Forbidden Doors

“Rejoice, O young man in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thing eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Ecclesiastes 11:9

Forbidden Doors

-A poem for young people growing up in Christian homes-

By: Nina R. Hall

‘Tis faith – to break free from the shackles of sin –
Those life-binding habits that once held you in –
To close tight the doors of those miserable ways
And choose ne’er again enter those doors all your days.

‘Tis faith to continue to resist those doors
To claim Christ’s sure promise your hope to restore;
And faith it must take to teach to your youths
That as Christians they must always obey these same truths.

And ‘tis faith for those children as they grow and mature
To choose for themselves ne’er to darken those doors.
When curiosity comes in o’erwhelming tides,
How they may struggle those door handles to try.

‘Tis faith to believe those who’ve come out of the world
When you’ve never yourself tried those things out before.
They say you’ll regret and wish you’d never known,
And to choose to comply; not question the unknown.

‘Tis great faith for those youths to go on and believe
That their parent’s experience will spare them much grief;
That to stay on the narrow and straight path of truth
Will be the best choice they could make in their youth.

‘Tis faith to pass by all those forbidden doors
To choose, boldly trusting your life to the Lord;
To believe that the seeds you are sowing each day
Will reap a great harvest of goodness one day.

‘Tis faith indeed…but what sweet faith it is!
For it spares those young souls from the scars found within;
For if they can but discipline themselves to commit,
Regardless of what they may think they might miss,

Then ‘tis faith that will triumph in their heart at the last!
They won’t bear such heartache and pain from their past.
The companions who’ve failed to follow with them
Will wish for the blessed life God’s given to them.

But ‘tis faith you must have…no matter your lot
To leave doors alone – or close those that are not.
For faith is not only about avoiding forbidden doors
But looking beyond and believing God’s trustworthy words.

~~~

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;”  Ecclesiastes 12:1

“For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.” Psalm 71:5

“Let me no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation , in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” I Timothy 4:12

“I have chosen the way of truth…” Psalm 119:30a