“For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.” - 2 Chronicles 34v3
Way back in secondary school in 1973 I entered a speech competition in Alabama and did quite well! The topic for the speech was “The Golden Opportunities of Youth” I don’t remember the speech, but I do remember that I used examples of youth through history to demonstrate the opportunities youth had in those heady days.
Today I would surely include King Josiah in that list of examples. King at eight, he began following the Lord at sixteen, and at twenty he began making major changes in the kingdom to reverse what the previous king had done.
Youth is a prime time to serve the Lord. “Remember now your Creator in the years of your youth,” is a clear admonition to all young people. Young Christians today have a golden opportunity to serve the Lord. There are not many takers for the position of Godly Young Person. The church., today more than ever needs some Josiahs in its midst. We are never more capable of serving the Lord than when we are young. Those who are young should stand up and say, “I want to be a Josiah!”
Those of us who are no longer young have a job to do as well. When we see a potential Josiah who wants to serve the Lord it is our job to do whatever we can to encourage and assist them along the way.
May God give us Josiahs in 2006 and may he remind us who are older of the golden opportunities of youth.
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