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The Youth’s Instructor

126/477

April 26, 1894

Enlist

EGW

It is the duty of every youth to place himself decidedly and without reserve on the side of Christ, in order that he may develop a character that will be after the similitude of Christ's, and grow up to the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus. He will then be written as a man in the book of God, and will be a man not only in the estimation of men, but in the sight of God. Dear youth, the very best thing you can do is to enlist freely and decidedly in the army of the Lord. Surrender yourself into the hands of God, that your will and ways may be guided by the One who is unerring in wisdom and infinite in goodness. To withhold yourself from God is to rob God of that which is his own. The Lord hath need of you, and you have need of the Lord. It is not safe for you to put off the decisive step, or delay the matter of making a complete surrender of yourself to God. If you have not already given yourself to God, I beseech you to do it now. Let your name be enrolled in the heavenly records as one of the chosen and elect of God. YI April 26, 1894, par. 1

The day is coming when we shall have to meet the record of our lives. Will your record be such as you will be pleased to meet in the day when every case shall be decided? John saw in vision the scene of the judgment. He says: “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” In view of the accountability to which you are held, can you afford to drop eternity out of your reckoning? Can you afford to drift with the current, and live unmindful of God, giving the impression to the world and to the heavenly hosts that to enlist in the service of Jesus Christ is to enlist in the service of a tyrant, and be in a kind of slavery? This is the light in which Satan presents the service of God; but it will be for your interest to consider the matter in its true light, and contradict Satan's suggestions and falsehoods. You are the Lord's property, both by creation and by redemption. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What a priceless gift this was for God to make in order to secure your salvation[!] How sad it is that so few accept this precious gift! What a terrible record the human race will have to meet in the last day, since the vast majority of men have refused the priceless offering,—rejected the richest gift that God could bestow upon the world. It is through the inestimable gift of Christ that all our blessings come. Life, health, friends, reason, happiness, are ours through the merit of Christ. O that the young and the old might realize that all comes to them through the virtue of Christ's life and death, and acknowledge the ownership of God. YI April 26, 1894, par. 2

The apostle writes, “Ye are not your own.” Even when we were under the control of a cruel master, even when the prince of darkness ruled our spirits, the Lord Jesus Christ paid the ransom price of his own blood for us. You have been bought with a price, even with the precious blood of Christ; you are his property, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Render to him willing heart service, and no longer rob God of that which is his own. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is your privilege to be a faithful soldier in the army of the Lord. YI April 26, 1894, par. 3

Through his holy word, through his providences, and through messages sent to you by his servants, Jesus is daily saying to you, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Jesus has given his precious life for you, that you may become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then give yourself to him as a pledge of grateful love. Were it not for the love freely given us of Christ, we should now be in hopeless despair, in spiritual midnight. Thank God everyday that he gave us Jesus. Will you not accept his gift? Will you not be his witness? Time is short; and it becomes you to work while the day lasts, living an imperishable life, hiding your life with Christ in God. Then “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” YI April 26, 1894, par. 4

Mrs. E. G. White