Jesus doesn’t limit you because of your youthfulness. If you are ready to follow Him now, He won’t keep you in a waiting room until later. Your characterization at this stage of life is a human invention, anyway, and a fairly recent one at that. Did you know that the term “teenager” wasn’t in the dictionary until the 1940s? That time is far removed, but it’s not that ancient, considering the overall timeline. Why was it not a word? Because it wasn’t needed. There wasn’t an intermediate stage of life that prevented young people from maturing into responsible adults.
At that time, once you started coming of age, people started expecting much more. The word originated from companies that wanted to make money off that generation by marketing products in such a way that they felt the need to get them. During the Great Depression, everyone had to step up and help out. As society recovered, the economy saw a great incentive to make money by targeting these newly coined “teenagers” with products they would see as necessary to fit in with those around them. The term became popular so that anyone your age would go along with the crowd rather than stand out among it.
Don’t settle for mediocrity with a prolonged period of development from childhood to adulthood. Why wait to do something great when God has used people your age many times before?
- Joseph was seventeen years old (Gen. 37:2) when God began revealing future events for which he needed to prepare.
- Miriam was not even old enough for the youth group yet when she diligently watched over her baby brother Moses and brilliantly created a plan while talking to a member of the intimidating royal family (Exod. 2:4-7).
- Samuel was a boy when God called him into service (1 Sam. 3:8).
- David’s father might have thought that his son’s young age kept him from being considered for something important (1 Sam. 16:11), but God thought he was just right for the job (1 Sam. 16:7).
- When God enlisted a prophet to preach to His people at one of the most pivotal times in history, would you be surprised to discover that it was Jeremiah while he was still a youth (Jer. 1:6)?
That’s a sampling of young people that God used throughout Scripture, but there are more. Even after the time of the biblical narrative, young men and women have been trailblazers for the cause of Christ throughout history and all over the world. God doesn’t want you to wait to be passionate about His cause. You might grow up inactive and believe that to be the norm. What a shame that would be! Even if the peers around you or the authority figures before you remain spiritually lazy, that doesn’t have to be your standard. Jesus is too great and glorious to follow halfway.
Being young isn’t an excuse to sit back and wait; God has always used biblical examples to show that age is no barrier to His purposes. Jesus isn’t expecting you to grow up before He will send you out.
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