BEING a young person is a remarkably interesting and yet an exceedingly difficult part of one’s life because it involves making fundamental decisions that can affect you, for better or for worse, for the rest of your life.
There are two fundamental decisions that one must make as a young person. The first one is to a choice of career, which is about how you will earn a living.
The second one is a choice of a life partner; that is, choosing the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with. Although you have the choice to make these decisions, you don’t a choice of the consequences of these decisions. I have seen first-hand colleagues who made wrong decisions and have paid dearly for these decisions.
There is a third choice you must make which most young people forget to make and that is the decision of where will spend your eternity. While the first two decisions have implications for this life only, the third has implications for this life and the afterlife.
There are many young people that delay making this decision. I met a young man in Tanzania in one of my many international consultancy assignments who was in his early 30s. I worked with him for a total of three months in 2015 and 2016. He called me ‘bishop’ even though I was just an elder at the time.
When I told him to make a decision for Jesus, he responded that he would become a Christian at the age of 40. When I told him I gave my life to Christ at the age of 21, he responded: “Bishop, you became a Christian too early.”
I am still in contact with him and he has past the age of 40 and to the best of my knowledge he is not yet a Christian. The hard truth is, if you do not become a Christian as a young person, the probability of becoming a Christian diminishes with age while the chances of spending your eternity increases.
When we were growing up, a cousin of my mine Banja loved Ecclesiastes 11:9 which states that “Rejoice in your youth oh youth and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Do whatever your heart desires and whatever you see.”
But my cousin did not like the last part of this verse which states, “but know for all these things God will bring you into judgement.” In other words, you can do whatever you want as a young person, but God will hold you accountable for your decisions and subsequent actions.
Remember that the Book of Ecclesiastes was written by the wisest person who ever lived – Solomon – who had everything and enjoyed everything. And I
mean everything.
He concludes his thesis by saying, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth before those evil days come and the years approach when you will say I have no pleasure in them,” in other words in the things you used to enjoy. Remember the oldest person you see was once like you. The hard truth is that you will also be like him!
For the next version of The Hard Truth, check Kalemba every Tuesday.
Dr Kennedy Musonda holds a Bachelor and Master of Social Work, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. He also hold a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. Dr Musonda is an international consultant in development.
For feedback contact email: [email protected], WhatsApp/Telegram line +260977526404 or Skype: kmusonda45
