A great Scotch poet said:
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land."
To love the world you have to know how to love your own part of it.
And so in order to tell the world of our loyalty to Christ, we need to fasten down to the church that stands for Christ.
To have a sort of general love for God without helping to spread His cause will soon result in the loss of your love for God.
Take away the church for ten years, and you would not want to live in your town after.
And then it is a fine thing to put the church uniform on as early as possible. It is not fair to live your life for yourself and your own pleasures until you get too old for them, and then bring what is left and offer it to God.
In the Old Testament days it was the unblemished lamb that was asked for; and, dear girls and boys, God wants you now, in the days of your youth. The church needs your fresh, bright young lives. The future so big with promise needs strength and vigour, and you have it. Therefore, do not stand off, but line up soon, and then you will have a long life of service, and not a poor little meagre piece at the end.
The sooner you become an out-and-out worker for Jesus, the more you will be able to help Him. There is no life sadder than to have to go out at the end with no record of service.
A young man, dying, had given himself to God but seemed sad and troubled, and they asked him what was the matter, had he lost his trust? "Oh, no," he said, "not that, but I have to go and meet Jesus with empty hands!"