SDA Youth in the Last Days

    Bang! Our front door slammed shut as my brother and I raced inside. Crash! We both skidded to a stop and spun around, wondering what had broken. “Ashley, look!” My brother exclaimed, pointing to the clock that usually hung by the door. The clock lay on the floor, the glass front of it broken off. “Oh no… What have we done?” I said slowly, picking up the glass pieces on the floor. That clock had always been unsteady on the wall, but now we knew how unsteady it really had been. “What’s mom gonna say?” Aidan said softly.     We didn’t have to wait long to find out. Mom was not pleased with us for slamming the door, resulting in the clock breaking. Although, the clock still worked, it was just the glass front of it that had broken off. My brother and I were both in charge of buying a new clock, though.     A few days later, after we had replaced the batteries in the broken clock and swept up the millions of tiny glass pieces, the clock now hung back up ...

The traveler’s dusty feet plodded heavily down a rocky path, aching with every step. His stomach groaned as he imagined the delicious meal he was sure would follow his father’s welcome. He gazed into the distance, his eyes wandering past the rippling fields of grain, past the little white clusters of sheep scattered over the green hills, and past the many herds of cattle, his longing eyes finally resting on the tents of his father.      Footsore and weary, he plodded for hours, until he finally rounded a bend in the trail near his home. He stopped as he noticed his brother standing over a nearby fire, preparing soup.      “Let me have some of that soup! I am so hungry!” He cried. He waited impatiently as his brother, deep in thought, continued to stir the pot of soup.      “Give me your birthright. Then I will let you have the soup.” Jacob finally said.      Momentarily, Esau thought of h...

   During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. The fighting had been intense, and in all the smoke and crossfire, he had lost touch with his companions.    All alone in the jungle, he could hear the enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling quickly for cover, he carefully found his way up a high ridge where several small caves in the rock were. Quickly and quietly, he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him came up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.    As he waited, he quietly prayed, “Lord, if it is your will, please protect me. Help me to get out of this alive.”    After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He prayed again, “Please Lord, protect me.” Suddenly, his eyes focused on something near the entryway. A small little spider began to build...

A horse gallops wildly through the deep dark woods. On its back rides a terrified girl, her small, weak hands clinging to the reins draped about her horses neck. Her dress is torn and dirty and her unraveled braids fly out behind her in a tangled and wind tossed mess. The trail, full of potholes, rocks and fallen logs, snakes its way through an ominously dark and dreary forest. Dark, sinister trees threaten to grab her and pull her off of her horse. At every bump in the trail, the girl bounces, nearly losing her grip. Her knuckles whiten as she tightens her grip on the reins. She looks down at the blur of rocks and logs racing beneath her and imagines with terror what would happen if she lost her grip. Behind her sits a Man, His face a picture of tender kindness and pity. He longs to help the girl who clings so desperately to the horses reins. The girl’s eyes, full of fear and blinded by tears, look imploringly at the One riding behind her. “Little girl,” He says, His eyes s...

    The day dawned bright and sunny in the land of Moab. In a small little house on a hillside, an older woman yawned, and slowly climbed out of bed. She headed down the stairs, and into the kitchen, to find her two daughters-in-law preparing breakfast. The 3 women laughed and talked while they finished preparing breakfast, and then sat down to eat. The older woman, who’s name was Naomi, suddenly became solemn, looking quietly at her two daughters-in-law.     “Mother Naomi, what’s the matter?” One of the women, Orpah, said.     Naomi sighed, and looked kindly at the two women. “Ruth, Orpah, I have decided that it is time for me to go back to my home town in Judah. My husband and two sons are both dead, and I feel that it would be much better for me to be back in my home town, Bethlehem.”     “We will go with you!” Ruth exclaimed quickly. Orpah nodded, “Yes, we will gladly go back with you!”     Naomi shook her head. “No...

A few days ago I woke up to a gory sight out the window.  An elk stood in the shallow part of the lake, but not alone.  Two dogs swam about it, trying to gain a deathhold on the poor beast, and drown it.  This went on and on, and it appeared the elk grew weaker and weaker. Had the elk stayed on land, it would have had no difficulty fighting the intruders.  But once it stepped into the water, it was vulnerable. You and I are in the exact same situation as that elk.  1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Satan is no dummy.  He knows our weak points, and will use every tactic imaginable to try to bring us down.  But we have a firm foundation, and that is Jesus. We have solid ground, in the secret place of the Most High.  Every time we compromise, every time we ignore the Holy Spirit and heed the devil’s whis...

All was quiet in the temple and only an occasional snore would echo through the silence. Then suddenly, “Samuel, Samuel!” a voice called. A boy stirred sleepily and rubbed his eyes. “Coming, sir!” he yawned as he jumped up and ran to an old man's bedside. “Here I am sir,” he cried, eagerly. The old man slowly pulled himself up and looked at the boy quizzically. “I didn’t call for you Samuel, go back to your bed.” Samuel reluctantly obeyed and tiptoed through the darkness, back to his bed to sleep. Again, Samuel heard his name called, and again, he rushed to the priest’s room to see what he could do to help the old man. But as before, Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” Then it happened a third time. “Samuel, Samuel!” The voice called. Samuel sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes in confusion. “C-coming sir!” Samuel said bewilderedly as he ran to Eli’s room. “I’m sure you must have called me!” He exclaimed. Eli gazed at the little boy standing befo...