To the young man

 There is freedom that you have now gained. You are no longer in the elementary institutions that would check your attendance, where you would be beaten for any wrong doing or punished, you have grown taller, your voice has changed and yet within lies a little boy who doesn't know what to do. You see the men around you behave in certain ways and you may or may not have seen the outcome. You may be impressed by the outspoken and challenged by the daring. Yet here you are at the crossroads not sure what sort of man you should become. You show up for your sisters and mother, you see your dad and you never want to be like him or he is your biggest idol. Whoever you choose to  be from this day onward is dependent on a lot of things but I will share with you three in this article.

 

I will start with the foundational, are you saved? Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you spend each day getting to read His Word and meditate on it or have you started compromising in one way or the other? If you know Jesus then the path becomes easier. One thing is to make Jesus your foundation for who you want to be, how you want to reach others, how your family will be trained, the choices you will make on whether to compromise or not, the kind of spouse you will have, how your children will be raised, the career path you take or the business you set up, how you will provide for your family, your consistency in all the things you do. With the right foundation, you will be established and assured that no matter how good or how bad it gets you can turn to Jesus.

 

The influences around you will shape who you become. I watched the country I came from rot in decay as people listened to the radio each and every morning as they went to work. The filth that was spewed on there made people less attune to sin and began calling bad, good and good was called bad. Let me give you an example each morning the talk show would talk about how a person cheated on another and they would lean towards supporting the cheater, they talked about money and how useless a person without it was, they basically insulted the institution of marriage and promoted hook ups or just living together as a couple, they promoted divorces and within a short time, people began speaking that language. The same foul language they had heard on the radio and next they began practicing it. They did not realize the influence the media had on their minds and their thoughts. You know the Bible says, as a man thinketh so he really is.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” Psalm 23:7 

 

The second part of that verse illustrates how the person with the wrong influence will urge you to sin but really he does not care about you. You have to be careful about the influences you let in your life. These influences each have a master they serve, they are either serving God or they are serving the devil and you need to look at the bottom line. Think about it, this video game that takes up 23 hours of your life what is it keeping you away from, what is it distracting you from, what anxieties does it feed into? What are you missing each and every day as you play the video games? Next, ask who would want you distracted? How much closer are you to your goals each time you are playing? Are you fit and healthy? Are you social? Are you serving? Are you noticing those around you that need help? Are you being mentored and growing? Are you spending time with God daily? This isn't just about video games, it includes the people you follow in real life and on social media, are they adding to your life or just taking your time? What will 5 years from now look like if you continue on this trajectory?

 

Your future. I want you to imagine the best future possible for you and for others in your life. In the future are your wife and kids, the church you attend, the places you serve, your business or job, community outreach and so on. They are waiting for you and the choices you make now are determining what the future will look like. I will share two stories of some friends whose lives went off track and how they responded. One was a young man in his twenties, very active and sportive, very bright who was in the university and looked forward to joining the national team for a particular sport. He was so fit he could have trained and joined more than one. Then one night all that changed, he got into a horrible accident and became paralyzed. He was broken after that incident. He broke off with most of the people around him and sunk into depression. At one point he thought of ending it all. In those moments God reached him and reassured him. He went on to join the gym, learn how to navigate his own life, then took part in some challenges and later build a worldwide ministry.

The second man was also quite into sports and he had been training since he was a little boy to become a national player. In his last year in high school he got an injury on his knee that sealed the fact he would not be playing anywhere. He felt dejected and went and got a job in hospitality. He worked there for many years, got married and was just living life when his wife left him for someone else. He had gotten broke and really could not afford some things. He went into depression, his closest family turned on him. He felt like he had nothing to live for until God interjected in his life. The guy adapted a new attitude, he had already lost it all, he had nothing left to lose if he gave it his all. He went back to the gym, got fit and started out as a stuntsman, then eventually was invited to acting gigs. Today he is in shows played around the world and he recently met someone.

These stories should communicate that even when you have laid the best plans for your future and you have done everything right, you need to be aware things can fall apart, and when they do, you can count on a God who remains faithful in all those times. You have to stay grounded through prayer, reading the word, having the right influence and community. Have people who are going the same direction as you. What is the need of befriending someone who does not care for his family as your closest friend, soon enough that will influence your thoughts and behavior and shun people away from you. The Bible says, bad company corrupts good morals. 

“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Proverbs 13:20

Be wise in the direction you choose to take and if you stumble don't spend all your time on the floor, get back up and get on track. You can do this! Truth is you are needed in this world.

 

 All images from Pexels.