They all flocked around me like birds to seed. Telling me their likes, dislikes, dreams and plans, I listened intently. Afraid to lose them, I kept my opinions to myself. This group of high school seniors was certainly doing and planning things I would never have dreamed of when I was their age. “You’re only young once right?” I smiled at the girl as she made the familiar announcement many before her have made. Inside my heart, love for these young adults flamed. Feeling the love of Christ inside me, urging me to share more with these students, his children, I took a deep breath. I hesitated. Fear crept in. Love won. Sharing with them my walk, my life with Christ, choices I had made and things I wish I could change, I hoped I was showing them she was right. You are only young once and youth is something you will never get back. Hoping I impressed on them not to waste their youth on bad decisions, the bell rang and we all went our separate ways. Some of them hung back and talked with me further, asking me questions. Amazed, I assumed they would have all judged me an old bore whom new nothing.
I may never see them again. Graduation has come and gone. Embarking on new adventures, they are starting their adult lives. Thinking about each one of them, I pray the Lord will touch their lives and they will be open to Him. The moment I hesitated comes to mind. For a moment there, I had considered just shutting my mouth and going on my way. The devil would have loved that. But the love my Savior has for each of His children and the love I have for Him, the one who has redeemed every one of my bad decisions, won out and I could not hold my tongue. Now I can only pray the seeds I planted will grow.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Romans 1:16
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