Find Your Purpose in Life Now

During our teen years and into adulthood, we go through a process of discovering who we are and what we will do with our lives. The teen years and into a young adulthood, we ask, what am I going to do with my life? Who will I become? What will I do? Will I get married? Who will I marry? What is life all about? Why am I here? What do I stand for? What do I want to accomplish? And most importantly, we ask, who am I? What is my purpose in life? You know, the sooner you find the answer to that question, the better your life will be. The sooner you find the answer to, who am I and what is my purpose in life, the better chances you will have of actually being fulfilled in life. Looking back at life and going, wow, that was wonderful. So many people look back and say, oh, if only, oh, if I could turn back time, oh, if I could only go back. In fact, we all do. We've all made mistakes that we really wish we hadn't made. And we all look back and go, oh, if I could only turn back time. And actually, teens, even after this sermon, you're not going to avoid that. You're going to make your own mistakes. You're going to go through life. And you're going to look back at some things and go, oh, I wish I hadn't done that. But the sooner you find the answer to, what is my purpose in life, the better and more fulfilling your life will be. Because when you're young, your whole life is ahead of you. And you think to yourself, I got all the time in the world. Man, I am going to go and have some fun. And there are scriptures that tell you to do just that. We're going to read them today. But life goes faster than you might ever imagine. Psalm 103. Psalm 103, verse 15. For as a man, his days are like grass. Have you ever seen grass? It comes up, turns brown, it dies. That's grass. Grass lasts only that long. And King David here says, as for man, his days are like grass. As flowers of the field, he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it's gone, and its place remembers it no more. It's kind of a sad depiction of life. But what David is saying is, life goes fast. Tammy and I were a young couple. We moved to San Antonio. We were here for about a year, and we wanted to buy a house. So we looked around to buy a house, and San Antonio was booming with new houses at that time. New houses being built all over the place. So we bought a new house. We had it built from the ground up. So we got to pick the layout, what bricks would go on the outside, and the carpet, and all of that. How many bedrooms we would have. We got to pick it all. And when it got built, as it was being built, we'd walk through it. We thought to ourselves, as a young couple with one little baby boy, Wow! This place is a palace! It's huge!

And we had a very wise lady, Mrs. Johnson. Some of you remember Mrs. Betty Johnson. She walked through the house with us one day. We were just admiring the house, and she said, Oh! I remember her very words. She said, Don't blink. It goes like that. You're going to fill this house with kids. And we did. And you're going to be busting at the seams. And we are. And our palace is actually very cramped.

We still love it. It's quite a blessing from God. But she was right. And oh, did it go fast. When we moved in, we had one little baby boy. And he could run all over that house, back and forth, literally just run. You do that now, you'll hit other kids and dogs and cats and furniture and clothes they leave on the floor. You can't run in my house anymore. It goes so fast. Life just goes whoosh, like grass. Man's life is like grass.

Like I said at graduation, I was just holding my oldest son. He's almost big enough to hold me. So many people waste their lives and they look back with regret. How can you, as a young person, chart your course in life that you have very little regret? How can you find your meaning in life now and start off on the right path so that there's less pain, less regret, less sorrow and anguish at the other end of the spectrum? When you breathe your last, that you don't have to look back and say, oh, if I had only listened. Now that'll work too, actually. Because there's two ways to prove God right. You can prove God right by trying to prove Him right, or you can prove Him right by trying to prove Him wrong.

I know I've said this before, and I will say it again over and over. Either way, you will prove Him right. Just one way hurts less. Proving Him right hurts way less. Either way, you're going to come to the same conclusion. King Solomon actually took the wrong way. He did it on purpose. He tried every wrong thing you could possibly do. And he had a lot of regrets. And he was open and honest about it, and he talked about it.

And he shared it with us so that we don't have to walk down such a thorny path. Know your purpose. You know, a dolphin would never aspire to become a World Cup soccer player. Why? Why would a dolphin never endeavor to do that? A dolphin can hit a soccer ball. I've seen them do it. They can jump their body clear out of the water and hit a soccer ball tethered on a rope 12 feet off the surface of the water.

