The hedonistic sirens’ song plays beautifully in the
ears of America’s
youth, and the lure of the appeal is so attractive to the eyes of the
majority.
As with the Greek mythology of Homer’s Adventures
of Odysseus, the sirens tempt our young men to fall prey to
the fleshly
trap: “Come, come, drink of the fountain of sweet pleasures
and know what it is
to be a man. You don’t know the thrills you’re
missing so come now, hurry and
drink of the fountain…” (of death).
Satan has done his work so well of polluting the
subject of human sexuality that many of us find it hard to even bring
up the
topic to discuss it with our children at home or our young people when
we meet
together as a body of believers. Someone has rightly observed this is a
subject
that needs to be reclaimed by God’s people. God is the giver
of human
sexuality. Rather than allowing our children to learn from their eager
friends
or humanistic teachers at school, we need to teach them what God says,
along
with the boundaries he has given us.
God commands his children to “flee fornication” (1
Corinthians 6:18) and “youthful lusts” (1 Timothy
2:22) and “fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). The living God
says that those who
commit fornication are going so far as to even sin against their own
body [thus
distinguishing itself from other forms of sin as this one brings
greater
self-injury to the ones who are guilty (1 Corinthians 6:18)].
“The body is not
for fornication, but for the Lord” (vs. 13).
The mariners used rope to tie Odysseus to the mast, and
put beeswax in their own ears to prevent them from hearing and giving
heed to
the sirens’ beckoning call. Our young people need far more
than rope and
beeswax to keep us from the peril of fornication: we need God and his
mighty
power working within us (Psalm 119:11). The
sanctity of our relationship with God must be so important that we
refuse to
allow a moment of reckless folly to come between us and his Holy Spirit
of love.
It's
All About Me!
By
Dean Kelly
The problem is that if I am not careful, I forget what
is all about me. I think that the world ought to be entertaining me. I
think
that everything ought to focus on me. When I am driving down the road
and
someone cuts me off, I get angry. As a matter of fact I often wonder
why there
is so much traffic on the road, when they are just in my way getting
where I
want or need to go. I don’t want someone to eat the last
biscuit, because I
want the last biscuit. I want the remote control so I can watch what I
want to
watch, and so I am in control. Surely, when I state my opinion, that
ought to
be the final word on the matter. After all, it is me!
However, watch the change in terminology that sometimes
occurs. “Look what my son did” means that he has
done something outstanding and
good. In that case we might concede a little with, “Look what
our son did.”
“Look at what your son did” means that he has
really blown it, and of course he
got that from your part of raising him, not from me! When there is
something to
complain about the famous “you” and
“they” come into play. You know, the words
that leave “me” out of the equation. “You
folks are always leaving a mess.”
“They just aren’t doing anything for the young
people.” You know, all the
“yous” and “theys” by which we
blame the ills of the world on everybody but
“me.” It comes down to “that
ain’t my job” and “I am not
responsible.”
I am fearful that we have raised a couple of
generations now of young people who know only the wrong
“me.” Do this for me.
Don’t blame me. All that matters is me and mine. Many have
not been taught the
concept of individual responsibility. It has led to many who blame
everyone
else, and everything else, for what is wrong in their lives and in
their
worlds. They expect to sit back and be entertained, in education, in
religion
(particularly in worship) and in their daily experiences in life. When
two
people marry who have emphasized the wrong “me,”
divorce is a forgone
conclusion. It is not the pressures of Hollywood
that causes Hollywood
divorces to be more
common than the cold, it is the emphasis on the wrong
“me!”
If “me” is so bad, how can I say it’s all
about me.
Well, there is a bad “me,” but there is also a good
one:
- It is up to me.
Now there is a good “me.” If it needs to be done I
am not going to sit back and
wait for someone else to do it. I am going to realize my responsibility
and do
it. I have often told the story of the time when I was a teenager that
our
youth group divided up the yard of the church building to mow. The
girls took
one side and the boys the other. After we finished there was one huge
blade of
grass standing in the boys’ area. The boys started arguing,
and I thought some
were going to come to blows over who had left that blade standing
there. One teenage
girl who walked by looked out and listened a minute, and said,
“Looks to me
like all of you left it!” Wow. The guys were to busy saying
“it wasn’t me” for
anyone to say “It is up to me to take care of it.”
- The blame belongs
to me. It is a good “me” when I stand up
and understand that I cannot blame
everyone or anyone else for my decisions and actions. When I make a
mistake, I
need to be willing to admit it, and then I can do what I can to correct
it.
Until I admit that I am responsible for my own actions, I will never
correct
them.
- You
can call on
me. In Scripture there are several instances where someone
has responded to
having his name called, by God or someone else in authority, who
responded
along the lines of “Here am I, send me.” The fact
is that there are usually
plenty of people who are willing to complain about what
“they” are not doing.
There are plenty of advisers that can tell you what ought to be done.
But,
thanks be to God, there are a few who are always standing by with the
“you can
call on me” attitude. It applies in all walks of life, but
particularly in the
church.
Do you know that when I stand before God and his Son on
the Judgment Day, it will all be about me. Have I dwelt on the servant
“me”
that is dedicated to him and to accomplishing his will, that has
submitted to
God’s will and thereby taken advantage of the blood shed to
buy me back from
sin, or have I used “me” as an excuse, or put
“me” above service to God and to
my fellow man?
Yes, since God has done his part—where I spend eternity
is all about me—and all up to me. Lord, please help me to be
the me I ought to
be (Philippians 4:13).
Teens
& Dating: True Love Waits