Youths Who Remember Their Creator
“Remember, now, your Grand Creator in the days of your young manhood.”—ECCLESIASTES 12:1.
1. What expressions of an 11-year-old reveal that our Creator is real to him?
HOW fine when young ones speak and act in a way that shows that they view Jehovah God as a real person whom they admire and want to please! An 11-year-old boy said: “When I’m alone and look out the window, I see how wonderful Jehovah’s creations are. Then I dream about how beautiful Paradise will be in the future and about how I can touch the animals then.” (Isaiah 11:6-9) He added: “When I’m alone, I pray to Jehovah. I know he won’t get mad at me for talking to him all the time. I know he’s always there watching me.” Is our Creator as real to you as he is to this boy?
How Real Is God to You?
2. (a) How can your Creator become real to you? (b) What part can parents have in helping their children appreciate that God is a real person?
2 For Jehovah and his promises to be real to you, you must first learn about him and the wonderful future he offers you in the righteous new world that the Bible describes. (Revelation 21:3, 4) If your parents have taught you about these things, you have reason to be grateful because this enables you to heed the inspired command: “Remember, now, your Grand Creator.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) One youth said regarding her early parental training: “Everything in life always came back to Jehovah. This was the key to my remembering my Creator.” Another young woman observed: “I’ll be forever grateful to my parents for teaching me that Jehovah is a real person. They showed me how to love him and told me about the joy of serving him full-time.”
3, 4. What can help you think of Jehovah as a real person?
3 Yet, many find it hard to conceive of God as a real person who is interested in them. Do you? One youth was helped to think about God in a personal way by this statement in The Watchtower: “How big Jehovah God is as to his body, we do not know.” Of course, God’s eminence does not lie in his size or shape, as the next sentence in that Watchtower said: “His real greatness is in being what kind of God he is,” indeed, a faithful, compassionate, loving, and forgiving God.a (Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 86:5; James 5:11) Have you come to view Jehovah as such a person, a trusted friend with whom you can have a precious relationship? —Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23.
4 Jesus helped his early followers to enjoy a personal relationship with God. Thus, when the apostle John wrote about his anticipated resurrection to heavenly life, John observed: “We shall be like [God], because we shall see him just as he is.” (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:44) Youths today can also be helped to view God as a real person, one they can get to know well even though they cannot personally see him. A young man noted: “My parents helped me remember Jehovah by asking many questions, such as, ‘What would Jehovah say? How would you explain it in your own words? What does that mean?’” Do not questions like these make us think about our personal relationship with God?
What It Means to Remember
5. What Bible examples show that to remember someone involves more than recalling his name?
5 Heeding the injunction, “Remember, now, your Grand Creator,” means more than just thinking about Jehovah. It involves action, doing what pleases him. When the criminal implored Jesus, “Remember me when you get into your kingdom,” he wanted Jesus to do more than recall his name. He wanted Jesus to act, to resurrect him. (Luke 23:42) Similarly, the imprisoned Joseph expected some action in his behalf when he asked Pharaoh’s cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh. And when Job petitioned God, “Remember me,” Job was requesting that at some future time, God would act to resurrect him.—Job 14:13; Genesis 40:14, 23.
6. How does the Hebrew word for “remember” imply affection for the thing or person remembered?
6 One authority says that the Hebrew word translated “remember” often implies “the affection of the mind and the action which accompanies recollection.” The implication of “affection” in the word “remember” can be seen in the exclamation of “the mixed crowd” in the wilderness: “How we remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt!” Just as Job petitioned to be favorably remembered by God, so Hezekiah, Nehemiah, David, and an unnamed psalmist also pleaded to be remembered with affection by Jehovah in recognition of their faithfulness.—Numbers 11:4, 5; 2 Kings 20:3; Nehemiah 5:19; 13:31; Psalm 25:7; 106:4.
7. If we remember God with affection, how will this affect our conduct?
7 Thus we might ask, ‘Do we remember our Creator with affection and avoid doing anything to cause him to feel hurt or pain?’ A youth observed: “Mother helped me to recognize that Jehovah has feelings, and at an early age, I was aware that my actions had an effect on him.” (Psalm 78:40-42) Another explained: “I knew that my actions would either help or hinder in answering the challenge Satan made to Jehovah. I wanted to make Jehovah’s heart glad, so that helped me and continues to help me today.”—Proverbs 27:11.
