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A Message to Youth, July 29
I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the
word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
1 John 2:14
.
The children and youth, with their fresh talent, energy, and courage,
their quick susceptibilities, are loved of God, and He desires to bring them
into harmony with divine agencies....
Our children stand, as it were, at the parting of the ways. On every
hand the world’s enticements to self-seeking and self-indulgence call them
away from the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord. Whether their
lives shall be a blessing or a curse depends upon the choice they make....
They belong to Christ. They are the purchase of His blood, the claim of
His love. They live because He keeps them by His power. Their time,
their strength, their capabilities, are His, to be developed, to be trained, to
be used for Him....
Young men and young women, gather a stock of knowledge.... Keep
reaching higher and still higher. It is the ability to put to the tax the
powers of mind and body, ever keeping eternal realities in view, that is of
value now. Seek the Lord most earnestly, that you may become more and
more refined, more spiritually cultured. Then you will have the very best
diploma that any one can have—the endorsement of God.
However large, however small, your talents, remember that what you
have is yours only in trust. Thus God is testing you, giving you opportunity
to prove yourself true.... To Him belong your powers of body, mind, and
soul, and for Him these powers are to be used. Your time, your influence,
your capabilities, your skill—all must be accounted for to Him who gives
all....
With such an army of workers as our youth rightly trained might
furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming
Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end
come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin! How soon, in place of a
possession here, with its blight of sin and pain, our children might receive
their inheritance where “the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell
therein for ever” (
Psalm 37:29
).
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