Why would God want us to spoil our youth being weighed down with morbid things?

on Jun 24, 2026

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: There’s always someone hovering over me to turn my life over to God so that when I die, I will go to Heaven. I’m a pretty good person, but at 20, I don’t want to be thinking about death when I’ve just started to live. Why would God want us to spoil our youth being weighed down with morbid things? – A.D.

A: A woman told about her father, a famous physician, who never thought of God, never talked about God, didn’t believe in God. As his death approached, he sat up and asked the nurse if he could see the hospital chaplain. For the first time in his life, he was thinking about the inevitable – and about God.

Many people think that death is the forbidden subject. People live as if they’re never going to die. Yet when time comes, the majority of people find that God comes to mind. Technology projects the myth of control over our mortality. But death is indeed inevitable. Everyone alive today will likely be dead 100 years from now. Be wise and consider what comes after death.

People fool themselves when it comes to the fact of sin, thinking it’s no more than a few slips and blunders with little consequence. But the Bible takes no such view: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23, NKJV).

King David, the same David that brought Goliath down in his youth, proclaimed, “You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You” (Psalm 86:5).

Not many people find Christ on their deathbeds. When we come to Christ in our youth, a life is saved. When we come in old age, a soul is salvaged and life eternal is assured; but the opportunity to live a life for Christ has been lost. Come to Christ now and know the joy of living in His strength and power.

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)