But why, obviously, would a dolphin not aspire to be a World Cup soccer player? Because he doesn't have feet! It's not his purpose. An elephant would never become a good house pet. You would never sit an elephant on your lap and pet it. Oh, where's that purr? Come on, let me hear that purr. It would never happen! It's not the elephant's purpose. How can you start off on the right path? An elephant wouldn't waste its time. A dolphin wouldn't waste its time. But man, oh man, will waste his time. He will. Life goes so fast, as King David said. Why would you waste your life pursuing things that will not fulfill your purpose?

Solomon makes an interesting statement in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, and I want the teens and the pre-teens and the young adults to ask yourself this question. Solomon acknowledges that this is an evil and unfair world where good things happen to both good and bad people, and bad things happen to both good and bad people.

And some people draw the conclusion that Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes chapter 8. This is not his final conclusion. This is the starting conclusion. He actually ends up somewhere completely different. But in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 15, after talking about how unfair life is, Solomon says, So I commend employment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry, for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

Let me ask you a question. Is Solomon saying that our purpose is that we have nothing better to do than to fulfill every desire in this temporary life? Is that what Solomon is saying? Because you know what Solomon did? He tried to fulfill every single desire of his temporary life.

Every desire. You name it, he tried it. And he drew a very interesting conclusion. And it was not his point at all that your life is best spent fulfilling your lusts. God does want you to have the desires of your heart, as long as you don't hurt yourself or others. And what a lot of people will often make the mistake of thinking is, is that sin doesn't hurt me. Therefore, if it doesn't hurt me, I can do it. Oh, sin does hurt. That's a big mistake. Solomon wasn't saying fulfill every lust. He was saying this world is unkind and unfair.

That was his main point. Hey, get a clue! Here's a clue for you. The world that you're about to go into is unfair. It is mean and it is unkind. So enjoy what you can. That's what Solomon was saying in verse 15. So what can you do as a young person? Well, Solomon tells us in the rest of the book. And he starts off in the very next chapter. He gives you the starting point. And that is to be loyal and enjoy the good things of life. Be loyal in your relationships and enjoy the good things right now. Because there's going to come a time when you can't enjoy them. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 9.

Now that word vein, and I'm going to read from another translation that translates that word vein into meaningless, doesn't mean vein like we think vein is puffed up, arrogant. The word literally means breath.

For those who are sleeping. Sorry about that. It literally means breath. Have you ever been in a cold? We rarely get that in Texas, but that cold day when you walk outside and you can see your breath, when you exhale all the steam is in front of you, how long does that last? How long does that breath last in front of you? It's gone just like that, right? That's what that word vein means in Hebrew. It means breath. Literally temporary. Gone in an instant. So when we read the word vein, or when we jump into the other translation, it'll be meaningless. It doesn't mean arrogant, and it doesn't mean without meaning. It means temporary. It means gone in a flash. Okay, let's read that again. Notice that it says all the days of your life. You live with that person all of your life. Yeah, but what if I don't get along with that person? You married them! Live with them! That's what Solomon recommended. Do you know how many wives Solomon had? Over a thousand. I remember living in the Middle East, and in the Middle East, in the Arab world, some of the Arabs allow and actually recommend and actually aspire to have more than one wife. Now, I have seen men with more than one wife, because I lived with them. You see a man with one wife? He's a happy man. He is! He's a fulfilled man. You see a man with more than one wife? He is a beaten-down pope that used to be a man. Oh, he walked. And they had to walk, the man in front and the women behind. The first wife gets to walk right behind the husband, and any subsequent wives have to walk in order behind them. And you know what they look like? Happy as a lark. They're just bebopping along. Woo-hoo! You know, I'm fulfilling my role. I'm walking along. The man is dragging his knuckles. Boo!

God didn't design it that way. God didn't design us to be disloyal to the one person we choose to love. So the starting point in life that Solomon gives to the young people is be loyal in your relationships, in your friendships, especially in your marriage. How long is that loyalty supposed to last? All the days of your vain, temporary life, which God has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity, of that breath. For your portion in life, and in the labor in which you perform under the sun. And then he draws this conclusion. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. It's interesting that we pull that saying out, and we memorize that as kids, don't we? Oh, yeah. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. But isn't it interesting that that scripture is in context of relationships? It's in context of marriage. Relationships? Hard work. They are hard. But you can do it. How? With all your might. In fact, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Whether it be work, or play, or socializing, and especially marriage.

