Why Are You Here?

The question “why are you here?” has been familiar to brethren in God’s Church over the past several decades. I remember sitting in Sabbath services in the 1980s and hearing many messages begin with that fundamental question. At that time, I didn’t fully grasp its importance.

So, why are YOU here? Do you ever ask yourself this? Do you know why you are in The Restored Church of God? Do you understand why you were born? Is this something you shouldn’t worry about until you are 20, 25 or 30?

Often, as human beings grow older, they look back on their life. Only then does one truly realize how quickly life goes by. Questions arise: “What did I accomplish in life?”—“Did I make the right choices?”—“Was my life a waste, or was it productive?”—“Why was I born?”—“Is there life after death?”

These are important questions. But if you wait until the end of your life to address them, you will have missed out on many, many opportunities.

The Bible explains that our life is temporary: “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withers, the flower fades: because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isa. 40:6-8).

The book of Job explains life in a similar way: “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down: he flees also as a shadow, and continues not” (Job 14:1-2).

Our lives are like shadows, here one moment—gone the next.

King David said this: “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passes away.” (Ps. 144:4). Life can be summed up as vanity, which means emptiness, or “a breath.” Consider how quickly one breath comes and goes. That is how fleeting life is! Here one day, gone the next.

Are you going to wait until you are 20 to start addressing the big questions in your life? Now—today!—is the time to stop, think and reflect.

A Special Phase of Life

King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. He was raised by his father, King David, a man after God’s own heart. Solomon led the nation of Israel through one of the most prosperous times in its history. He saw it all. In fact, he had it all—wisdom, riches, fame, possessions, and much more.

However, King Solomon also made many mistakes. He eventually turned from God and chose to live his own way, which resulted in a lot of pain and sorrow. But at the end of his life, King Solomon looked back and realized the end result of his decisions. Near the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon recorded the cause to help teenagers who would read the book thousands of years later.

Notice: “Rejoice, O young man [and woman], in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know you, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh” (Ecc. 11:9-10).

Solomon tells you to rejoice—enjoy your youth! But he also says that you will be held accountable for what you do, and that you should put away evil from your life.

He continues the instruction to youth in chapter 12: “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them; while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain” (vs. 1-2).

If you remember your Creator—if you keep in mind who made you and why He made you—you will be following some of the most important advice you will ever receive.

The days of one’s youth are wonderful indeed. I encourage you to truly enjoy each day as a teenager. Too often, teens desire to be older. They long for the future rather than enjoying each day. Be determined to make the most of every day! Don’t worry, you will grow up soon enough.

Realize that you have an opportunity to take a step toward the ultimate goal of becoming a part of the God Family, or to take a step away from that awesome potential.

What steps are you taking?

Recognize Your Enemies

To fully understand how to grow each day, and enjoy every minute, you must understand that there are negative forces in play that make this difficult. You have probably often heard of the three “S’s”—Satan, society and self. These are enemies of every Christian, and they are yours as well.

Satan the devil is called “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). He is in charge of the airwaves. In the 20th century, when radio was invented, this description of Satan was fairly easy to understand. Today it is even easier. In a sense, Satan has his own podcast that is automatically sent into every mind. With his podcast comes rotten attitudes, wrong thoughts, evil desires, and much more.

Understand that Satan does not want you to succeed. He will do everything in his power to turn you away from your ultimate goal. In fact, he has influenced you to make some wrong decisions in your life already. However, he is very, very clever and subtle. You will not be able to recognize that the influences and attitudes he sends to you originate from him. He will also present a host of small steps and scenarios that, of and by themselves, are not large, but lead to terrible choices and grave mistakes.

Then there is society. This is something every teenager in the Church of God struggles with on a daily basis. The world presents itself in a way that is attractive to young minds—there is a sense of glamour to it. If you have grown up in God’s Church, you do not comprehend what is beneath the surface. You may think “the grass is greener on the other side.” Young people often make the terrible mistake of choosing to learn things from personal experience, rather than from others. In effect, they have to “burn their hand on the stove,” even though they have been told it will hurt.

But this is not the only problem with society. It beckons teenagers to enjoy “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25), and it can slowly creep into their lives. Whether you realize it or not, you are influenced by society. Slowly, you begin to acquire worldly attributes. Here are just a few examples: the way you speak, what you wear, how you treat your parents, the games you play and the friends you make. You must make an effort not to allow yourself to take on worldly influences.

Finally, your third enemy is self. In combination with society and Satan’s influence, your human nature is set on deceiving you. Consider all of the awful things human beings do to each other. Then realize that you have that same nature inside of you. Do you allow wrong attitudes to develop in you toward your parents, God’s way of life, or other things? Do you find you can convince yourself that doing something is okay, even when your conscience tells you it is wrong? Certainly the answer is sometimes yes.

However, just because you do sometimes fall prey to any of these three enemies does not mean you have failed. You must continue to get up and take steps forward, even if there is an occasional step backward.

Remember what the wisest man, King Solomon, said: Rejoice in your youth!

Ambassador Youth Camp

A great way to help you achieve success as a teenager is to attend Ambassador Youth Camp. Like the Feast of Tabernacles, it is a highlight of the year. Having grown up in the Church, I fondly recall the summer camps I attended. It is one of the best decisions I made in my teenaged years.

Some teens may hear about Ambassador Youth Camp and not want to attend. Others may feel uneasy about it. Some may feel that it is not that important. But it is very important! It is a chance to experience a lot of fun, while at the same time learning about God’s way of life and how to survive the “perfect storm” in the world.

I recall several teens in the Church who never made attending camp a priority. Those of us who attended would always say, “They don’t know what they’re missing.”

Ambassador Youth Camp provides one of the best opportunities to take stock of your life. For two full weeks, you will be out of the world and with youth of like mind, being taught by Christ’s servants.

You may have noticed that this issue of Ambassador Youth is tailored to prepare youth for camp. Read each article carefully.

Decide now that you cannot afford not to go. Attending AYC is one giant step forward in seeking out the answer to “Why Am I Here?”