The first young man used by God in the Scriptures was Adam. God did not create an old man. The word "old" came from the fall. If man had never fallen, he could never be old. If man had never fallen, it would have been possible for him to live many years and not become old. God had no intention to have many old men. God’s intention is to have many young men with every one fresh, new, and living. None of us should be old. To be old means to be set, settled, and occupied. Sometimes some of the saints would refer to me as an old brother. It seems that this is a respect to me, but actually I do not like to hear this. I do not look upon myself as an old brother. I am not set, settled, and occupied. We always need to exercise to be young, to be new, to be renewed, to be fresh, and to be living all day long. It is only when you are young that there is a possibility for God to come in to call you, to choose you, and to use you to do something new. We need to give the Lord the way to go on in His progressive move through us. I hope that you will be a living, fresh, and new channel for the Lord to go on in His own way. This will require you to offer yourself to Him, to cooperate with Him.
When D. L. Moody was a young man, he heard someone say that something wonderful would be worked out on this earth if a man would offer himself fully to God, to be fully possessed and occupied by God. When he heard that word, he immediately responded to it. He gave himself fully to the Lord. That was the secret as to why God could use D. L. Moody so much and why the Lord could go on quite a distance of His way through D. L. Moody. I hope that we would take this fellowship and tell the Lord, "Lord, I thank You that I am still young. I do not want there to be anything set, settled, or occupied with me. I want to be fully open to You for Your new move on this earth. Lord, I give myself to You. Come in and occupy, take, and possess me for Your up-to-date move on this earth." If we would pray to the Lord in this way, we will be the persons who will turn, who will transfer, the age.
There is always something new to be worked out by God. The Holy Spirit is now working and moving in the hearts of the children of God for the carrying out of His move. He is ready, but He is waiting for some people to cooperate with Him. The situation in today’s religion cannot satisfy God. God wants to do something new. He wants to do something new in life, in knowing Christ, in experiencing Christ, in preaching Christ, in dispensing Christ, and in expressing Christ. The doctrines, the forms, the organization, the rituals, the regulations of organized religion, and the miraculous gifts cannot satisfy God nor can they fulfill His purpose. These are not what God’s heart’s desire is. God wants to do something new. He desires that Christ Himself would be known, realized, experienced, and expressed in a full and living way. If you are occupied with the miraculous gifts or with Bible knowledge, God cannot come in to use you for His up-to-date move. If you are settled into a certain form, organization, or ritual, you cannot be used by the Lord to fulfill His purpose. You have to be new, empty, and open, telling the Lord that you are here for nothing on this earth but for Himself. We need to tell the Lord that we are not here for religion, nor are we focused on teachings, doctrines, or gifts. But we are here one hundred percent for Christ Himself as the living One.
If you would be so fresh, young, and new with the Lord, He would have a way to carry out His new move through you. This is why the Lord said in Luke 18:17, "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall by no means enter into it." A little child, not filled with and occupied by old concepts, can easily receive a new thought. Hence, people need to receive the kingdom of God as a new thing, with an unoccupied heart, like a little child. You may be an older brother in years, and yet still be young in the spirit because you are not set, settled, or occupied. Whenever we open ourselves absolutely to the Lord, He has a way to dispense something new, fresh, and real of Himself, of His thought and desire, into our being. May the Lord gain a group of people in these days to turn the age for His new move.
If I could help others to be saved and to be raised up to love the Lord, to seek after the Lord, this would make me happy. But I would not really be satisfied until I knew that a good number of saints could be used by the Lord in His hand to turn the age through their life and work. We are not merely fellowshipping concerning salvation or spirituality, but we are dealing with God’s eternal purpose. The young people need to realize that this is their golden time to be used by the Lord. The Lord needs you as a channel through which He can carry out His move. The way for you to grasp this opportunity is to go to the Lord to open and empty yourself. You need to give yourself to Him and allow Him to take you, to possess you. Never have something within your being set, settled, or occupied. Keep yourself empty, open, fresh, new, living, and young with the Lord. Then the Lord will be able to go on through you in a marvelous way. We all need to consecrate ourselves once again to the Lord for His eternal purpose.
(A Young Man in God's Plan, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)