Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Rejoice in and Remember Your Creator While Young
Latha Thomas
Phoenix MTC, AZ
9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your
heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart
and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring
you into judgment.
In this passage God is teaching
us to enjoy and live life that is pleasing to God. It starts with light from
sun which is the central source of light & heat energy. With light we can
see and appreciate God’s creation, walk in light without stumbling and enjoy
the light from the sun. In spiritual sense, God is light who is the central
source of spiritual energy for a Christian life. The worldly light maybe
sweet and lead to a life of comfort and prosperity. But the light of grace
flowing from the sun of righteousness provides us a life of comfort and peace
even in adverse situations. He is also a light shining in the darkness of a
person’s life, showing the imperfections and sins so that he can repent and
come to the throne of grace. With God in our life, our days will be sweet and
life is enjoyable.
The passage also warns about darkness. In worldly sense, our life
is filled with happiness and sadness. There will be troubles and tribulation in
an adult’s life. But the thought of tribulation should not lead us to hopeless,
cheerless situation, but rather enjoy the blessings that we currently receive,
making the best of life to be content and happy. God expects us to rejoice in
life because His divine providence is sufficient in this world and we have a hope
of eternal glory and happiness where there are no more tears. For an ungodly
person, the days of darkness are filled with despair and hopelessness.
Eventually this leads to eternal death and all the joys of his youth are
vanity. But for a child of God, the spiritual light will lead him through the
darkness and Jesus will carry him through the darkness when the burden is
heavy.There is a special exhortation to young people to rejoice in youth, but to be careful that it is not marred with stains of sins. The passage ends with the advice to remove anxiety from our heart and cast off the troubles to our body. Don’t fall into worldly temptations that influence evil sinful thoughts and actions because God’s judgment day is coming. He will judge both the young and the old based on the transitory life in this world. Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to see who he can devour. Let us not fall under the clutches of sin. If we do, turn back quickly so that God in his mercy & grace will forgive our sins. One day we all will be standing in the judgment and our life being accounted for both good and evil. A constant reminder of this should influence our conduct so that we restrain from acts of shame and pain. Let us lead a life with God that is worthy to be counted on the judgment day.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to live a life that is
pleasing to you. Thank you for your everlasting mercy and compassion that will
enable me to come to you and ask for forgiveness if I fall down. Let every
thought that I have, the words that I speak and the deeds that I do, be worthy
to be accounted on the judgement day.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Every day is a blessing and meant to be rejoiced and lived with Jesus.
Every day is a blessing and meant to be rejoiced and lived with Jesus.