“It is absurd to sow little but weeds in the first half of one’s lifetime and expect to harvest a valuable crop in the second half.”

This quotation tells us that we should sow good things in our youth if we expect to reap great things in our old age. It is possible for anyone to live a very immoral, unprofitable life for many years. This is just exactly what so many of our youth are doing today. This is not what the Lord expects of us, not what He requires of us.

Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” If we do these three things we are not likely to be entangled with the evils of the world.

Parents are admonished to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. Habits and practices formed in our youth will most likely stay with us throughout the remainder of our life. To receive a godly basis for life in our formative years will most likely assure us that we will continue in those good things so long as we live.

If we should decide to go our own way, we risk the judgment of God. Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” If our ways are not pleasing to God, He will bring us into judgment. Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Let us be mindful of the consequences of our actions. It is a fearful thing to realize that we have sinned and come short of the glory of God. By nature, we are all sinners. It is far worse to be sinners by choice and practice.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

There are gains for all our loses,
There are balms for all our pain;
But when youth, the dream, departs,
It takes something from our hearts
And it never comes again.

We are stronger, and are better,
Under manhood's sterner reign;
Still we feel that something sweet
Followed youth with flying feet,
And will never come again.

Something beautiful is vanished,
And we sigh for it in vain:
We behold it everywhere,
On the earth, and in the air,
But it never comes again.

By Richard Henry Stoddard

It seems, when as a child we look at adulthood, that we will never reach such an age. We desire to leave single digits and enter double; to pass through the first three doubles and then enter our teens. Then comes that magic age when we are able to get a driver's license: sixteen. Then comes eighteen; twenty-one; and, before we are aware of it, time has passed and we look back and long for our youth but, alas! 'tis too late...'tis gone, it is. O! to enjoy the carefree days of our youth once more!

[The following gem is by a namesake and grandson of the great novelist, J. Fenimore Cooper. He is modest, and although his verses have generally the same sweetness and nobleness of tone, he will only publish them annonymously for circulation among his friends. This is believed to be the first time one of his poems has found its way into a public print.]

It is easy enough to be pleasant
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything goes wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away.
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor of earth
Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynics, the sad, the fallen,
Who had no strength for the strife,
The world's highway is cumbered to-day --
They make up the item of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile --
It is these that are worth the homage of earth,
For we find them but once in a while.

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities
and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth;
The glory of action;
The splendor of beauty;

For yesterday is already a dream,
and tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived,
makes every yesterday
A dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such the salutation of the dawn!

From the Sankrist

Sanskrit -- an ancient Indian language, still in use today in scholarly circles and for religious purposes.

"Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find" (Proverbs 20:6). "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him" (Proverbs 20:7).

In II Timothy 2:1,2, we find that in the last days, "men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud...." It seems today there is a growing tendency of people to boast of their own goodness and accomplishments. Such proud boasting is vain and in most cases is not the fruit of "a faithful man." I am thankful that there are still faithful men, women, boys and girls. But it seems, that they are harder and harder to find.

How we need faithful and just men of integrity! If an individual is truly just, you will find him walking in integrity. But, as Job asked, "how should man be just with God?" (Job 9:2).

Ecclesiastes 7:20 tells us that "there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." This let's us know that something must be done for one to be just. Before the court of heaven, one is justified only by grace, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ Rom. 3:24, Rom. 5:9, Rom 8:30). Every child of God stands just before that court.

However, in the other two courts justification is brought about by faith and works. By faith in the finished work of Christ one stands justified in the court of his own conscience. In the demonstration of this faith by good works, one will experience a stronger evidence of justification in his soul and is considered justified by fellow-believers.

The just man of Proverbs 20:7 stands justified before all three courts. If we have been justified by Christ, we should be just in all our dealings. We should do right because it is right. One who does so, "his children are blessed after him." What a wonderful thought! When we are taken from the scene of this present world, if we have truly been just in all three areas, our godly walk will be of benefit to our children. If our children are born again, they will most likely be just and the process may continue for generations!

Yours in hope,
Elder Wayne Crocker

Our yesterdays are blocks with which we build
Foundations for the structure of to-day,
And our to-morrows are but fleeting clouds
The breath of circumstance may blow away.
Were we to labor for ourselves alone,
Small need for aching brow and weary brain;
We strive and struggle for posterity,
And hope to widen manhood’s grand domain.
Who seeks for self, tears down where he should build.

Who builds for others, wins the wreath of bay;
Our yesterdays should then be broad and strong
To hold aloft a glorious to-day.
If we were mortal, life were spent in vain,
So brief it is, so full of toil and tears;
But since immortal, O! how grand to know
Each noble effort lives eternal years.
Ambition, Hope, Faith, Duty, tender Love,
Each one, a place within, to help us, wins.
The golden dawn of youth illumes the sky.
Awake! To-day dreams end, and Life begins.

By James Clarence Harvey