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Why Are Teenagers Tired?
by John Urs "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40: 28-31 "And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead." Acts 20:9 We live very interesting times. Many times I look to the young people and they look so bored, so tired, so lifeless when it's about doing something for the Lord and for others. When I see them I go back in my past and I remember how enthusiastic I was when I met Jesus Christ. I remember how I was ready to suffer for Him to be misunderstood and considered a freak because of my Savior. Today, I see mostly the opposite and I see the old generation being more excited to live and to serve Christ. Why is that? I took the example of Eutychus and I've noticed few things that are transcending the time and culture being real characteristics of the young people. First, is the need of continuous activity. It happened then and it's happening now: teenagers are loving to do something or to see something moving all the time. They can't stand reflection and meditation: you see them with their ipods, their mp3 players, their laptops, etc. Eutychus was the same, he was very concerned with what was happening on the street and in the same time he was "listening" to the words of the apostle Paul. It was late in the night and he preferred to see the darkness from outside and the people that were chatting, playing, arguing, the children screaming and everything was so interestingmore interesting than the Word of God. Today's teenagers can't stand a longer sermon than 10 minutes and in all that time they will chat with their friends and send text messages on their cell phones. They are more preoccupied of the world than of God and His Kingdom. Second, they like the comfort. Today's teenagers needs the perfect conditions to go to school, to go to the church or to go in a mission trip. They need good food, perfect housing conditions, cool clothes, a nice bike (or a powerful car) and after that they will start considering if they will do their school assignments and go to the youth meeting. They always like the best seats and nobody deserves that but themselves. There was a time when a young person was giving the seat in a bus or train to an older person, but today that's an old story. Everything is about them, and the parents who fail to do that are not "loving them" and are "irresponsible". Eutychus looked for the best spot, not to close to the pulpit and very comfortable for a tired man like him. All he was thinking about was his comfort and rest, and maybe a little bit about listening to the apostle Paul. In a way he done an effort to be there, but he didn't try hard enough. Third, they like to live on the edges. The teenagers are pushing the things to the extremes. They want to know how far they can go without sinning. They want to know how much they can enjoy the pleasures of the world without loosing God's grace. This is a very dangerous way of thinking and they are risking to loose their spiritual life. Eutychus was leaning on the wrong side. He tried to listen what the world was talking and what the Word of God was saying in the same time. This was a bigger effort than his capacity and so it happen that he felt in the direction he was leaning. Jesus said: "Nobody can serve two masters" A life o compromise is a life of destruction, and sooner or later the one living like this will fall. I don't want to finish so pessimistic and I will say that the power of God can resurrect a fallen soul. This is the happy ending of Eutychus' story. What will be your story ending like ? John Urs-http://www.saltmin.com Feel free to print and publish this article as long as you don't modify the content and post the author and weblink. God bless you! Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |