As the Deer Rethought
Teenagers are under attack. You go to the beach or lake and see skin.
I think I've seen more cotton in an Ibuprofen bottle. Ya know?!
You switch on tv and more attacks come your way!
Even at the mall, you can't avoid lust because the stores design everything to make you lust. Why? Sex sells!
They're worried about making bucks. The stores aren't worried about protecting teenagers. They want your money and could care less about what their clothing and other products do to your generation.
And you know what, everyone buys, whether they are Christian or not.
Even Christians are so worried about fitting in that they buy the skimpy clothes and other items to show off their bodies. You are buying the advertised items to advertise your body.
What makes the Christian teenager different from the teenagers who don't know Jesus as their Savior?
What about music? Most teens listen to and buy music that promotes violence, talks about sex, insulting people, and speaks about women as if they are an inferior species.
Are you a Christian who does the same? Do you fill your life, your heart, your mind, and your spirit with all of the type of stuff that Jesus and the Bible speak against?
There is a reason that the Bible says to think about and fill your lives with only certain things.
Now tell me, what would happen if it wasn't for mom, dad, or your guardians. What if they weren't around to show you what things you should eat to grow up healthy.
What would your body be like if you had candy bars, pop, cake, and ice cream for every meal? Would you be healthy? What would happen if you never consumed any healthy food?
You woul either develop a blood sugar disorder like Diabetes, malnutrition, become extremely big and maybe fat, or you might poison your system to the point that your body begins to die.
Do you understand that listening to the Lord Jesus and reading and doing what the Bible says keeps you from developing and keeping some bad junk in your lives?
Why do you think teens become so entranced by following the crowd or being like actors, actoresses, or musical artists?
It's just like a deer who stops in the road in the middle of the night and stares straight into the oncoming truck's headlights. They're so entranced by these oncoming lights that they are basically hypnotized and they get hit and run over by the big vehicle.
What could we call what I've described?
What about "The World Machine"?
How many teens between 13 and 19 become hypnotized by what is considered cool or attractive and they get hit, run over, and steem rolled by what THE WORLD says is cool, pleasing, and acceptable?
What would happen if one, or maybe two, teens stood against the flow of the masses. What if they chose to use God as a filter or as sun glasses to keep themselves from being hooked on the oncoming lights?
What if this generation chose to stand and say "NO! Enough is enough!"?
It boils down to what is most important to you.
Filling your lives with things that catch you in the headlights has to go.
Guys, pray about what changes you can make in your life. Pray about what you would be willing to place at the foot of the cross so that other people can see your lives, lives that act as road signs - directions to the cross.
Jeremy Brown 2005