SDA Youth in the Last Days

  In the early 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte and his men fought battles all over Europe. His troops, for the most part, were loyal, but one young soldier committed an action of treason. Napoleon decided to look overlook it, to give him another chance, but then the soldier was disloyal once more. Napoleon had no choice but to condemn him to death.   When the young man’s mother heard about it, she traveled many, many miles to plead with the great general. “Have mercy on my son,” She begged.   Napoleon shook his head. “Impossible. He has committed the same crime twice, and because of that, he must die.”   The mother didn’t give up. “Sire,” She cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, “I am not pleading for justice, but for mercy! Please spare his life!”   The great general shook his head. “He deserves no mercy.” He said in contempt.  “Ah, no, he most certainly does not.” The mother agreed. “But it wouldn’t be mercy, sire, if he deserved it!”   ...

  She hung her head, overcome with shame. She could feel his eyes on her, and she dared not look up to meet them. All around her she could hear the jeers of the mob, and she could see men picking up stones. She grimaced as she heard the words spoken by the Pharisee— the last words she ever expected to hear. “Master, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Moses commands us to stone her, but what do you say?”      Mary waited tensely for the Master’s reply. But to her confusion, she heard  him say nothing. Silence was all around her, as every man stood waiting for Jesus’ to say something. What was he doing? Why was he not answering them? Just tell them to stone me and get it over with! her mind screamed.      Mary dared to lift her head a little, and she peeked through her long hair that hung limply over her face. She saw the Teacher writing in the sand. Writing in the sand! What was he doing that for? Didn’t he know that ...

In John five it tells the story of a paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, a place where sick people would go to to be healed from their various incurable diseases. They thought that an angel stirred the waters of the pool, and when they were stirred, whoever touched the waters first would be healed. But the poor paralytic was much too sick and paralyzed to even make it near the waters when they were stirred and so he would lay on his bed day after day, dreaming and wishing for the time when he might be strong enough to make it into the waters first.    Year after year went by and he only became weaker and weaker, always watching sadly as others around him would make it into the waters before him. While he was wishing and thinking hopelessly about how he would never be able make it to the waters, a sweet voice broke through his troubled thoughts and asked a simple, yet challenging question: “Wilt thou be made whole?’    The paralytic replied, ‘Sir, I have no man t...

Sliding around his slimy, slippery, and rank submarine, seasick Jonah had a bit of time for reflection.  For hours he lay atop the blubbery floor of his pitch black cell, as wave after wave of a lovely crill-and-water concoction swept over him. Jonah was given a divine instruction, and that was to preach the gospel to Nineveh, one of the most notoriously corrupt cities of that era.  Disobeying the command of God, he boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, a city the opposite direction from his heaven-appointed destination. A terrible tempest arose, threatening to sink the creaking craft and hurtle it to the depths of the sea.  Terrified of their approaching doom, the sailors begged their gods for deliverance, as the jaws of the heaving swell waited to swallow them alive.  When this proved to be of no avail, they cast lots to determine who had brought this calamity upon them.  Upon Jonah the lot fell, and having probably come to a realization o...

   Have you ever seen the running Olympics? At the end of a race, the lead runner will get five feet from the finish line and stop. Everyone stands up and cheers and he receives his well-earned trophy, Right? Of course not! He must finish the race! Without doing do, he can never win the prize. Even if he has only five percent of the entire race left and is in the lead, he can’t win the race or the prize.    The runner is almost to the finish line, but because he does not cross the line, because he does not go the last five percent of the way, he does not win the trophy. He doesn’t make it to the end and he stops before he finishes the race. In order to win a race, you need to go one hundred percent to the end and you need to cross the finish line. He fails to do that and he misses out on the prize.    That reminds me of the christian life. It is often referred to as a race. In order to make it to our eternal home in heaven, we have to be one hundred per...