Let's drop down. We're going to stay in Ecclesiastes for a while. And let's drop down to Ecclesiastes chapter 11 and continue this instruction from King Solomon.

11 and verse 1. Now, I'm going to switch over to the New Living Translation because the King James Version is awkward. Because the King James Version translates it literally from Hebrew, and Hebrew is a poetic language. So if you translate poems over, and you don't know what the words are intended to symbolize because poetry is symbolism, then you're literally going to be reading nonsense. And what the King James did, although I love the King James Version of the Bible, is they translated Ecclesiastes literally. Which means it's all symbols. And if you don't know what the Hebrew symbols are, you have no idea what you're reading. So let's read this in the New Living Translation, in LT. Ecclesiastes chapter 11 and verse 1. Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. In other words, get busy. Be busy about doing your work. Don't dilly-dally around and not work. Get it to work, he says. But divide your investments in many places. But don't count on one thing being that sure thing that's going to make your ship come in. You know what? That counts a lot more than just for work. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket, is the saying we have today. But as Solomon said, don't divide your investments in many places, for you do not know what risk might lie ahead. There's no such thing as a sure thing in a job or a business or in a relationship. I had a job one time where I was the number one rep in the entire nation for my company. And my territory grew from just Texas and the southwest to the entire western half of the United States. That's how successful I was. And then the very next year, I was fired. The economy crashed, all the contracts I sold went to nothing, and I was let go of the first layoff and the second round of layoffs. People were shocked, but that's the way it goes. There's no such thing as a sure thing. Don't put all of your investments in one spot. You know what? That goes for relationships, too. I know. He's the one I'm going to marry. He's the one. He ends up marrying someone else. Now what are you going to do? Be careful not to give your heart away too soon. Be very guarded with your heart. Oh, be friends, but be friends with a lot of people. Don't put your investments in one basket, because there's no such thing as a sure thing.

Wait until he puts a ring on your finger, or wait until she says yes to the ring you put on her finger before you make that commitment in your heart. Divide your investments among many places, for you do not know the risks that lie ahead. Proverbs 15, verse 22. You know, it's good to make plans, but it's good to get advice along the way. Proverbs 15, verse 22. Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors, they are established.

Who do I marry? What do I do for work? How do I buy a house? Get advice.

Ask people who've purchased more than one house how to buy a house. They might have, in fact, they probably will have ideas you've never even thought of.

Should I marry this person? Well, ask a widow. Ask a widower. Ask someone who's been through the entire gamut of getting ready for that wedding day, the honeymoon, the children, the grandchildren, the funerals. They'll have some advice for you, things you haven't even thought of. Yes, it's great to make plans. You should make plans in your life. You want those plans to actually work? Get advice. Look at all the silverheads in the room.

And those who have dyed their hair so that it's not silver. Ask them. Get a lot of advice. Divide your investments in many places. Okay, back to Ecclesiastes 11. When the clouds are heavy and the rain comes down, whether a tree falls to the north or to the south, it stays where it falls. What does that mean? Oh, this is a lesson in life that you usually don't learn until you're older and you have some gray hair. You could actually learn it right now as a youth, as a young adult, as a teen, as a pre-teen.

Bad things happen. Trees fall. Storms come. They blow the trees down. That represents bad things happening in life. They just do. And you know what people do? They waste a ton of time. They waste their life. Years go by. And they waste their lives saying, that tree fell in my direction and not in the other person's direction. Why me? And they pout over the bad things that happen in their life. What a waste of time! Life is short! I don't know if I said that already, but this is Solomon's point. Life is short. Don't blink. It'll pass you by. Look for the good things in life. Find a way to get around the tree that fell. Find a way to move past the bad thing. Bad things happen. Just be glad you're alive to do something about it. Because someday you won't be. And if you pout, you will waste your life. Life will pass you by. Don't wait for other people to fix your problems. Move on! Don't wait for sympathy in life. Move on! Bad things happen in life.

