Dear Brothers and Sisters:
My thoughts today turn to our young people. We are all finding this time of isolation very challenging, but for the youths it is painfully so. But how they may be ever-victorious by the grace of God. May we ever remember:
A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. (Proverbs 10:1 KJV)
EL hijo sabio alegra al padre; Y el hijo necio es tristeza de su madre. (Proverbios 10:1 SRV)
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. (2 Timothy 2:22-23 KJV)
Huye también los deseos juveniles; y sigue la justicia, la fe, la caridad, la paz, con los que invocan al Señor de puro corazón. Empero las cuestiones necias y sin sabiduría desecha, sabiendo que engendran contiendas. (2 Timoteo 2:22-23 SRV)
At times, what a young person pursues can be so elusive. A boy who dwelled in the mountains was fascinated by a house on the opposite side of the valley. Each evening its windows were sheets of shining gold. Unable to resist the temptation, he made his way across the valley toward the house. But the path was rough and in exhaustion he lay down and slept.
Early the next morning he hurried to the house. Instead of sheets of gold, the windows were but ordinary glass. Disappointed and bitter, he turned toward home, then stopped in surprise. Across the valley, the house he lived in was a-gleam with windows of gold.
God’s Word must be shared with the children.
There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. (Joshua 8:35 KJV)
No hubo palabra alguna de todas las cosas que mandó Moisés, que Josué no hiciese leer delante de toda la congregación de Israel, mujeres y niños, y extranjeros que andaban entre ellos. (Josué 8:35 SRV)
“God’s invitation comes to each youth, "My son, give Me thine heart; I will keep it pure; I will satisfy its longings with true happiness." God loves to make the youth happy, and that is why He would have them give their hearts into His keeping, that all the God-given faculties of the being may be kept in a vigorous, healthful condition. They are holding God's gift of life. He makes the heart beat; He gives strength to every faculty.” {Adventist Home, 497}
“Amid the perils of these last days, the only safety of the youth lies in ever-increasing watchfulness and prayer. The youth who finds his joy in reading the Word of God, and in the hour of prayer, will be constantly refreshed by drafts from the fountain of life. He will attain a height of moral excellence and a breadth of thought of which others cannot conceive. Communion with God encourages good thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, and lofty purposes of action. Those who thus connect themselves with God are acknowledged by Him as His sons and daughters. They are constantly reaching higher and still higher, obtaining clearer views of God and of eternity, until the Lord makes them channels of light and wisdom to the world.” {Sons and Daughters of God, 136}
“I would that all the young could understand how precious is the offering of a youthful heart to God. How lovingly the angels guard the steps of God-fearing, God-loving youth. Jesus knows them by name, and their example is helping other youth to do right. The youth who has hidden within the heart and mind a store of God's words of caution and encouragement, of His precious pearls of promise, from which he can draw at any time, will be a living channel of light. He has connection with the Source of all light.” {My Life Today, 160}
“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest.” {Steps to Christ, 100}
Pastor Richard Parent