My favorite group of people to speak to is young people.  There is something special about their energy, their authenticity.  Some time back I was preaching to a fine group of teens and referred to “us” as “young.”  After the service my wife lovingly and diplomatically reminded me that I am not young to them anymore!

Youth is hard to define.  When does it end?  Suddenly, without warning it is gone and…where did it go?  I still consider myself to be young (at least until I am 40) but in a very real sense I see youth slipping away.

I have been flipping through an old poetry book this week.  Poetry has never been my favorite thing but one poem captured my attention.

The Flight of Youth by Richard Henry Stoddard

There are gains for all our losses, There are balms for all our pain:

But when youth, the dream, departs, It takes something from our hearts,

And it never comes again.

We are stronger, and are better, Under manhood’s sterner reign:

Still we feel that something sweet followed youth, with flying feet,

And will never come again.

Something beautiful is vanished and we sigh for it in vain:

We behold it everywhere, On the earth, and in the air,

But it never comes again.

I know nothing about Stoddard, but he captured it.  Read Ecclesiastes 12 again.  Youth comes, and goes.  A few thoughts…

1.  If you still have your youth, don’t waste it.

2.  If youth is gone, thank God for the lessons learned and determine to make the most of this season of your life.

3.  If you love young people, challenge them to make every day count.

There should be an urgency to youth – the urgency to use every ounce of energy and passion for the glory of God.  Youth may fade, but the urgency should not.  I hope to finish my journey with the same urgency I had as a young man, because when life is gone…”it never comes again.”