“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them”.
— Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Message
One thing very common to most people, especially the youth, is the inability to reflect deeply about the possible outcome of many of the decisions and actions they take. This is even more pronounced during festive periods. At such times, youths tend to throw caution to the wind as they give themselves to unrestrained pleasures. Recently, there was a report of four young secondary school leavers who got drowned at Elegushi Beach, Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria while trying to celebrate the end of their secondary school final examinations. Every year, we keep having records of such tragedies marking similar celebrations like birthdays, graduation parties and even valentine day which today is noted for. Those who fall victims of these tragic incidences never imagined that such supposed moments of joy and celebrations will result in their tragic end.
Our passage today is a direct call to the youths to be more reflective about their lives and actions. The Preacher urges them to see this time of their youthful age as the best time to remember their Creator and surrender their lives to Him. He cautions them against pushing that decision forward till it becomes practically too late to take the decision any more as death would have come and forever end every opportunity of getting right with God. A life lived in pleasure without God is vain.
There is no better time to draw our young people to the Lord than now. Today is the real day everyone actually has assurance and guarantee over. In fact, whatever will happen at the very next moment is not within the control of anyone. It is for this reason that it is considered foolish for anyone to gamble with his life and opportunity which today presents. Young people must quit the idea that youthful age is supposed to be a period for pleasure. It is foolhardy to hope to get reconciled with God later in one’s life after one has passed the youthful age. There is no time better than now!
Are you already caught in the euphoria of the lustful and sinful activities that mostly characterise today? What if today is to be your very last here on earth; how prepared are you to face God? The real day to mark is the day you get reconciled with your Creator. Why not make today that day!
Thought for the day
A life lived in pleasure without God is a wasted life.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