There will never be a perfect day to move on. It'll never come. It'll never happen. Don't wait for that perfect opportunity to do something new. Do it today. Do it now. There's no such thing as the perfect day.

Verse 4, farmers who wait for the perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God who does all things. You don't have to understand everything about life to try something, to do something new, to take life on. Trees are going to fall. Don't wait for the perfect day to fix it. Just move on.

Verse 6, plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon. Do you know what that means? Learn to work while you're young, and then work all of your adult life, because old age is coming, and you need to make sure you're ready for it. That's what that means. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don't know if profit will come in one activity or another, or maybe both.

Plan to do things with your life now, and don't wait for the perfect opportunity. Learn as much as you can learn, and work as much as you can work. Accomplish as much as you can accomplish now.

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln failed at just about everything that he tried before he became one of the most important presidents in the United States history? It's true. He failed at being a lawyer. He lost election after election as a politician. He was actually considered kind of a flub up before he became the President of the United States.

And we went into a terrible civil war, and he emancipated the slaves, because America had a terrible slavery policy that the founding fathers ignored because it would have split the North from the South, and we would have never gained independence from the British. We would have never become our own, or so they believed.

So they said, we will save this for another generation. And it took an incredible man to stand in the gap and say to both sides, and I realize I'm standing in the South saying this, but look at it from a moral perspective. The founding fathers themselves knew they were supposed to take care of the slavery issue, but during the Constitutional Congress, they ignored the issue intentionally.

They said, we will table this for another generation. And we lost over half a million soldiers, both in the North and the South, during that war, because we tabled the problem. And most of the people around President Lincoln wanted to buckle and compromise, allow the nation to be split, and we would not have the blessings we have today.

We would not be preaching the gospel the way we can preach the gospel. And the people had one man not stood in the gap and not worried about the fact that this is not the perfect day. He just kept trying and trying. And he became the President of the United States. And civil war broke out. And he stood through two elections to make sure the nation got reunified.

And we, for once and for all, did away with our moral depravity that we had with the slaves. There's no such thing as a perfect day. There's no such thing as, you know, well, it just wasn't in the right place at the right time. Make it the right time. That's what King Solomon is saying. You have your youth, take advantage of it now. Verse 7, Light is sweet how pleasant to see the new day dawning. When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days.

Everything still comes, still to come, is meaningless or vanity, is still a breath. This is still not your purpose in life. This is still not why you were born. It's not who you are. Verse 9, Young people, it's wonderful to be young. Enjoy every minute of it. God wants you to enjoy life. And a lot of people don't get that because, you know, you read all these rules. The Ten Commandments are mostly don't.

Don't do this. Don't do that. Very few of them are do's. And it kind of seems like God doesn't want you to have any fun. But it's not true. All of those don'ts are actually a protective hedge, like a wall, that keeps bad things out. And as long as you stay inside those walls or inside that hedge, the bad things won't get you. God wants you to have a lot of fun. Verse 9, Young people, it's wonderful to be young.

Enjoy every minute. Do everything you want to do. Take it all in. That is God inspiring King Solomon to say it's okay to have dreams. And some people will tell you, because they've been beaten down by life and they have a somewhat realistic view of life, don't be a dreamer. Keep your feet on the ground. You know what? Keep your feet on the ground. In other words, keep your nose in the Bible. But keep your head in the clouds. That's what Solomon is saying. Dream big! Wow! Did you know that was in the Bible? Did you know that God wants you to have big dreams?

But remember, there's a warning. That you must give an account to God for everything you do. An account to God for everything. You know what that means? And this is what a lot of the teens and even adults don't want to hear. You are responsible for your actions even as a child. You are accountable. And a lot of children don't consider the consequences. Teenagers don't consider the consequences a lot of times. Young adults start to around the age of 25, for men, maybe 20, for women. But even then, sometimes they don't, because they don't have direction in life.

They don't know where they're going. You bear the consequences for every action that you take. Let me tell you a story. When I was in high school, and an acquaintance, a boy with the last name of Dixon, he had an older brother. We were pretty young in high school, and his older brother was older. Like a senior, I think he was in high school.

