Young but Faithful

I must say I was in for a surprise when I walked into my Methodist church on campus at 8:05 or so this morning for the 8:15 service: there was a severe lack of young people despite the church being easily located by undergraduate admissions. At first I was shocked- would I be one of the only ones to regularly go to service? Was everyone else on campus just not Methodist and attending one of the other churches? Then I remembered a conversation I heard between two people last night.

In that conversation, both parties felt that church was a thing they could start up later, and all they really wanted to do with their Sunday morning was sleep in. I would be the first to admit to not necessarily going to church every Sunday, but if you don't start going to a church when you move into a new area, then when will it be? It just keeps getting put off until later and later until finally it just doesn't happen.

Really, what better way is there to spend a Sunday morning than in worship of the Lord who created that same morning? For that matter, what better way is there to spend any moment in time?

There isn't. One of the best and most fulfilling ways to spend our time is in giving it back to God, and one of the best ways to start doing that is to go to a church service.

To young people who may have been like me and discouraged by our general lack of attendance, I was flipping through my Bible and found a few verses:

"But Jesus called for them and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.'"~ Luke 18:16

"Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."~ 1 Timothy 4:12

"Remember you creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them'; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it."~ Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

My experience, which is admittedly not much, is that people tend to go to God when something big happens in their lives and they feel they need Him or need to thank Him. The truth is, you always need Him, and it is better to start early in growing in your faith before storms come to rock it- a sentiment shared in the verses above from Ecclesiastes. If you wait until a faith-testing moment to come to God, what faith will you have? The tree from the mustard seed of your faith may not have strong enough roots to last. If you build it up early, your faith can take you anywhere.

So, a note to all those folk like me, young and ready and eager to take our places in an ever-changing world: Don't lose sight of your faith, and take care of it even when you're coasting by on an easy ride in life (which isn't often). Don't say, "Oh, I can catch up with God later"- procrastination doesn't work too well in life and it doesn't help you spiritually.

As for my experience with going to church, maybe the 11:00 service would have more young people or maybe more will show up next week when it's not move-in weekend. I certainly hope and pray so.