Hey, young people…Enjoy life! Live it up while you’re young! Do whatever your heart leads you to do. Do whatever you want! But….
I am a mother of more than one teen. Heck, I remember my teen and young adult life years. In their minds, teens know all and can do all. Teens are invincible, right?
I even remember others encouraging me to “Live it up while you’re young!” “Do whatever your heart leads you to do.” “Do whatever you want!” What’s the saying now, “YOLO” (You Only Live Once). But their context was totally different than where these statements originally came from.
In Ecclesiastes 11:8-10 we read:
- 8 You should enjoy every day of your life, no matter how long you live. 9 So young people, enjoy yourselves while you are young. Be happy. Do whatever your heart leads you to do. Do whatever you want, but remember that God will judge you for everything you do. 10 Don’t let your anger control you, and don’t let your body lead you to sin. People do foolish things in the dawn of life while they are young.
Eerrt! Put the brakes on. Did you see that little word in there? But. That’s the kicker. Do all this, BUT remember that God will judge you for everything you do.
This little word is not meant to deflate your fun bubble, but to help make you wise.
Years ago, I discovered something about Psalms 34:7, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Allow me to explain my discovery while bridging it with Ecclesiastes 11:9. The discovery is…when we delight ourselves in God and live for Him, we realize that we “enjoy ourselves, are truly happy, and do whatever our hearts leads us to do” because we find that He (God, The Almighty, The Creator of us all) is what we “want”!
So, when we read the little word “but”, we are not frightened of God’s judgment that will occur if we are delighting in and living for Him.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 continues in reminding us of a few things about living our life:
- 13-14 Now, what should we learn from everything that is written in this book? The most important thing a person can do is to respect God and obey his commands, because he knows about everything people do—even the secret things. He knows about all the good and all the bad, and he will judge people for everything they do.
So remember…God is omnipresent and omnipotent. He knows all and sees all. You can’t hide your living from God, so live it right.
Live your life? Yes!!! Live it for Him.
YOLO, here on earth. But if you are a Christian, you will live an eternity with Him!
Blessings and God’s abundant love to y’all.
September 16