A word to the young people: Do not say “I am only a youth” - GBC Bulletin Column #22

There is no recorded ‘origin story’ for many of the prophets in Scripture. Indeed, for several of them we have very little biographical information of any kind. Not so with Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 1, the word of the Lord comes to him and tells him that he has been appointed “a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). Jeremiah’s response? “I protested, ‘Oh no, Lord, GOD! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.’” (Jeremiah 1:6, HCSB). Undoubtedly there is a sense in which the weight of Jeremiah’s new commissioning was in fact humbling, but when God says you need to be doing something no amount of humility, however genuine, makes it appropriate to plead inability and excuse yourself from serving him.

In the sight of God, Jeremiah wasn’t so much humble as he was afraid - a permissible inference given verse 8, where God says, “Do not be afraid of them…” He was fearful because he didn’t know how to speak – not that he was mute or illiterate but he lacked formal training and experience. He was fearful because he was only a youth. Some people may have tried to make out that Timothy was older than we might expect when Paul wrote “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young” (1 Tim. 4:12, NIV), but they can’t get around this one. The original Hebrew word Jeremiah uses for “youth” indicates that he had not yet reached adulthood and was dependent on his parents. He lacked wisdom, authority, and – that oft trumpeted ‘necessity’ rears its head again – experience. This is to say nothing of his fear of the violent opposition he would encounter and the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain he would endure.

Our God is great and gracious, and when he commands his people to serve him he does not leave them unequipped but promises them his power and his presence. His reply to Jeremiah points ultimately to his faithfulness: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’…you shall go…you shall speak…I am with you…” (Jer. 1:6-8).

Perhaps you just want to ‘have fun’ – you may even be excusing wrong, sinful things that you think, say, and do as only natural for someone your age. You might think (or at least act!) like it is in some way OK not to take your parents seriously, your pastor seriously, your church seriously, or Christ seriously because you are young. Perhaps you don’t see the need to be really committed, but are quite content to just be carried along. Let the voice of the Lord cry in your heart “Do not say I am only a youth!” If you have trusted in Christ then your identity is no longer caught up in your stage of life, but in the Saviour who is your life (Col. 3:4): “...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). 

Could the actual root of your indecision and inactivity be that you are afraid? Let’s face it: we are fearful people. So? The Lord is a faithful God. Let his faithfulness override your fears. 

This was printed in the worship bulletin of Grace Baptist Church (Wood Green) on 22/09/2013.