“A prudent wife is from the Lord.”  This verse means more to me the longer I am married. Tammy and I were driving along in the car recently.  The kids were strangely quiet in the back seat, and we were talking. About nothing. About everything.

I really don’t remember how we came to the topic, but she began to talk about how much she appreciated all that her parents had instilled in her. They were saved when she was just a little girl and had worked hard to teach her and her siblings that the world held nothing for them. The scars of sin were not worth the pleasure of sin. With emotion, she said to me, “People without God are miserable. Christian young people today just don’t realize what they are missing out on!”

That is exactly what they think. But for a different reason. Young people reared in God-fearing homes and taught Christian principles often believe the devil’s lie: They are missing out!

Indeed, they are. Young people who know the Lord and follow Him are missing out…

Here’s What You Miss Out On:

• They are missing out on a mind clouded with painful memories.
• They are missing out on bodies scarred with the choices they have made.
• They are missing out on relationships built on and broken by selfishness.
• They are missing out on heartache and grief caused by regrets.
• They are missing out on deeply ingrained habits that must be battled for the rest of their life.
• They are missing out on wasted hours and years, never to be regained.
• They are missing out on empty days and lonely nights.
• They are missing out on everything the world and the devil has to offer.
• They are missing out on a ruined life and sad old age.
• They are missing out on hell.

I accepted Christ when I was five. Like many young people I know, I was raised in a godly home. Yes, I missed out. There were certain things we were not allowed to do. My parents had rules. Now, with children of my own, I thank God for that. And I want that for my kids and every young person I know!

The prodigal left home because he thought he was missing out. He learned the hard way. His older brother grew bitter because he thought he had missed out. If he only knew! Their father said it best when he said, “All that I have is thine.” We have in God all that we need. What more do you want?

The famous evangelist Gypsy Smith was leading a testimony meeting. One man rose to say that he had spent twenty years in prison, but God had saved him. Another announced that he had been a drunk for fifteen years but God had saved him.

Gypsy Smith responded, “Men, listen, God has done wonders for you, but don’t forget he did more for this gypsy boy than for all of you put together. He saved me before I got where you did!”

If you have been given such a heritage, you have the greatest testimony of all. You may not have much to say that God saved you from, but think of all He saved you from!

Thank God that you are missing out.

WATCH: God’s Young People

About Scott Pauley