8. (a) What pursuit will indicate that we remember Jehovah with affection? (b) What questions will youths wisely consider?
8 Admittedly, in this wicked world, it is not always easy to remember Jehovah by sharing fully in activity that pleases him. Yet how fine it would be if you could imitate young Timothy of the first century—not to mention thousands of God-fearing youths today—by pursuing the Christian service full-time as a pioneer minister! (Acts 16:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 3:2) However, it may be asked, Would you be able to support yourself in the pioneer ministry? And if you got married, would you have the skills to provide for those in your family? (1 Timothy 5:8) These are important questions, and it is vital that you give them serious thought.
Education With a Purpose
9. What decision faces youths regarding secular education?
9 As human society becomes more complex, a greater amount of schooling may be needed to obtain adequate employment to support yourself in the pioneer work. You may have noted that even some with a university education have had to be reeducated to acquire new skills that are valued by employers today. So how much schooling will you young ones who want to please God pursue? The decision properly should be made with the inspired command in mind: “Remember, now, your Grand Creator.”
10. What is the best education we can receive?
10 You will, of course, want to pursue what even many secular authorities regard as the best education—the one realized from a careful study of God’s Word. The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe noted: “The greater the intellectual progress of [a people], the more fully possible will it also become to employ the Bible both as the foundation and as the instrument of education.” Yes, a study of the Bible will better equip you for life than will any other education!—Proverbs 2:6-17; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
11. (a) What is the most important work we can do? (b) Why did one youth choose to get a measure of education?
11 Since knowledge of God is life-giving, the most important work you can do today is to share that knowledge with others. (Proverbs 3:13-18; John 4:34; 17:3) To do this effectively, however, you need to be educated in fundamental ways. You need to be able to think clearly, speak logically, and read and write well—skills that are taught in school. So take your school courses seriously, as did Tracy, a youth in Florida, U.S.A., who graduated from high school with scholastic honors. She expressed her hope: “I have always had as my goal to be a full-time servant of my God Jehovah, and I hope my education will help me achieve this goal.”
12. If additional secular education is chosen, what purpose may it help fulfill?
12 Have you thought about why you go to school? Is it primarily to equip yourself to become an effective minister of Jehovah? If so, you will want to give serious consideration to how well your education accomplishes this purpose. After consultation with your parents, it may be decided that you should pursue schooling beyond the minimum required by law. Such additional education may help you to obtain employment to support yourself and still leave you with the time and energy to share fully in Kingdom activity.—Matthew 6:33.
13. How have two Russian Christians who pursued supplementary education demonstrated their purpose in life?
13 Some who pursue supplementary education engage in the full-time ministry even while they are receiving further schooling. Consider Nadia and Marina, two teenage girls in Moscow, Russia. Both were baptized in April 1994 and began to serve as auxiliary pioneer ministers. Shortly afterward they graduated from high school and enrolled in a two-year accounting program. In May 1995 they started to regular pioneer, yet they maintained an A average in their accounting classes. Moreover, they were able to conduct, between them, an average of 14 Bible studies each week while still going to school. The girls hope that their education in accounting will enable them to find adequate employment, so that they can support themselves in the full-time ministry.
14. Regardless of what amount of secular education we choose, what should be the most important thing in our lives?
14 If you pursue secular education beyond what is required by law, wisely examine your reason for doing so. Is it to make a name for yourself and to get material riches? (Jeremiah 45:5; 1 Timothy 6:17) Or is it your goal to use supplementary education to share more fully in Jehovah’s service? Lydia, a youth who chose to pursue further education, expressed a fine focus on spiritual matters, explaining: “Others pursue higher education and let materialism get in the way, and they’ve dropped God. Personally my relationship with God is the most important thing to me.” What a commendable attitude for all of us!
15. What variety of educational backgrounds was there among first-century Christians?
15 Significantly, first-century Christians had a wide variety of educational backgrounds. The apostles Peter and John, for example, were considered to be “unlettered and ordinary” because they had not been trained in the rabbinic schools. (Acts 4:13) The apostle Paul, on the other hand, received what was comparable today to a university education. Yet, Paul did not use that education to bring attention to himself; rather, it was an asset when he preached to people in various stations of life. (Acts 22:3; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Philippians 1:7) Similarly, Manaen, who had been “educated with Herod the district ruler,” was among those who took the lead in the Antioch congregation.—Acts 13:1.
