A Message from a President to the Youth of His Nation

While visiting in Uganda recently on a mission trip, I picked up a local newspaper called “New Vision.” Uganda’s president is Mr. Yoweri Museveni. Under the heading “Museveni Cautions Youth Against Loose Life“, the following was printed:         “President Yoweri Museveni has cautioned the youth against sexual promiscuity, instead exhorting them to make “the fear of God” a cornerstone of their journey through life.         Museveni said many vices like smoking, binge drinking and “living a loose life“, which tend to ruin many youths, with some dying well before time, can be avoided by leading a life of prayer.         Drawing examples from his own life, a jovial Museveni told hundreds of youths during the Scripture Union golden jubilee celebration on Friday how fruitful the fear of God can be to one’s life.         Reminiscing about his formative years at Ntare School, where he was a chairperson of the Scripture Union, Museveni extolled the organization for shaping his character and helping him avoid taking on vices that have ruined and enslaved many.         The President likened the fear of God to “an internal Policeman who restrains you from doing evil like greed, selfishness and harming others.”         “I am so grateful that I associated myself with Scripture Union, which I joined in 1961,” the President said as he admonished the youth to lead “purposeful lives” and avoid “sampling sex” until they get married upon completion of their studies.         “I have no time for alcohol,” Museveni said in reference to vices likely to be picked up by purposeless youth, including smoking that he labeled as “burning one’s lungs.”         Drawing parallels between drunkenness and slipping into a coma, Museveni mused: “Why do I budget to get into a coma every day?”         He urged his young audience to avoid the pitfall of misinterpreting the Bible, which has bred laziness and a section of people producing many children they are incapable of caring for.         “The birds in the air neither sow nor reap, but God cares for them.” Musevenin said, quoting a verse in the Bible that highlights God’s enduring mercy, adding: “Life is all about work and mastering technology to subdue the earth.”         The National Chairman of Born Again Pentecostal Churches in Uganda, Joshua Lwere, lauded the Scripture Union for 㦞 years of shaping lives of young people.” “The more people have the fear of God in their lives, the fewer criminals we are likely to deal with in society“, Lwere explained.” (New Vision Newspaper, article by: Moses Walubiri, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, Vol. 28 No. 221, Kampala, Uganda)         I copied the whole article as it appeared in the newspaper. I do not know what political party Mr. Museveni belongs to nor do I know much about his presidency. However, I do know he has something that many Americans wish our president had; and that is moral fiber. How long has it been since you heard a president of the USA make a speech encouraging our youth to abstain from sex until they are married? When have you heard a president of the USA encourage our youth not to smoke or drink and to avoid “living a loose life?” What US President recently has encouraged the youth of our nation to “lead a life of prayer?”         I am ashamed to say what we hear from our president is “let’s keep abortion safe and legal.” Our president is in favor of the “morning after pill” for young girls and without parental knowledge! Our president pushes same sex marriage whenever he can!         Many Americans refer to nations like Uganda as “third world nations.” May God help us to one day rise to the morals of many “third world nations!”         Psa. 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.”         Psa. 43:1, “Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.”         Prov. 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”         Isa. 1:4, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy one of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.”         Jer. 5:9, “Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”         Jer. 12:17, “But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.”         It is later that we think! What will it take to turn this nation back toward God?  (Published in the January 2014 issue of Seek The Old Paths)