And he loved to go hunting. He would hunt critters, all kinds of critters. We lived up in the northwest, where hunting was a big deal, hunting and fishing, and the outdoor way of life. And he was a hunter, an avid hunter. And one day, he was out hunting squirrels. He wasn't doing anything evil. He wasn't doing anything immoral. He wasn't doing drugs or alcohol. He was just hunting. You bear the consequences for everything you do. The Psalmist says he wants you to dream big, he wants you to have big dreams, to love life.

But remember, you will answer for everything you do. So play it carefully. Be careful. And this Dixon wasn't paying attention, wasn't remembering, hey, I'm not indestructible. And a squirrel ran into a metal pipe. The squirrel ran into pipe, and he was going to get that squirrel. He didn't consider. There were electric lines near him, and he picked that pipe up. And that metal pipe hit one of the electric lines. And that electricity went right through his body and killed him instantly.

Now, wait a minute. He's a teenager. He wasn't doing anything immoral. And he just died. Why? Because you're accountable for everything you do. That's the way it works. Now, let's go back and read verse 9 again. Young people, it's wonderful to be young. Yes, it is. Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do. Take it all in.

But remember, you must give an account to God for everything you do. You know, at the end, you will stand before God. You will answer to God, and that is not temporary. That is not vanity. That's what we're going to get to in just a minute. That's actually permanent answering to God. Verse 10. So, refuse to worry. Are you supposed to walk through life?

I don't know how many of you saw the old movie called The Wizard of Oz. But Dorothy is skipping down the yellow brick road. And they get afraid of what might come out of the forest, and they start to worry. And they sing a song. Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my! Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my! And they just keep skipping down the road, getting louder and louder about the lions and the tigers and the bears that might jump out and eat them at any moment.

And life's too short for that. Way too short for that. Just be responsible. So refuse to worry. Keep your body healthy. Remember that youth with the whole life before you is temporary. You have a very short amount of time to get things done. So today is the day. Get moving. Make your decisions on what you're going to do. Do them! Or don't blink, because life will pass you by. Now let's go to Chapter 12.

I'll give you an example of why we don't read this in the New King James or King James to try to make sense. Let me read the first three verses in the Old King James version, which I love for its accuracy. Chapter 12, verse 1. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh. When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. These words have a huge meaning. This is the conclusion to the whole matter. So we really need to get it. Verse 2. While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain. In the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble, the strong men shall bow themselves, the grinders cease because of few, they are few, and those who look out the windows be darkened. What? What in the world does that mean? Let's read in another translation that interprets that. Okay, let's try again verse 1, New Living Translation.

Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old and say, Life is not pleasant anymore. And let me tell you, there does come a time when life is not pleasant anymore. It's just a fact of life. It comes. Verse 2. Remember Him before the sun, the moon, and the stars dim in your old eyes. Oh, that's what that means. And the rain clouds continually darken your skies. It's really hard to be in a good mood when you feel bad all the time. I know some people who do it. They have very strong moral character. Verse 3. Remember Him before your legs, the guards of your house, start to tremble. Before your shoulders, the strong men stoop. Remember Him before your teeth, your few remaining servants stop grinding. And before your eyes, the women looking through windows see dimly. Oh, that's what it means. Verse 4. Remember Him before the door to life's opportunities is closed. Now is the perfect time, today, to start doing something great. And the sound of work fades, and now you rise at the first chirping of the birds. When you're a teenager and there's a bird in your window, wow! Get that bird out of my window! It drives you nuts! You wake up! When you can't hear or see, you're not aware that a bird's at your window. You wake up whenever you wake up. Night becomes day, day becomes night. You eat breakfast at midnight. No difference to you. That's the reality.

