These days my heart beats because of the path of life our youths are towing. I guess we saw the video of that young boy who was stripped naked and molested by his fellow youths and the aftermath of the young boy. It is so sad how the enemy targets those whose destinies are great. Satan derives joy by driving youths to join gangs, cults and dangerous groups that look good from the outside but evil in the inside. The aim of these gangs and cults is to show superiority, and to colonise certain areas. Why are these youths going down the road of destruction – because they lack morals and most times we parents don’t start on time to teach them the word of God, and also we don’t show them example by the way we live which is the primary way children learn. The Psalmist’s experience are of great use for our direction, caution, and encouragement.
Just like in the Garden of Eden a choice was given to man ….Life and Death (Genesis 2:9). Just like in the time of Joshua, he told them to choose which god to serve…. the Living God or the gods of the Euphrates (Joshua 24:15). To us who are living today – Is it righteousness or wickedness? The end of the righteous is growth, satisfaction and ending well. But the wicked is doom. So if you are a Christian and you are not fruitful be it in thirties, sixties or hundreds then it is an error.
It’s amazing how the writer of the above Psalm started by giving man the choice to choose how to end; whether to end well or not. Is this not a reminder of what happened in the Garden of Eden in the First Book of the Bible (Genesis 2:9) and also in the Sixth Book (Joshua 24:15). Today we are called to choose peace and shun every form of terrorism. If I may ask, how can peace be with us or come into our lives/nation when we reject the Prince of Peace? How can a nation put away the name of the Lord of which our founding fathers believe and built the nation on by honouring Him? And we the today generation believe we shall have peace just by mentioning it when we have already rejected Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace. O yes! We may not want to say it because many people are today afraid they would be rejected by the society and the class they belong to (mostly in the Western world), but I tell you when the heathen rage and plot against the Holy One the only thing they would get is terror.
When men and nations scoff at the things of God be sure to what you are asking for, what you are saying is that we don’t want joy, happiness of one another and peace in our lives and nation. By mere looking around you would agree with me that when a man or a nation decides to make God principles part of their lives, they shall have peace and the mind-set of the people will forever be changed.
The above Psalm also made it clear to us all especially to our own youths the kind of group you hang around, how they function and their end. The Lord desires to see our youths walk in the counsel of the godly. The character of a good man is here given by the rules he chooses to walk by, and to take his measures from. This part of his character is put first, because those that will keep the commandments of their God must say to evil-doers, “Depart from us” (Ps. 119:115), and departing from evil is that in which wisdom begins. How can a youth stay pure? By keeping watch on himself according to God’s word conforming his (youth’s) life to the Lord’s precepts (Psalm 119:9).
Social media has become the second learning institute where the youths learn all sorts, the good the bad and the ugly. Sinners must bear all the blame of their own destruction. Therefore the ungodly perish, because the very way in which they have chosen and resolved to walk leads directly to destruction; it naturally tends towards ruin and therefore must necessarily end in it. It happened that some of our youths shared their experience.
Youth 1: My name is Leo (not his real name). I thank God for saving me. I used to live two lives. A quiet one at home but a total different one at school. I was a bad boy and have friends that my dad will not be proud of. It came to a point that my parents found out about my life outside home and they were shocked. It didn’t go down well with me because my parents started restricting me from going out after school. The end of it is that I got into trouble and would have lost my life if not for the intervention by the prayers of my parents and pastor. My advice to youths is to stop living two lives and be obedient to your parents. My advice to our parents is that you must know that what your child is going through so you can be of help to him or her.
Youth 2: My name is Bee (not her real name). I want to encourage the youths to be the person they are and not try to be someone else or copy what other youths are doing because that is the way it starts. Some of us want to be friends with a popular guy or girl in school so as to feel they belong and before you know it they would be asked to do something you never thought of, and just for you to stay in their circle you go out of your way to please them and displease your parents. Be yourself, be content with what you have and remain humble.
Youth 3: My name is Bob (not his real name). I usually hang around bad boys and I always fall into trouble. This kept going on and I asked myself why I should always be a culprit even when am not there, my name would be called. Well I decided to give myself advice and came to conclusion never to follow them again. I also decided to get closer to God, and since that time I have been focused.
I thank God for the lives of these youths and pray that you follow the ways of the righteous so that you will be fruitful in life. There is a way that seems right in the eyes of a man but the end of it is destruction. Remember the testimony of these young ones and be sure to stay away from those who will mock and want to sin with you and reduce you to a mere puppet. Staying on the right path brings fulfilment, growth and success. May the Lord shield you from the wrong crowd in Jesus name……Amen!!!