I was just thinking...

I was just thinking about what's been going on in the youth group, and what's not been going on in the youth group. And I'm not going to write a post loaded with bible verses with fancy links, that other people might think that Ed wrote. But this is something that I was talking about with somebody recently. What happened to our group? Why do we have so many lukewarm Christians? Why is there only a select few who are truly dedicated to the group? I've heard it said that it is not a sin to miss youth group. And the same people who say that would probably also say that it is not a sin to miss church. And I'll agree with those people to some degree. But I argue that it's not the action of missing church or youth group that is the sin, but rather what kept them away that is the sin. I believe that someday, when we have to give an account to the one who judges the living and the dead, He'll ask us the same questions that that people we know already ask us. And since we won't have any other answer, we'll have to answer with the same excuses that we told ourselves and our Christ family members and leaders. "I was eating with my parents. I had to work. Work called me in. I had to spend time with so and so. I forgot what time it was. I had something come up that wasn't planned." You know, all these sound great and fine and dandy now, here on earth, but I'll bet you a paycheck they won't get very far with God. And you know something else? I could make a lot more money than I do by working on Sundays and Tuesdays. I could spend a lot more time with my family than I do if I just skipped church or youth group whenever they wanted me too. But you know what? God comes first, so that is not an option to me. And it shouldn't be an option to you, either. If you want to take on responsibility in the group, I encourage you to do so. But that means being there almost all the time; and if you start something, then you should finish it. If you have something going on that keeps you from doing things, then I suggest that you cut it out. Quit. If we are doing things that God wants us to do, then our plate won't be too full and we won't be double booking ourselves. But if other things come up that keep us from our Godly commitments, then something has to go, either one or the other. You can't serve God and the world. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. If you are going to have the ambition to fill the shoes of leadership and responsibility, then you need to have feet big enough and strong enough to do all of the walking required. God will give you bigger assignments when you prove faithful with the small ones. But if don't, then you will have less and less to do. How much are we really devoted to serving the youth group? Are we willing to give things up? Make sacrifices? Isn't it true that time is more valuable than money? If that's the case, then how we spend our time with God, with ministry, and with other people is far more important than how we spend our money. And we need to have the time to make ourselves available for the things that we say we are going to do. We need to grow separately from the group before we can grow together as a group. I know that God wants to do something mightily in us, and the only thing that's stopping is us.