Verse 5. Remember Him. Remember who? God! Before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets. You know, that's a very real risk when you're a senior. Falling is so easy to do, and the bones become so fragile, and that actually, that's how my granddad died. He lived, he was almost 100 years old. He almost made it to 100. He fell on some steps and broke his arm. You know, at that age, he just doesn't heal quickly. An infection caused a fever, and the fever caused him to die. And he had a great life. I'm just saying, this is the reality. This is where life ends. Take advantage of what you have now. Your youth. Your strength. Your vigor. Your dreams. I was so much more energetic when I was a teenager. Where are we going to go today? What are we going to do? And now it's like, oh, where do I have to go today? And what do I have to do? Remember him before you become fearful of falling, worried about the danger in the streets, before your hair turns white like almonds trees in bloom. And you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper. And the caperberry no longer inspires desire. Remember him before you near the grave. Your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. Verse 6, Yes, remember your Creator now, while you are young. You'll want to find purpose in life. You'll want to get drive that keeps you safe and successful. Remember your Creator. Before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken, don't wait until the water jar is smashed and the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. When you can no longer draw life, no longer draw breath. For then the dust will return to the earth and the Spirit will return to God who gave it. And then verse 13, that's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion. Fear God and obey His commands. For this is everyone's duty. This is your purpose. Why waste your life with something that's so temporary? Spend your life on something permanent. A dolphin would never aspire to be a great soccer player. An elephant would never aspire to sit on your lap and purr. You should never aspire to waste your life on meaningless, temporary things that don't last. Solomon tried it. It was very unfulfilling. He said you're never satisfied. You're never full. It always leaves you wanting or needing something else. The only thing that will satisfy you and fulfill your purpose is to remember your Creator. Fear God and obey His commands. This is the whole duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. What is your purpose? Is it just to eat, drink, and be merry? Is it just to fulfill every lust and life? No. God wants you to be happy. In fact, abundantly happy. Remember what Jesus said in John 10, verse 10? He said, A boring, strict, restrictive life, like in a straitjacket kind of life? No. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. He wants you to have a great life. So don't waste it on passing pleasures. Don't waste it on things that are not your purpose. I'm glad that AC came on. Getting a little warm. I need to kick that down just a little bit next time. Don't waste your life on passing pleasures. So how do you fear God? How do you remember Him? Where's the starting point? Let me give you a good place to start, teens. Hebrews 11, verse 6. Hebrews 11, verse 6.

Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For He who comes to God, so if you want to come to God, this is what you have to do. You must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. That is a neat saying. Okay, your starting point is to believe that God actually exists. That's not difficult. Stick around in the teen group. We're going to go through that again pretty soon. We did it a few years ago. We're coming around where we're going to do it again. It doesn't take faith to believe that God exists. Oh, there's the air. That's nice. It doesn't take faith. All you have to do is look around and reason a little bit. And you can reason it out that God exists. That's not enough. That's not what Paul said. Let's read the rest of that. That He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. You have to believe that God has your best interests at heart. That He actually wants you to have a good life. He actually wants good things for you. You mean even when the trees fall? Even when the bad things happen? Even when the bad things happen? God has your best interests at heart. Not just good things, but great things. And in the end, eternal life. That is your purpose. It's what you were created for. Revelation 21, verse 6. When everything is said and done, this is your purpose in life. Why spend your life on anything else? Revelation 21, verse 6. And He said to me, it is done. What's done? This life is done. At the end of the book of Revelation, everything physical is done. It's over. And He said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of water of life freely to Him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be His God, and He will be my Son. And that is your purpose, young people, is to be a child of God, in the Kingdom of God, living forever and inheriting not a few things. Not the few things that you could acquire in this life, even if you become very successful. All things you will inherit. Your purpose is not to be temporary, like a breath, but is to live forever and to be happy. What could be better than that?

And I've talked to you, a lot of you. Some of you are not happy, even as young people. What could be better than to be happy? And not just for a moment, but forever.

So, love God, learn to love other people, and they will love you back. And in the Kingdom, that will never end. How cool would that be if people loved you and they never stopped loving you? That's what God has to offer. If you remember your Creator when you're young, seek that while you're young. Life does not let us turn back the clock. It's far better to use our time wisely and be productive so that we don't look back with regret. Remember your Creator while you can. Learn about His Word. Learn from sermons. Learn from Bible studies. But also, ask the seniors who are around you in the room here. Talk to them. Get to know their story. Follow the gray heads who have gone before you. And then, start by being loyal to those who relate to you and work as hard as you possibly can to accomplish your goals. Because life is like the grass. Here today, gone tomorrow. Don't blink, and you will be old. Remember your Creator while you're young.