YOUR Opportunity?
Now WHO do you think will have these fantastic opportunities? Who do you think will be building and living in these fabulous new homes? Who do you think will be constructing and inhabiting these new cities of the future? Who do you think will be the pioneers in developing the vast areas of the earth which are just wastelands today?
Who do you think will be the physical leaders in this bright New World? The uneducated pygmies from the rain forests of Africa? The aborigines of Australia?
Obviously not! Over a period of years, as they become rightly educated, these people will share in the blessings and prosperity of the New World. But at the beginning, the leaders will have to be those who already have a certain degree of education, knowledge and understanding.
Because of the privileged part of the world you live in today, YOU could be used as such a leader — if you are willing to qualify.
But how? What can you do to make sure that you personally have a part in Tomorrow's World?
And what about the troublesome days just ahead — before this happy New World begins? Is there anything you can do to receive protection? And if so, what?
These are serious questions, young men and women, and you need to understand.
God Interested in Young People God is interested in strong, active, alert, intelligent, dynamic, normal people!
And He is very much interested in young people.
Consider.
As a human being, Jesus Christ never reached middle age.
The prophet Jeremiah was a young man when God called him — about 17 years old. That's right, just a teenager. Listen to what Jeremiah said when God gave him a job to do: " 'O Lord God,' I said, 'I can't do that! I'm far too young! I'm only a youth' (Jer. 1:6, Living Prophecies series).
The evangelist Timothy was also probably in his teens when God started to work with him.
Samuel began to do small tasks and chores around the temple while he was a child, probably only seven or eight years old.
The disciples were robust, strong, hard-muscled young men — among them sailors and fishermen, who can be a pretty salty lot. Yet they were willing to recognize Christ as their leader, their superior. Christ must have been an awful lot of man!
God wants young people to enjoy life and to live it to the full. This is why He inspired Solomon to set down certain principles to help young people avoid some of the heartbreaking, unhappy, life-wrecking mistakes that are so easy to make.
Again and again throughout the Proverbs He says, "Listen, my son, to instruction and wisdom . . ." God doesn't want you to make mistakes which will foul up your life. He wants you to know how to avoid all the big pitfalls.
Some Sound Advice
Solomon wrote: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not . . ." (Eccl. 11:9-12:1).
God says youth is a time to be happy, a time to have fun. It's a time to enjoy healthful sports and to hunt, fish and camp out under the stars. It's a time to dance, sing and kick up your heels.
But remember, "For all these things God will bring you into judgment" — and you will have to give an account.
It's good to enjoy clean fun in right balance — the kind of fun you would gladly give an account for. But it is wrong to indulge in the wrong kind of fun — the kind that brings kickbacks, sorrow and heartache. And it is also wrong to be so engrossed in having fun that no thought is given to God, to fulfilling the purpose of life and to preparing for Tomorrow's World.
Young people, God is observing your life right now to see what you are doing with it. Are you wasting it in frivolity and the "vanity of youth" without concern for the important things in life — without preparing for usefulness in the World Tomorrow?
Or are you heeding God's admonition to "remember your Creator in the days of your youth" before the time of trouble just ahead?
It's Your Choice
God is about to reach down and shake this earth to its knees — and He is no respecter of age. But before He intervenes, He is sending out a warning. If you believe His warning and begin to look to Him and to obey Him, He offers you protection in the days ahead — regardless of your age.
One of the most basic lessons man can learn is this: obey God and be protected and blessed, or disobey God and suffer the penalty. Now as never before you need to understand this principle.
David said: "Wherewithal shall a young man [or woman] cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Psalm 119:9). As a young person, you need to look into God's Word, the Bible, to see how you ought to live.
The Bible is literally chock-full of instruction telling you how to live a joyous, full life. For example, it gives the Ten Commandments. If you are old enough to read and understand these Commandments, you can begin to obey them and receive God's blessings. Our free booklet on the Ten Commandments — and all of our free literature — will make the teachings of the Bible plain and tell you what God expects of you — if you want to learn and obey.
But that, of course, is up to you. No one can force you to obey God against your will. But you ought to know what the consequences of the wrong choice will be.
The Horrors of the Wrong Choice
What will happen to you as a young person if you decide not to obey God but to go the way of this world? It isn't a very pretty picture.
First of all, the Bible shows that the chances are better than two out of three that you will not survive. And if you do, what an ordeal it will be! You will have seen two out of three of your friends and loved ones die by famine, disease and war. And you yourself — if you survive all this — will be taken as a captive slave into a foreign land. There you will suffer further in cruel slave labor camps for a number of months. If you are able to survive this nightmare, you will still be alive when Christ returns to save man from himself.
Then — if you have finally learned your lesson — you will be privileged to return to your homeland. There, under Christ's direction, you will begin to have a part in building the World Tomorrow.
At long last you will be living in the glorious New World described in this article. But what a painful way to learn to obey God!
Now contrast this with what you have to look forward to if you obey God now.
The Fantastic Benefits of Obedience NOW
First of all, you will have God's protection in the terrifying days ahead. The nature of this protection is explained in our free article "There Is a Way of Escape."
Further, when Christ returns, you will have a much bigger and more important part in the World Tomorrow than those who just barely managed to survive. What will this part be?
That depends on your age and maturity.
If you are now in your mid-teens or younger, you could well live into the fantastic World Tomorrow as a physical being. And more than that, depending on how you apply yourself and use your time now, you could be among the very top physical leaders in this New World. If you obey God and learn His principles now, you will have a head start. Greater opportunities will come your way. In due time you will be given the opportunity to become a spirit being and to live forever.
And if you are in your late teens or older today? If you can imagine it, you will have an even greater opportunity!
You may well have become an adult capable of a mature understanding of God's ways before the World Tomorrow begins. In that case, you may qualify to be changed into an ever-living spirit being upon Christ's return. If you do, you will have power, strength, and the ability to enjoy pleasures far, far above that of physical beings. And you will have the fantastic opportunity to lead and guide the physical inhabitants of Tomorrow's World into full, abundant, happy lives.
Now what about it? Would you like to live in the most exciting and perfect age in the history of mankind?
You CAN — if you qualify! And remember, the sooner you begin to qualify, the greater will be the opportunities which come your way.
This article has only given the briefest sketch of what the World Tomorrow will be like. It has said nothing about how crime will be controlled, how people will be educated, how the economic system will work, what cultural life will be like — and many other important facets of life. For this important information you should write to us at once for your free copy of our colorful booklet The Wonderful World Tomorrow — What It Will Be Like.
Young people, no generation has stood on the threshold of a future such as yours! No opportunities have been more challenging, more worthwhile, more rewarding — or more sure.
Decide you're going to take these opportunities NOW!