by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n
It is easy for young people to ignore how short life really is. At 21, 80 looks like forever. “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom<\/em>” (Psalm 90:12). Even if you do live a long life, though the longer you use drugs the more that is doubtful, it doesn’t mean the last days of your life will be active ones.<\/p>\n “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n God intends youth to be a time of fun, not worldly “fun” but true fun that brings true joy. That is why Solomon said to “put away evil from your flesh;” nothing saps the fun out of life like sin. But if you put it off and continue to insist on chasing after drugs and other sins, it will eventually catch up with you. Even if you somehow manage to leave drugs behind later, it will be too late to enjoy all that you could have had in life.<\/p>\n I want you to have a great life, one that you can look back at and be satisfied that you did well and lived it to the fullest. Yes, you’ve sinned, but is that a reason to stay in chains or a reason to break free? Break out of the cage Satan has you in now, leave the sins behind, and start really enjoying life again!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSearching for My Friend\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before the Difficult Days by Jeffrey W. Hamilton It is easy for young people to ignore how short life really is. At 21, 80 looks like forever. “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Even if you do live a long life, though the longer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25976,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65745","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65594,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/searching-for-my-friend\/a-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":65745,"position":0},"title":"A Game?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Game? by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Several times you mentioned that life was just a game, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I've puzzled over where you got such an idea. You know as well as I do that this isn't a concept taught in the Bible. God taught you\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/why-did-god-create-man-a-study-of-ecclesiastes\/the-answer\/","url_meta":{"origin":65745,"position":1},"title":"The Answer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Answer Reading Assignment:\u00a0Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:14 Did you understand what you read? When is the best time to begin serving God? Why? Solomon describes growing old in Ecclessiastes 12:2-5. List each description and its meaning. So what makes life meaningful? Lesson Enjoy your youth while you have it. Just remember that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65826,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/searching-for-my-friend\/getting-in-gear\/","url_meta":{"origin":65745,"position":2},"title":"Getting in Gear","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Getting in Gear by Jeffrey W. Hamilton One of the impacts marijuana has on the user is a lackadaisical approach to life. It isn't that there aren't big dreams, it is just that the user never seems to manage to make progress on those ideas. A big reason is that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/david-and-his-psalms\/davids-last-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":65745,"position":3},"title":"David’s Last Days","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Lesson 10 David's Last Days Chronology Summary A Successor Selected (I Kings 1) Adonijah, Solomon's power-thirsty half-brother, desired the throne. Adonijah figured that his ambition was applauded by his father since David had not spoken against him. Adonijah prepared his forces to take the throne of David. Joab and Abiathar,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25976,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/searching-for-my-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":65745,"position":4},"title":"Searching for My Friend","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Searching for My Friend by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Once again I lost a dear young friend to the seductive snare of drugs. It grieves me to the depth of my heart to see a life full of potential and capable of great joy being twisted toward ruin, sadness, and loneliness.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Searching.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4532,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-greatest-love-song-written-a-study-of-the-song-of-solomon\/an-introduction-to-the-song-of-solomon\/","url_meta":{"origin":65745,"position":5},"title":"An Introduction to the Song of Solomon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Song of Solomon The time between finding the perfect husband and the day of your marriage can seem like an eternity. It feels as if you are conscious of the passing of every second. 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