By Ryan Shaw

As I have traveled and hung out with many from the younger generation (18-28 years old) over the past few years, I have had an overriding concern that has been building within me. I have watched as many have been flippant with this season of their lives, not grasping the critical nature of these years both in the development of their lives in God and His purpose for their lives. As those who have been cleansed and redeemed by the blood of Jesus, our lives have been set on a different course than the rest of the younger generation. As those who have made a commitment to serve God among the nations, the absolute need to steward these years well becomes heightened as we want to be prepared in God before we go. I strongly advise you not to waste these pivotal years of your life. Instead, embrace the depths to which God wants to take you and cultivate a focused life in God that will reap great fruit in three, five, ten, and twenty years from now.

Tendency Toward Idleness

There are multitudes of scriptural challenges that highlight the importance of not wasting our time, our energies, and many other of our life's resources. One overlooked area of sin in our midst these days is that of idleness. The scripture has much to say about it and commands us to live free from it, yet many of us find ourselves soaked in it, allowing all kinds of eternally insignificant distractions to keep us from stewarding our lives faithfully. God's people are called to steward their lives for His purposes at every stage and one primary one is that of the 18-28 age range. Live your life with purpose now (Ecclesiastes 9:10). We must combat the lie dished out to us by the culture which tells us that this is a season to play, have fun, and generally to keep my options open. There is a distinct purpose, given by God, for these years and if we miss stewarding this purpose well then we could be set back significantly in accomplishing God's purpose for our lives.

Living With Purpose

We are living in extraordinary days! There is something that God is stirring around the earth that is different than previous generations have known. We are living in a ripe hour of the church's history and there is expectancy that God will use young people to accomplish great exploits in His kingdom, especially in those areas with the least access to the gospel of Christ. As Message Bearers, you have committed to be a person purposefully engaged in God's global mandate. There are conditions, however, placed upon those who engage with God. God calls us to be people of diligence in discipleship, turning away from the distractions around us (even good things) and pressing into growth in Him and development in Him with all of our energy. We will not be used of Him to participate in such extraordinary things if we do not commit ourselves to the hard work now of cultivating our lives thoroughly for God. There are lessons that God wants to teach you in this season that today you have no idea about. The question is will we let Him teach us? Or will we continue to live these years flippantly and without purpose and focus.

Developing a Teachable Spirit

This is a season where your formation as a servant of God is being most formed. In college you face all kinds of opportunities to be formed in character, servanthood, leadership, prayer, how to deal with disappointment, how to follow through with perseverance, how to love people who are difficult to get along with, and a host of other valuable lessons. You also have the potential to commit large chunks of time to becoming a student of the Bible, and to learning the lessons of faith and testing that He will inevitably teach you. These will not be easy lessons, but critical to the formation God must work within each of His servants, and absolutely rewarding as He leads us through them. The key in all of these circumstances is to make ourselves available to the potter to shape us ad mold us as He wills, by developing a teachable spirit. We need to get into the habit of asking ourselves as we go through situation the question, "What is God trying to teach me about Himself and about His Kingdom. We must develop listening ears in order to fully grasp what the Lord is wanting to do in and through us."

I want to submit a fact to you….that for most young believers (18-28) your destiny in God is being decided right now. This means that who you are becoming currently will have direct ramifications upon what you will accomplish for God and how He will use you. Are you fully embracing His refining fire? Are you surrendering the ambitions, goals, lusts, and ungodly desires that He demands of those who follow Him? Are you dying to self-centeredness, self-seeking, and self-importance? Are you asking the Holy Spirit to teach you how to pray? Are you learning about prayer as you continue steadfastly in it? Are you cultivating your leadership capacities by volunteering to do things you feel totally inadequate for and incapable of doing, but called by God to do? Are you step by step pressing into full obedience to what God is saying no matter what the cost? Are you pursuing wholeheartedness towards God and becoming the worshipper He wills you to be? Are you cultivating the listening ear to know His voice as opposed to all the other competing voices in our midst? Are you embracing a life of simplicity instead of the " gotta have it" materialism so prevalent even in Christian circles.

A Commitment to Stewardship

God is calling you to steward these years with vigilance and diligence…..How will you respond? Commit yourself to this journey and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime as He fashions you for service in His kingdom globally. The following are specific topics that I will highlight throughout the fall. Each of these is under the series title we will be focusing on called, "Stewarding The College and Beyond Years Wisely: Cultivating a life fully devoted to God right now":

•         September 28 - Through growing in Integrity, Character, Servanthood and being the last
•         October 12 - Through growing in the "fear of the Lord" lifestyle and deep intimacy with Christ
•         October 26 - Through growing in time management and learning to lead
•         November 9 - Through obtaining and following mentors and cultivating your life vision
•         November 23 - Through a lifestyle of simplicity and becoming a "sermon on the mount" Christian
•         December 7 - Through becoming a God-pleaser instead of a man-pleaser
•         December 21 - Through developing endurance and perseverance for a lifetime of service to God