I've just been really burdened for the youth, specifically for the youth that I lead at our church but the youth in general. Not that they are bad kids by any stretch of the imagination but man I just remember growing up all of the junk out there throughout my high school years. The temptations are just so strong to drink, party and do just all of the stuff that the rest of the "cool" teenagers do. The temptations just keep coming like waves on a sandy beach, they just keep crashing against the shore of our lives and they keep coming and they do not stop. Once one goes away and we think we are in the clear, here comes another one crashing in.
And man they can just take a toll and the easy way out would be to just float in the ocean and let the waves carry us where they will instead of fighting against them.But the thing is, when we do that, when we let the waves carry us where they will, it will lead to our death by drowning for when "sin has fully conceived it brings forth death."
Man I just want to get this point across to the teens of our youth group and to really all teens out there, "resist the Devil and he WILL flee from you". Sin will lead to death, it is a certainty. There is no other outcome for sin other than death. You can't dabble in sin and expect everything to turn out OK. It won't. It will lead to death in one way or another. It may have its pleasure for a little while but in the end, it WILL lead to death.
The Devil is a roaring lion seeking someone to desire and I think his favorite targets are teenagers because they can be so impressionable. They desire to fit in, they long to be popular, they yearn to be loved and they are willing to do things that they wouldn't normally do or things that they know they should avoid in order to obtain a certain status that they aspire to. The Devil just feeds on that by enticing them with sins that seem like they will make them popular and make them feel good and once he gets them in his trap by luring him with something small, he continues to lead them down the slippery, subtle slope.
Man I want the teenagers of this generation to set a new path. I want the teenagers of our youth group to set a new standard for teenagers. I want them so bad to fight against the Devil. I want them so bad to just form an army where they use the Word of God as their weapon of choice to combat the Devil and to show Him that they will not back down and they will not give into his enticement of sin because they know that they have a better reward in heaven than He could ever offer here in this life.
I just want our teenagers to be a light in this dark world. I want them to just shine that light and that their friends would be drawn to God by their light and they would "see their good works and give glory to the Father who is in heaven".
I don't want them to settle for a life of mediocre Christianity in which they tip toe the fine line between sin and obedience. I want them to be so far on the side of obedience that they can't even see that fine line and when they do get a glimpse of it from the Devil, they run the other way because they don't want to even come close to thinking about sinning against the one who sent His only Son to die so that they could have his perfection placed upon them.
I so bad want our teenagers to set "an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." I want other older Christians look at them and their obedience and their unwavering dedication to the Bible and their undying love for their God and look up to them and to aspire to be like them.
