old, got so-called Dutch elm disease and died. Whether it is big trees, or just the grass and flowers in the field, all of them wither and die.

You and I are like that too, in our human bodies. Those bodies get old and die. We know, of course, that our soul and spirit will live forever, for man was made for eternity, not for time. But here in our verse we are reminded that something else will stand forever—the Word of God. We can rest on His Word, for it will never fail, nor does it ever need to be changed or replaced.

“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?… But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:1,3).

The Lord Jesus was forsaken by God on Calvary’s cross, and at the end of the three hours of darkness, He cried out to God what is written in our first verse today—“Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” He felt it very much that God had forsaken Him, although He knew that it was necessary.

But why did God forsake Him? We get the answer in verse 3—“But Thou are holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” God is a holy God, and He cannot look upon sin. When our blessed Lord Jesus was “made sin” for us, God had to turn His face away from His beloved Son.

You and I cannot imagine what this meant to the Lord Jesus, for He had known only happy fellowship with God from a past eternity. Yet He endured it all, not only for our sakes, but to settle the matter of sin for all eternity. How grateful we should be for all this!

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

At this time of year, where I live in Canada, the leaves of deciduous trees change color before they fall off. We have a large number of maple and oak trees, as well as many others, and the mixture of reds, browns, and yellows are quite impressive. Some people make a special trip at this time, just to see the fall colors.

I have sometimes thought of how many of those beautiful trees are in remote areas seldom seen by human eyes, yet there they are in all their beauty. Is that beauty wasted? No, for the Lord Himself enjoys the beauty of His creation. Even if no one else sees the beauty He has created, the Lord Himself takes pleasure in it.