The Permanency of Youth

by Harold Carswell, Jr.
 

This article is about young who are accountable for their actions.

Youth can be a wonderful time of discovery. Good as well as bad things can occur during these years which can have lasting effects as well as everlasting effects. There are still things from my youth that I wish would have never have happened and some things that I am glad did happen. We must however be mindful of the fact that youthfulness can be very deceptive...

Youth can cloud our standard of time. Young people are often told that they have their whole lifetime to make advances to maturity or to fulfill desired accomplishments. However how many older people look back at the former years and don’t know where the time went. The Scriptures teach us that we must not be deceived by the probability of time. First of all, time is not a guarantee for anyone. We don’t hold time in our hands and control it according to our plans. Life is not as long as one may think.

“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14)

You see life is neither long nor guaranteed. This is an important truth to posses, for the simple reason that we must utilize that time that we have. Christians hopefully understand that there is no time to waste in service to the Lord. We cannot afford to be deceived by the prospect of time. We are to utilize our time wisely by “taking, possessing, and laying hold of the time that we have to serve God. There is no time for foolishness and folly, our time must be redeemed (Eph 5:15-19). We cannot afford to waste our time in wantonness and excess, thinking we have time to get serious later (Romans 13:10-14). Perhaps our view of time is not from a Biblical perspective. How many times do the Scriptures remind us of how man’s perception of time is not that of God (Psalms 90:10; 2 Peter 3:8). The Psalmist (Moses) teaches that time must be spent serving the Lord and not ourselves (Psalm 90:1-12).

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”  (Psalm 90:12)

Young people must not let youth cloud their discernment of time and older Christians must stop giving them the impression that the have all the time in the world to get serious about God. By the way, how much time is all the time in the world?

Youth also distorts ones concept of accountability. Now we all understand I’m sure that with maturity comes accountability. The older we get the more accountable we become. This is understood not only from a Biblical standpoint but also from a secular one as well. It is because of this, that there are juvenile courts and adult courts in our country. However it must also be understood, that as spiritual growth and maturity develops so does ones spiritual accountability. No matter what level of spiritual maturity a person finds themselves, accountability is required at that level. It is my belief that youthfulness is passed of as an excuse for unaccountability as well as irresponsibility. Parents are especially guilty of this as they make excuses for their children based on their age and/or level of maturity. It is interesting to note that these excuses can go even into youthful adulthood as if young Christians have no sin or are incapable of committing sin because they are young.

When did the expectations for faithfulness change? There are several examples of youthful faithfulness in the pages of truth. Great courage, dedication, and zeal have been revealed by God of faithful young people, Joseph, David, Daniel, and Timothy, just to name a few. Young people should be expected to be faithful and faithfulness is to be required of them. So many parents have forgotten the fact that youth is not and excuse for unfaithfulness! They make excuses for their own children and do not take the necessary actions when their children are in sin and simply making unwise and unsound decisions. Eli was one who did not take the necessary actions regarding his children which cost them not only their lives and souls but also caused the children of Israel to sin as well as, causing dishonor to the holy name of God (1 Samuel 2:12-25). Youth does not give one a license to sin. As older Christians we should not only require faithfulness of our young brothers and sisters but also help guide them in making sound decisions that are conducive to their spiritual well being and growth! Solomon tells us that young people will be held accountable for the decisions that they make in life...

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.”  (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

Youth is time for serving God and not a time to enjoy the fruits of sin or folly. There will come a time when ones ability to serve God will be limited and full of obstacles and that youth is the opportune time for service to God (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7). Of course, this is not to say that service in our older years is not demanded nor beneficial (Titus 2:1-5) but it is saying that youth is invaluable. We must all remember what this life is all about...

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Decisions made in youth can have lasting and everlasting rewards or consequences!

 

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