Job 30:12

Upon my right hand rise the youth.

The prospects of life

I. The prospects of life are generally bright. Young people are full of buoyancy, animal spirits, ardent desire, sanguine expectation, high hope: all that is before them takes a colouring from themselves. There is little or no experience of life, by the use of which exaggerated views may be modified, and a correct estimate of the future ensured. Youthful hope often anticipates long life, and it fills up that life with many visions of success and happiness.

II. The prospects of life, to which hope gives such a colouring are often illusive. A fine morning often ends in a wet and stormy day. Projects begun under favourable auspices frequently come to nought. Young people live in a realm of illusions. The young are liable to misapprehension, and need to be prepared for some measure of disappointment. Men at fifty often find that they have failed to reach the height to which at twenty they aspired. Often the secret of failure has been lack of ability, or of perseverance, or of character.

III. A few counsels.

1. The present is a season of preparation for the future. Life is very much what we make it. Then sow now the seeds that shall grow up, and blossom, and fruiten into a good and blessed future.

2. Prepare for the future by the exercise of fidelity to yourself and to God in the present.

3. You need physical preparation for the future. A man’s body has much to do with his mind and character. Courage and fortitude derive much support from a healthy physical constitution.

4. You need mental preparation for the future. I have had many opportunities of seeing what men lose for want of education and mental culture, and what they gain by their possession. Increase your knowledge by reading and observation. Strengthen your mental powers by use.

5. Moral and spiritual preparation. Set before yourself a noble object in life. Form a purpose, and seek to fulfil it. Place yourself under the teaching and government of conscience. Have right and fixed principle to guide you. Consecrate yourselves to God, and commit your life to His care. Have faith in Him. (W. Waiters.)