“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,” (Eccl. 12:1) is the most important exhortation of the Old Testament. Remember is just the opposite of forget, and the one to remember is the most exalted and important in the universe, “thy Creator.” Remember His Word and believe it, for the promise is: “He that heareth My Word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” (John 5:24). Remember His work and accept it, for He was made to “sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21). Remember His love and return it, for “herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us,” (1 John 4:10) and “gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Remember this Creator now. Only one time is mentioned in the Scriptures at which eternal life is promised. Cowley sang of an “everlasting now,” but there is no such time, and no wise boy desires that there shall be. There is an eternity of the past, an eternity of the future, but “now” is limited to now. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2). And this—
“Opportunity lost, however deplored
Is eternity gone and is never restored.”
After the overthrow of the French empire by the Germans, Prince Napoleon joined the English army, and went among the savage tribes of South Africa. One day while with a squad of soldiers outside the camp, he was warned by one of the company, who said: “We had better return. If we don’t hasten we may fall into the hands of the enemy.” “Oh,” said the Prince, “let us stay here ten minutes and drink our coffee.” Before the ten minutes had passed a company of Zulus came upon them and in the skirmish the Prince lost his life. His mother, when informed of the facts, said, “That was his great mistake from boyhood. He never wanted to go to bed at night in time, nor to arise in the morning. He was ever pleading for ten minutes more. On this account I sometimes called him ‘Mr. Ten Minutes.’”
The habit of delay was to him what it is to thousands who pass the tenth, fifteenth and twentieth milestone without accepting Christ, his ruination. Such delay weakens the force of the will, unfits for action when opportunity presents, robs the present and blasts the future.
REASONS FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN IN YOUTH.
“If youth,” as Ruskin said, “is essentially one of formation, edification, instruction,” then is it the proper time to be a Christian, for “There’s never an hour of it but is trembling with destinies, not a moment of which, once past, the appointed work can ever be done again, or the neglected blow struck on cold iron.”
A boy should be a Christian for the sake of safety. As one grows away from boyhood, he grows away from the opportunities for salvation. He is liable to drift. There is a point on Niagara River called “Past Redemption Point,” where the current is too strong for human power to battle against. Manhood and age have no special promise like “they that seek Me early shall find Me.” (Prov. 8:17).
A boy should be a Christian that he may be happy. To properly remember God, to lose oneself in adoration of Him, is to be like Him, to be “holy as He is holy,” (1 Pet. 1:15, 16) consequently it is to be happy as He is happy. Holiness and happiness are inseparable. True love and true joy come together.
A boy should be a Christian to be useful. God’s promise to Abraham was: “I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing.” (Gen. 12:2). When Joseph dwelt in Potiphar’s house, we read: “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house, for Joseph’s sake.” (Gen. 39:5). And the boy who loves Christ will be a rich blessing in many ways to others.