Jeremiah 48:11
“Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.”
The verse above talks how the taste of Moab had not changed. In other words, it had the same old tastes when it was a young country. Moab had not matured. God expected Moab to grow as a country. God expected its tastes to be different from what they were when it was young. The reason Moab had not changed is because it had “been at ease from his youth.” Moab took the easy road, and all that it expected was to be entertained. Everything it went after was based off whether it was easy to do. God wanted Moab to grow up because the lifestyle of ease led to sin and eventually bondage.
One of the mistakes I have seen throughout my lifetime is for authority figures to try and make it easy for youth. Many youth departments seem to be designed with entertainment in mind. Parents oftentimes won’t make their children endure hard times because they don’t want them to go through the same difficulties they faced when they were young. Bible colleges have tried to make it easier for young students instead of making them work hard as those who walked the hallways of that college in previous years.
This entertainment mentality has created an entitlement mentality in young adults. The ease mentality has created a taste for young adults to want church to be a place of entertainment instead of an emergency room that is aggressive about repairing lives and reaching the lost for Christ. Younger adults would rather have programs that entertain the flesh than sermons that convict the soul. Younger adults have tailored their lifestyle to play instead of a work. This taste has got to change! The only way it will be changed is for parents, churches and institutions to stop coddling the youth. Let me give you three quick thoughts to help to change their taste.
First, it is good for youth to struggle. Lamentations 3:27 says, “ It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” Stop stepping in and helping the youth when things are difficult to do. Let them learn how to struggle, because if they don’t, they will have a taste for ease. Struggle makes the mind creative because it figures out a way to overcome obstacles. It is good for a youth to struggle, for it changes their taste for that entertainment lifestyle.
Second, it is good for youth to give of themselves. God said Moab “hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel.” Youth need to know what it is like to come home at the end of the day empty. It keeps them out of trouble. They need to know what it’s like to completely give themselves to helping others and not receive anything in return. This changes their taste by teaching that life is not about them.
Third, it is good for youth to face battles. God said Moab had never experienced “captivity.” Youth need to learn that life is filled with battles, and that you must fight through them if you are going to win in life. Facing battles changes their taste to not quit in the day of adversity.
Be careful about doing everything for the youth. Let them learn that life is not a party. Changing their tastes in these areas will help change them into responsible adults.