Jim George - A Young Man After Gods Own Heart. Turn Your Life into an Extreme Adventure

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

All Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Italicized text in Scripture quotations indicates authors emphasis.

Cover by Garborg Design Works, Minneapolis, Minnesota

A YOUNG MAN AFTER GODS OWN HEART

Copyright 2005 by Jim George

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

George, Jim, 1943

A young man after Gods own heart / Jim George.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-1478-1 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-3087-1 (eBook)

1. Young menReligious life. 2. Christian life. 3. Spiritual exercises. I. Title.

BV4541.3.G465 2005

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Contents

Dear Friend,

As a guy, I love adventure...of every kind! And as you and I are about to begin a joint journey into adventure, I am thinking about one particular extreme adventure. It fits our aim in this book of becoming a man after Gods own heart.

I dont know how many times Ive seen it from the air and admired it from the ground, but theres something very special about Diamond Head. Thats the name of the extant volcano that forms a rugged, unmistakable landmark at the southern end of Waikiki Beach on the island of Oahu. On my last visit to this tropical island, I was challenged by my son-in-law (also an extreme adventurer) to not just look at Diamond Head, but to actually hike it!

So, off Paul and I went on an extreme adventure. We hiked. We climbed. We pushed on...until we made it to the top. And boy, was the effort worth it! The view across Oahu was incredibletruly an awesome sight.

Isnt that the way it is with the climb to experience the view from the top of any mountain peak, or high hill, or citadel where a castle or fort formerly stooddifficult, but worth it? But tragically, many young men never know what an utterly breathtaking view life is from the top (and Im no longer talking about mountaintops!). Why? Because they never make it to the top of anything. Somewhere along their climb to something, they stop, or get distracted, or stumble, or fall. And they never get back up, or they turn back, because the climb is too extreme.

But my new friend, thats not what I want for you. No, I want you to feel and experience that spectacular view from the top of your mountain called life. And to help you get there, I have written this book.

My desire as you read this book about your priorities as a young man is that you would not make some of the mistakes that I and others have made on the way to the top of our mountains. Mistakes can cost you many years in your quest for reaching the topin your desire to make it, to succeed, to reach the summit, to become a man after Gods own heart.

In this book my goal is to simply and clearly lay out some of Gods priorities for you as you start your climb to greatness. Making these priorities your own is vital to preparing you for your lifes climb.

To sharpen your focus and heighten the adventure, I have added some material at the end of each chapter. In Tough Decisions for Today, youll find a list of thought-provoking questions about the priorities discussed in that chapter. The Cutting Edge exercises are aimed at getting you into your Bible to reinforce your knowledge of Gods priorities. Both sets of questions are optional, but I strongly encourage you to take the time and effort to complete them. Youll learn about the priorities you need to focus on as a young man who desires to know God and follow after Him. And youll also learn some quick and easy ways to put them into practice.

So come on! The journey to understanding what God desires for you as A Young Man After Gods Own Heart is an exciting one. Dont miss out on the questyou will never be the same!

Your fellow traveler,

I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do .

A CTS 13:22

W hen I was 12 years old, my parents and I went on our one and only family vacation. Leaving from my boyhood home in Oklahoma, we passed through Dodge City, Kansas, on our way to Colorado. Of course, we had to stop in this historic old-west town and visit the famous Boot Hill Cemeteryyou know, the place where all the famous outlaws are buried.

To this day I can still remember looking down at a tombstone with a message something like this:

Here lies Old Joe.

He died with his boots on.

And, would you believe it, at the end of the grave were two boots sticking up out of the earth! Later I learned that Old Joe wasnt actually buried there. And much later I found out that the words on a tombstone are called an epitaph , which means a short tribute to a dead person.

Since that unforgettable visit to Boot Hill, Ive collected a few other epitaphs. For instance, a Greek poet wrote this on the tomb of Spartan heroes in the fifth century B.C .:

Go, tell the Spartans, gentle passer-by,

That here, obedient to their law, we lie.

This next one was written in memory of the great English poet Shakespeare:

He was not of an age, but for all time.

Because I have a science degree from college, I like what was written about a scientist who died at the age of 85:

He Died Learning

All of these epitaphs were written by someone who knew the dead person. Benjamin Franklin, however, the famous American statesman, wrote his own tribute:

The body of B. Franklin,

Printer

Like the cover of an old book

Its contents torn out

And stript of its lettering and gilding

Lies here, food for worms.

But the work shall not be lost

For it will, as he believd, appear once more

In a new and more perfect edition

Corrected and amended

B Y THE A UTHOR .

There are also humorous epitaphs, such as

All dressed up and no place to go.

Or

Remember, friend, when passing by,

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, soon you will be,

Prepare for death and follow me.

To which someone later added...

To follow you Im not content.

Until I know which way you went.

To me, the epitaph that is the most inspiring of all is one found in the Bible. Its a tribute to King David, one of the most famous people in the Old Testament. Of him God writes,

I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do (Acts 13:22).

Checking Out a Man After Gods Own Heart