NOW is the ideal time to love and serve the Lord. Some unwise counsel has suggested that young people should go out and experience the world in their youth before they later settle down and serve God once mature. An equally erroneous teaching proclaims that godly parents should raise their children to love and serve the Master at some future time. Both have misled far too many homes! The Lord wants young people to love and serve Him now. One should begin early in life to learn the most important lessons of life. As a child, one should learn “the fear of the LORD” (Psalm 34:11), to “praise the name of the LORD” (Psalm 148:12-13; Matthew 21:15), and to “remember” his Creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Like Samuel, children should grow and be “in favour both with the LORD, and also with men” (1 Samuel 2:26).
The Lord Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Creator of the universe. Yet, during His earthly ministry, the Lord made it known that He cared for the “little ones” (Matthew 18:6, 10, 14). Perhaps the disciples thought the Master would be too busy or have more important things to do than to take time for the children. The Lord rebuked His disciples for such erroneous thinking. After all, the Lord loved children and wanted them to come to Him. It grieved Him to think that His disciples would forbid any child from coming to Him. Even now, the Lord wants little children to come to Him. No disciple should ever forbid children to come to the Lord. Even with all of life’s distractions, the Bible admonishes young people to remember their Creator in the days of their youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Learning to fear the Lord yields great results in our daily walk with Him. Some facets of man’s relationship with the Lord change over time and through the seasons. Yet, one thing that has remained constant from the very beginning concerns God’s call upon His people to fear Him. How vital is the fear of God? The Bible refers to it as “the whole duty of man.” Some Bible teachers have tried to lessen the severity of this truth by saying that this fear merely refers to reverencing God, yet Hebrews 12:28 presents the fear of God and reverence as two separate and distinct actions. God’s people are to fear the Lord as the Creator of all things and the One who will one day bring all things into judgment. As saints of God, we will never please the Lord until we first learn to fear Him (Deuteronomy 4:10).
