Age - The Best Age

(Eccl 12 KJV) Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; {2} While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: {3} In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, {4} And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; {5} Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: {6} Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. {7} Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. {8} Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. {9} And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. {10} The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. {11} The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. {12} And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. {13} Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. {14} For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

From this text we take our subject today - The Best Age - by the Best age we mean the best age to be today is ????. There are those that think the best age to be is to be a child. Others think the best age to be is youth. Still others think middle age and yet others seniors. As you consider the best age with us today, consider what the Bible has to say about your age as a child, as a youth, as middle aged, and as old age. You will see that the best age is the age that you are right now before you become any older. You can serve God acceptable at any age. It is not easier or harder to serve God at any age. Life is to be lived and enjoyed from birth through death.

Let us begin with the age of a child. When a child is born into this world it enters into a period of life that we refer to as innocent. This is a care free, worry free time of life. As a child you have no responsibility. Responsibility is left to those that are older and you, the child, has only to enjoy life. Just because you may be a child does not mean that you cannot do anything for God. God has used children in many ways throughout the ages of time and still uses them today. There are those today that often refer to children as the church of tomorrow, but I want you to know that the children are as much the church today as the adults are. Let us look at the words of Jesus our Lord: (Mat 18:1-6 KJV) At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? {2} And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, {3} And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. {4} Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. {5} And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. {6} But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. In this passage, Jesus lets us know that to become converted, you must become as a little child. Does He not mean that you must accept Him as Lord and place yourself in His hands letting go of all control over your life? Yes, that is what He means. To be a Christian is to become a child of God. A child with innocent faith that by obeying God, all things will somehow work out for your good. (Mat 19:13-15 KJV) Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. {14} But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. {15} And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. Jesus says, of such is the kingdom of heaven. He did not say of such is the future kingdom of heaven. No! The little children are the kingdom of heaven now as much as any other person of whatever age they may be.

God has used children from the beginning of time in many ways for they are part of the kingdom of God. One example of God using a child is the little maid that was a captive in the house of Naaman the Syrian Captain. (2 Ki 5:1-4 KJV) Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. {2} And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. {3} And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. {4} And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. When Naaman was told about the message of the little maid, he paid attention. He got ready and traveled to Israel. There he found the prophet, Elisha. Elisha told Naaman what he must do and when he did it he was cured of his leprosy. So we see how God used the faith of a little maid to inspire Naaman the Syrian Captain to seek God's healing on his body.

Another example of God using a child is the prophet, Jeremiah: (Jer 1:1-9 KJV) The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: {2} To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. {3} It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. {4} Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, {5} Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. {6} Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. {7} But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. {8} Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. {9} Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Yes, God called and chose Jeremiah before he was even born and God's word came to him while he was yet a child. But being a child was no reason for Jeremiah to not be a prophet for God for God put the words in Jeremiah's mouth. Jeremiah became one of the major prophets for God and we have two books of the Bible because of him. What can God do with a child? The answer is whatever He choses to do for God is not limited. If you are a child today, do not fear to turn your life over to God for God can do great things with you.

Another example of God using a child was the lad with his lunch that happened to be in the crowd listening to Jesus preach the gospel one day. (John 6:1-14 KJV) After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. {2} And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. {3} And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. {4} And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. {5} When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? {6} And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. {7} Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. {8} One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, {9} There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? {10} And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. {11} And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. {12} When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. {13} Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. {14} Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Now this lad was there observing the ministry of our Lord as the other children were that we have read about earlier. This was a common thing for children to be in the crowds that followed Jesus. It no doubt was God's plan that this lad would have some fish and barley loaves with him. And althought the Bible does not say, I'm sure that the lad was glad to loan his lunch to the Lord for this grand event. And so we see the significance of children in many events of the Bible. It is a grand thing to be a child today even as it has been through the ages of time.

Although men often disregard children to some lesser place, God regards them as already making choices of who they will serve even though they are children. (Prov 20:11 KJV) Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Yes even the child is letting us and God know what kind of person he is growing up to be. Our children have a lot of choices to make as they move through life. They can choose to be pure and right or they can choose to be filthy and evil. Let's face it, it does not take a rocket scientist to detect what path a child is on. We can often predict the way a child is going to turn out by the way he acts as a child.

As adults, we have a responsibility to demonstrate the right way for our children and be that example they need that will point them to the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of peach, and righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (2 Tim 1:1-5 KJV) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, {2} To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. {3} I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; {4} Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; {5} When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Here we see that Paul was recognizing the fact that unfeigned (real, genuine) faith had been demonstrated by three generations - Grandmother, Mother, Son. This is a great witness that the children of this family had this pure example to choose to follow. What example of faith does your children have to follow?

What is the best age? We have seen from our study today that the best age is the age you are right now. As we have considered the age of being a child, we see that to be a child is a good age. God has always held a great consideration for children and still does. It not an advantage or disadvantage to be a child. As we continue our study of this subject in the following weeks, we ask you to consider, what is the best age to serve God for you? You should recognize that the best age to serve God is before you get even one day older.

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Age - The Best Age