Why Manage Your Finances Wisely?
16. (a) Why may it be harder to remember our Creator if we are in debt? (b) How does one of Jesus’ illustrations reveal the importance of thinking before we spend?
16 If you fail to manage your finances wisely, it may be harder to remember your Creator by doing what pleases him. For if you fall into debt, it can be said that you have another master. The Bible explains: “Borrow money and you are the lender’s slave.” (Proverbs 22:7, Today’s English Version) One of Jesus’ illustrations highlights the importance of thinking before we spend. “Who of you,” Jesus said, “that wants to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, he might lay its foundation but not be able to finish it, and all the onlookers might start to ridicule him.”—Luke 14:28, 29.
17. Why is it often hard to control one’s spending?
17 Wisely, therefore, you will try to live by the Scriptural principle ‘not to be owing anybody a single thing, except to love one another.’ (Romans 13:8) But this is hard to do, especially when confronted with a continuous supply of new products that advertisers claim you really need. One parent, who has tried to help his children exercise discernment, observed: “We have spent much time discussing what is a need and what is a want.” Schools generally have failed to teach such matters, providing little if any instruction on how to handle finances in a responsible manner. “We graduate from high school knowing more about an isosceles triangle than how to save,” noted one social worker. What, then, can help you to spend wisely?
18. What is a key to wise management of finances, and why?
18 Heeding the exhortation, “Remember, now, your Grand Creator,” is a key to the wise management of your finances. This is because when you obey that command, your priority is to please Jehovah, and your affection for him influences how you spend your money. Accordingly, you will try not to allow personal wants to interfere with giving God whole-souled devotion. (Matthew 16:24-26) You will strive to keep your eye “simple,” that is, clearly focused on God’s Kingdom and the doing of his will. (Matthew 6:22-24) You will thus come to view the divine admonition to “honor Jehovah with your valuable things” as a joyful privilege.—Proverbs 3:9.
Youths Worthy of Imitation
19. How have youths in the past remembered their Creator?
19 Happily, many youths, past and present, have remembered their Creator. Little Samuel remained steadfast in tabernacle service despite the immoral influence of those with whom he served. (1 Samuel 2:12-26) An alluring temptress, Potiphar’s wife, could not entice young Joseph to commit fornication. (Genesis 39:1-12) Even though “but a boy,” Jeremiah preached courageously in the face of severe opposition. (Jeremiah 1:6-8) A little Israelite girl fearlessly directed a powerful Syrian army chief to seek help in Israel, where he could learn about Jehovah. (2 Kings 5:1-4) Young Daniel and his companions kept their faith when tested on dietary laws of God. And the youths Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego chose to be hurled into a fiery furnace rather than compromise their loyalty to God by worshiping before an image.—Daniel 1:8, 17; 3:16-18; Exodus 20:5.
20. How have many youths remembered their Creator today?
20 Today more than 2,000 youths 19 to 25 years of age serve at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York State, U.S.A. They are only a small portion of the tens of thousands of young ones who are remembering their Creator worldwide. Like Joseph of old, they have refused to compromise their moral cleanness. Many have obeyed God rather than men when forced to choose whom they would serve. (Acts 5:29) In 1946 in Poland, 15-year-old Henryka Zur was tortured when she refused to perform an act of religious idolatry. “Think inside whatever you want to,” suggested one of her tormentors, “just make the Catholic sign of the cross.” Because she refused, she was dragged into the forest and shot, her assured hope of eternal life intact!b
21. What invitation would it be wise to accept, with what outcome?
21 How Jehovah’s heart must be warmed by young ones who have remembered him through the centuries! Will you respond to his invitation, “Remember, now, your Grand Creator”? Truly he is worthy of your remembrance! Think daily about all he has done for you and yet will do, and accept his invitation: “Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, that I may make a reply to him that is taunting me.”—Proverbs 27:11.
[Footnotes]
b See 1994 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, pages 217-18, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
Do You Recall?
◻ How can youths be helped to view God as a real person?
◻ What does it mean to remember your Creator?
◻ What purpose should our education serve?
◻ Why is it vital to manage our finances wisely?
◻ What youths are worthy of your imitation?
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Have you thought about why you go to school?
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Are you learning to manage finances wisely?