Teens: Set Eternity In Your Hearts

The BMW’s speedometer read 180 kilometers per hour as we raced along the Autobahn. Mentally I tried to configure this to miles, and knew we were going well over a hundred. My German boyfriend had a fondness for going to dealerships and doing “test drives” on sports cars. I’d watch in amazement as a salesman would hand him a set of keys. Then we’d take off on some Bavarian freeway that had no speed limit, leaving common sense behind and embracing a rush of adrenaline.

“Foolishness is tangled up in the heart of a youth,” asserts Proverbs 22:15 (HCS). Glory to God that He preserved me countless times when I was a crazy teenager roaming around Europe. Youth are often reckless; sometimes they are simply fearless. But it’s difficult for young people to reconcile the brevity of life and the certainty of eternity, because the teenage mindset is often one of invincibility.

I find myself praying for this generation, “Set eternity in their hearts. Help them make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Let them live out their time as foreigners here in reverent fear.”*

Teenagers and young adults, you can pray these Scriptures over yourself and believe that God will conform you to the image of Christ.
The fearlessness and abandon of youth can be turned into a powerful kingdom weapon when the Holy Spirit is given complete authority.

There is a whole generation that bears the wounds of fatherlessness, rejection, and despair. With so little foundation of wisdom, many are desperate to hear the words of eternal life. With eternity in our hearts, peer pressure disappears and the fear of man fades. Heaven’s glory beckons and earth’s cares dim.

Do you pray these Scriptures over yourself? Do you ask God to write eternity in the hearts of the teenagers in your midst? What does it look like to have eternity in your heart?

*Ecclesiastes 3:11; Ephesians 5:16; 1 Peter 1:17