DON’T WAIT TILL YOU ARE OLD

Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the

Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in
years, and there remains yet VERY MUCH land to be
possessed. Joshua 13: 1

If there is anything I don’t want God to

tell me, it is to tell me at my old age that there
are things I should have done which I have not done
and which I will no longer be able to do. Joshua
perhaps thought he had done much but, much to his
surprise, God drew his attention to the “very much”
that was yet to be done. He couldn’t beat the clock.
He couldn’t cross the finishing line. He couldn’t go
all the way.

Remembering God in the days of your youth

is the only guarantee that you will be able to
realize all the possibilities of your life. Some
things are better done in the prime of life because
it will never be business as usual at old age. As at
the time God was talking to Joshua, he (Joshua) was
already a shadow of his former self. As far as heaven
was concerned, he can no longer go the full distance.
Time was when he could go the second mile. Time was
when he could venture out and break fresh ground.
Time was when he was at his best but now at a low
ebb. Age had taken its toll on him. Enthusiasm had
waned. Elasticity has gone. Zeal and zest had
nosedived. He had run out of steam. His strength had
taken wing. He had come to the end of his tether. The
decrepitude of old age had set in and the law of
diminishing returns had taken its course. Why don’t
you serve God now that you are still strong, vibrant
and fit for action?

Why don’t you give God your life now that

you are a ball of fire? Why not let God step across
the threshold of your life now that you are full of
life? Why don’t you give him the right of way across
the field of your life when you still have the dew of
youth (Psalm 110:3)? The only way God can get maximum
return on your life is for you to give him your
lifetime and that is only possible if you remember
him in the days of your youth. To remember God after
you have devoted the better part of your life to
seeking the frivolities of this world is, as far as
God is concerned, a belated response. It is a height
of absurdity and injustice towards God to give the
cream of your life to the devil and sin and be
earnest about things of eternal value when you are
already running out of steam. Giving God your life at
old age is making a virtue of necessity because you
no longer have the get-up-and-go to explore the seamy
side of life. To say, “Here am I send me” to God when
the season of youth is over amounts to giving Him the
leftovers of your life. Of what value are the
leftovers? How much strength will you have left to
run errands for the King of kings? Can God ask you to
go a mile for him with the leftovers (Matthew5:41)?
Can you with the leftovers turn the world upside down
for Christ and set the Thames on fire? You can only
impress God by giving him the flower of your days.

God is pleased when we serve Him at old

age but much more pleased when we serve him in our
youth. Solomon took the primrose path so many young
and energetic youths are taking today and realized
almost too late that those things he had lived for
are not worth it. He realized after devoting almost a
lifetime to chasing shadows and when he was on the
precipice of eternity what is worth living for and
called all he had lived for “vanity of vanities”. May
you not go too far before you realize how far you
should not have gone (Amen). Don’t wait till old age.
The difference between old age and youth is strength.
If there is anything you can offer God in youth which
you can’t offer him at old age, it is strength. The
bible says “The glory of young men is their strength:
and the beauty of old men is their grey head”
Prov.20:29. Your glory as a youth is your strength.
Once strength is gone, youth is over. Are you
sublimating or dissipating that strength? Are you
using that strength to God’s advantage or to chase
the opposite sex? Where do you expend that strength
of your youth? At disco party or in the house of
God? On the mission field expanding God’s kingdom or
with your lover billing and cooing? On what do you
spend your strength? On the passing glitters of life
or things that outlast life? To pursue the vision of
God for your life or your own vision of being a
fashion pundit and a show-stopper that can cause
human and traffic jam? Are you using that strength to
fight the Lord’s battles or to promote activities
that take the edge off people’s appetite for
righteousness? Don’t spend your youth chasing shadows
in the hope that you will get down to business when
you are already a shadow of yourself.
 Give God your youth before you wind down
and outlive your usefulness. Give him your strength
before you play yourself out. Don’t wait until after
life has given you a raw deal and you have come to
your wit’s end before saying YES to him. Now is the
time to serve God. Now is the most acceptable time
with Him (2nd Corinthians 6:2). Now is the only unit
of time that God recognizes. Remember Him now that
you have a lot to offer Him (Eccl.12:1). Remember Him
before the vivacity and vitality of youth give way to
the senility of old age. The infirmities associated
with old age will inevitably preclude the possibility
of going out of your way to do the out-of-the-way.
The LAMENTATION of Barzillai, as he declined King
David’s invitation, lend credence to the fact that
there is little one can do with the arrival of old
age. King David said unto him, “Come thou over with
me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem” and
his response was, “How long have I to live, that I
should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? I am this
day fourscore years old: and can I discern between
good and evil? Can thy servant taste what I eat or
what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of
singing men and singing women? Wherefore then should
thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the
king?”(2nd Samuel 19:32-36). He was saying in
effect: “Of what use will I be to you at Jerusalem? I
am old and unfit for the business of the court. What
you have asked me to do would have been possible in
my heyday”. He considered himself a liability rather
than an asset to King David. His muscles have become
flabby. He was already an “EAGLE” that could no
longer FLAP its WINGS. He has arrived at that season
of life when you and I shall say, “I have no pleasure
in them” (Eccl. 12:1). He has arrived at the OFF-
SEASON of your life. He can no longer play FULL TIME
on the pitch of life. He has lost taste and capacity
for the things that sweep the young off their feet.
Shouldn’t Barzilla’s lamentation motivate every young
man and woman to give God the best days of their
lives? Shouldn’t the poetic pictures of old age
graphically portrayed in ECCLESIATES 12 inspire the
young to do what they can while they can (John 9:4)?
What will your response be should the King of kings
say unto you at old age, “Come thou over with me to
Jerusalem”. Will it be different from Barzillai’s
response to King David’s invitation? Definitely not!
When we remember God in youth, two things are saved-
our soul and our lives but only the soul is salvaged
when we remember Him at old age. If you get serious
with God after the season of youth, you will not be
able to say at the twilight years of life; “O God you
have taught me from my youth and hitherto have I
declared your wondrous works. Now also when I am old
and gray headed, O God, forsake me not…” (Ps 71:17,
18). God will never forsake at old age the man who
served Him in the days of his youth. It is a great
illusion to expect God to help you at your old age if
your youth was spent in the service of sin and Satan.
It has been rightly said that the greatest comfort of
old age is a youth well-spent. Youth spent clubbing,
partying, goofing around, double-dating, triple
dating, hopping in and out of bed with girls of
various sizes and shape is a HARBINGER of a rueful
adulthood and a miserable old age. But youth spent
fighting the Lord’s battles, bringing enemy-occupied
territory under the imperial banner of the Lord Jesus
Christ, promoting the CAUSE for which Jesus lived and
died for will lay the foundation for a secured,
prosperous and enviable future (Job 36:11,12). To
them that serve Him in their youth, He says; “Even to
your old age I am he; and even to your hoar(grey)
hairs will I carry you… (Isaiah 46:4). Decide
your old age today by giving Him your youth. Repent
of your sins and surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
Serve Him now!

“Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I

believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living
God and that he died on the cross so that I may have
forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I believe
in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the
dead. Forgive me every sin I have ever committed and
come into my heart as my Saviour and Lord today and
take full control of my life from this moment on; I
pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.” Amen.

Ibrahim Taiwo (+2348069784689,

calvaryyouthoutreach1@gmail.com)

CALVARY YOUTH OUTREACH, LAGOS, NIGERIA

www.calvaryyouthoutreach.com