Plea for the Young

Because the word for overseer, "elder," serves as a term for the aged in our society, there is a natural compulsion to feel that those who are older are to be the examples worth following.  Although this may be true, being of youth or youthful is no excuse for not pursuing righteousness and living as salt and light in the world.  Simply put, this means that those who are young need to live as examples with just as much fervor and intent as those who are older.

Strangely enough, Scripture offers multiple examples pointing to young people being used for great things.  The first example is David, a teenage shepherd boy who was used by God to defeat the mightiest Philistine champion to the envy of Saul, the king who should have done the job.  Merely a young boy, David, was chosen by God to be the greatest king in Israel's history.

Or consider Jeremiah, a young boy when he was called to by the Lord to prophecy judgement over Jerusalem and all of Israel.  Although he was but a boy, he was called to be the voice of God for all of Israel, one of the greatest prophets in Israelite history.  Clearly, youth is not a hindrance to doing the will of God.

Or consider Timothy, Paul's son in Christ (1 Tim. 1:2).  Although Scripture does not clearly specify the age of Timothy but it is certain that he is Paul's junior and that Timothy was considered a youth at whatever ministry setting he was in.  However, Paul was clear that Timothy should not be hindered by his youth but should strive to be an example for the older generation, devoting himself to public reading of Scripture, and to teaching (1 Tim. 4:12-14).

The point is that youth, though often neglected by the older folk, is not any reason to not live the life God requires of us.  The truth is, although youth and youthfulness can be an excuse to delay growing in devotion, we should not let ourselves off the hook so easily.  Instead, we should be just as fervent in our pursuit of growth as older people.

In truth, if we who are younger desire to become leaders who are wise and faithful, we should take the quest after Christ seriously throughout our youth as to grow like plants into flowering fruition in His due time, not hindered by our own flesh-seeking procrastination.  Let us then press into Him as to be the people, young and old, that God wants us to be!