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Youth That Are Choice

By Stanley M. Horton

The Bible has much to say to young people. One verse that needs to be emphasized more is: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).* "Youth," Hebrew bechuroth, is derived from bachar¸ "to choose." It speaks of a time of life that is choice because of strength and beauty. Proverbs 20:29 says, "The glory of young men is their strength." Psalm 144:12 states, "Our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace." This Psalm also speaks of a time of testing and purifying. God chooses to refine youth to make them what He wants them to be.

The Hebrew also has a more general word for youth, na`ar (fem. na`arah). This word includes boys and girls, teenagers, and even some up to the age of 40 (usually unmarried).

Na`ar usually implies inexperience and immaturity. But God wants to make them choice. How does He do this? First, He teaches them by giving them His Word and by letting them see His marvelous deeds (Psalm 71:17). Those who are taught by Him can say with the Psalmist, "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long" (Psalm 71:14,15).

When David offered to fight Goliath, King Saul said, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy [na`ar], and he has been a fighting man from his youth" (1 Samuel 17:33). But David had experienced the power of the Lord when He helped him rescue his sheep from a lion and a bear. He also was taught by the Lord. Unlike his brothers, he recognized that Goliath was not just defying the armies of Israel, but "the armies of the living God" (1 Samuel 17:36).

Samuel had already anointed David as the one God chose to be king. The anointing was no mere form—"from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power" (1 Samuel 16:13). "From that day on" is literally "from that day upward" (Hebrew, ma`alah). He had a continuing, increasing experience. He was not only chosen; he was not just a na`ar. He was bachur, "choice."

Another thing that made David "choice" was his concern for God’s will. Paul, in his sermon at Pisidian Antioch, drew attention to the fact God bore witness to David—he was a man after His own heart who would do all God’s will (Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:14; Psalm 89:20). The desire to do all of God’s will is the thing that made David a man after God’s own heart.

Joshua was another who was "choice." He had been Moses’ aide since youth (Numbers 11:28). But when Eldad and Medad kept prophesying in the camp without following Moses’ directions, Joshua was so concerned for Moses’ authority that he asked Moses to stop them. But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them" (Numbers 11:29). Joshua learned his lesson. When God told Moses to commission Joshua to take his place, God identified Joshua as "a man in whom is the Spirit" (Numbers 27:18). He too was not only chosen, but also choice.

That does not mean Joshua had no difficulties or problems. He still needed the encouragement God gave him. He needed to know that God would never leave him or forsake him (Joshua 1:5). As a choice person, he was strong. But he still needed to hear God say, "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:7,8).

Most of the men and women God used were young when they responded to God’s call. They humbled themselves and recognized their need of Him. When the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, Solomon said, "But I am only a little child (Hebrew, na`ar) and do not know how to carry out my duties. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong" (1 Kings 3:7,9). Jeremiah said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child (na`ar)" (Jeremiah 1:6). But the Lord told him not to say he was only a child. He must go to everyone God sent him to and say whatever God commanded. God would be with him and he did not need to be afraid, for God would rescue him.

Esther must have had a great deal of courage and a sense that God was with her. She was an orphan adopted by her cousin Mordecai. "This girl (Hebrew, na`arah)…was lovely in form and features" (Esther 2:7). But her beauty was not what made her choice in God’s eyes. When the wicked Haman threatened the Jews, Mordecai said, "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" She asked that Mordecai and the Jews fast for her and she would fast. She would dare to go to the king, "even though it is against the law." And she said, "If I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:14–16). She was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of the people of God.

In the New Testament, Jesus had concern for children and youth. Most of His disciples were probably young men. Paul also set an example by training young men such as Timothy and Titus. To Timothy he said, "Flee the evil desires of youth" (2 Timothy 2:22). That is, those desires that are common to fallen humanity—desires for selfish pleasures and self-exaltation. But he did not stop there. He had surely taught Timothy that we must "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). Paul also told Timothy that it is not enough to flee sinful desires. We must "pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure [clean] heart" (2 Timothy 2:22). This means that we should not try to pursue these good things alone. We need to do it in company with others who are also "choice" in God’s eyes.

*Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.

Stanley M. Horton, Th.D., is project coordinator for the Pentecostal Textbook Project and professor emeritus at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, Missouri.