Ecclesiastes 11:9 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 them into judgement.
Oh Friends, those are words we should ensure that our young people hear and understand, even some of us old folks too, since it’s never too late to learn. (smile) They are words of wisdom from Solomon bearing good advice, particularly to those just beginning life’s rocky journey. Many will read it and believe it gives them free rein to do whatever they want: ‘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 unfortunately people, it doesn’t. It’s really a warning not to display too many hedonistic tendencies, cause we’re going to pay for them sooner or later; ‘but know thou, that for all these things God will bring them into judgement.’ That’s gospel my Friends! But as young people we’re full of vim and vigour, feel we know everything and are mightily attracted to the bright lights and all the glittering, shiny toys available in the world of the flesh. We possess the endless confidence gifted to the young, feel we’ll never die, and can move mountains simply because of the strength of our youthful days. However parents, it’s our solemn duty to warn them of the many perils and pitfalls that lie ahead, so that they don’t get in over their heads. And sadly, that’s so easy to do nowadays; what with the endearing but guileful and wicked ways of our world, especially for the more gullible young. We just have to look around at the many examples of young people who come from a cloistered upbringing or a country district to the bright lights of the city. Wow! All the hoopla and false excitement just boggles their young, inexperienced minds and sets them adrift on a hedonistic path right away, unless they’re lucky to have mature guidance, or are mature enough themselves, to pick sense from nonsense in our, evil, deceitful, greedy world. And why do you think there are fringes and ribbons on garments eh? It began because ‘the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring.’ (Num.15:37-39) Yes Lord, tell them! We often think that the Lord doesn’t know what He’s doing, forgetting who’s the Creator and the created, but please remember my Friends, that there’s always method to the Lord’s madness. He never does anything just for the sake of doing it. There’s always a good purpose or reason, and it’s always for our benefit, not His. He doesn’t need anything but our obedience, but He knows that with our freedom of choice, our natural tendency is towards disobedience, doing whatever we want, without any thought to the possible consequences, that’s why He gives us rules and regulations. Maybe we should just go back to wearing clothes with fringes and blue ribbons since we need to be reminded too often of the ungodly things we desire to do. Listen to Sol’s earlier statement. ‘And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.’ (Eccl.2:10-11) Oh my brethren, let’s learn from Sol’s mistakes nuh! The best way to learn is from the mistakes of others. Sol had it all; wine women and song, money, artistic pleasure and fame. You name it; if it could be had, Sol had it. But what happened? It failed to bring him lasting satisfaction. And he was reputed to be the wisest man ever. Yet, thousands of years later, we’re still doing the same thing; trying to get lasting joy and pleasure from our own pursuits. When will we learn eh Friends? The only way to derive lasting pleasure and satisfaction is by being obedient to the will of God; walking in His footsteps, big though they may be, and being guided by His gentle hands along life’s beguiling but treacherous pathway. Instead, this should be our concern. ‘But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.’ (Ps.103:17-18) Oh my people, it’s all for the children’s sake. Let’s talk to them, teach them the truth of God’s Word. Better yet, let’s live it; show them by our example, for it’s true ‘that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.’ They will be more inclined to listen and follow if they see us walking our talk. If we don’t do that my brethren, it’ll be sad day for us all. ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.’ (Eccl.12:14) So for all our sakes, especially for future generations, let’s teach the children right nuh. It’s our mandate. Much LOVE!…suffer the children…to come unto me…forbid them not…
Oh Friends, those are words we should ensure that our young people hear and understand, even some of us old folks too, since it’s never too late to learn. (smile) They are words of wisdom from Solomon bearing good advice, particularly to those just beginning life’s rocky journey. Many will read it and believe it gives them free rein to do whatever they want: ‘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 unfortunately people, it doesn’t. It’s really a warning not to display too many hedonistic tendencies, cause we’re going to pay for them sooner or later; ‘but know thou, that for all these things God will bring them into judgement.’ That’s gospel my Friends! But as young people we’re full of vim and vigour, feel we know everything and are mightily attracted to the bright lights and all the glittering, shiny toys available in the world of the flesh. We possess the endless confidence gifted to the young, feel we’ll never die, and can move mountains simply because of the strength of our youthful days. However parents, it’s our solemn duty to warn them of the many perils and pitfalls that lie ahead, so that they don’t get in over their heads. And sadly, that’s so easy to do nowadays; what with the endearing but guileful and wicked ways of our world, especially for the more gullible young. We just have to look around at the many examples of young people who come from a cloistered upbringing or a country district to the bright lights of the city. Wow! All the hoopla and false excitement just boggles their young, inexperienced minds and sets them adrift on a hedonistic path right away, unless they’re lucky to have mature guidance, or are mature enough themselves, to pick sense from nonsense in our, evil, deceitful, greedy world. And why do you think there are fringes and ribbons on garments eh? It began because ‘the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring.’ (Num.15:37-39) Yes Lord, tell them! We often think that the Lord doesn’t know what He’s doing, forgetting who’s the Creator and the created, but please remember my Friends, that there’s always method to the Lord’s madness. He never does anything just for the sake of doing it. There’s always a good purpose or reason, and it’s always for our benefit, not His. He doesn’t need anything but our obedience, but He knows that with our freedom of choice, our natural tendency is towards disobedience, doing whatever we want, without any thought to the possible consequences, that’s why He gives us rules and regulations. Maybe we should just go back to wearing clothes with fringes and blue ribbons since we need to be reminded too often of the ungodly things we desire to do. Listen to Sol’s earlier statement. ‘And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.’ (Eccl.2:10-11) Oh my brethren, let’s learn from Sol’s mistakes nuh! The best way to learn is from the mistakes of others. Sol had it all; wine women and song, money, artistic pleasure and fame. You name it; if it could be had, Sol had it. But what happened? It failed to bring him lasting satisfaction. And he was reputed to be the wisest man ever. Yet, thousands of years later, we’re still doing the same thing; trying to get lasting joy and pleasure from our own pursuits. When will we learn eh Friends? The only way to derive lasting pleasure and satisfaction is by being obedient to the will of God; walking in His footsteps, big though they may be, and being guided by His gentle hands along life’s beguiling but treacherous pathway. Instead, this should be our concern. ‘But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.’ (Ps.103:17-18) Oh my people, it’s all for the children’s sake. Let’s talk to them, teach them the truth of God’s Word. Better yet, let’s live it; show them by our example, for it’s true ‘that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.’ They will be more inclined to listen and follow if they see us walking our talk. If we don’t do that my brethren, it’ll be sad day for us all. ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.’ (Eccl.12:14) So for all our sakes, especially for future generations, let’s teach the children right nuh. It’s our mandate. Much LOVE!…suffer the children…to come unto me…forbid them not…
SCRIP-BITS 