"It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth."

                            -Lamentations 3:27

I, as well as the majority of you reading this, have been gifted with what modern society has termed "the teenage years." The sad part is that our culture tends to look at these years as a time to goof off and have fun, instead of a time of preparation for our future, which is what God intended them to be. While most teenagers spend this precious time of their life doing nothing but playing video games and watching television, God has called us to go beyond the cultural norm of laziness and complacency, and to use our teenage years as a time of drawing closer to Him and preparing for whatever He may have in store for us.

As todays passage (Lamentation 3:27) says, it is good for us that we embrace the "yoke" (i.e. responsibilities) of our youth. No, it doesn't say we are supposed to run from these responsibilities like most teens do, but instead we are instructed to welcome them. Those who waste their teenage years doing nothing but goofing off will find themselves ill-equipped to face the responsibilities of the real world. That is why we must be in preparation for our future now: so we're not caught off guard when it slaps us in the face.

"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

                            -I Timothy 4:12

The modern-day idea that we can't accomplish anything if we're young is a lie from the pit of hell. If you are willing to let Him, God can use you in a way that is beyond anything you've ever imagined. The choice is yours.