He Went Away Sorrowful – Sunday, January 23, 1944
“But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” (Matthew 19:22.) The problem of the young man and his choices in life is always with us—and likewise of young women. Many of our own young men today—rich young men, all of then—rich in the heritage of country, rich in opportunity, rich in friends and in prospects for happiness—have, by the millions, had to decide between clinging to their accustomed comfort and personal convenience, or offering themselves in defense of a cause. But it isn’t only a time of war that brings such decisions before us.
In the lifetime of every young man and woman come many such choices—choices more critical in the lives of some than of others— and more critical in the lives of most of us than we realize at the time. We read of the children of Israel who had to choose between slavery and the fleshpots of Egypt or struggle through the wilderness for the sake of redeeming their heritage. Many have been greatly influenced in their choices by the “fleshpots.” Some have yielded to the danger of continuing in a relatively comfortable situation rather than undertaking the effort and sacrifice of a course which would fit them for greater service and an ultimately greater reward. Many have been faced with the question of sacrificing easy money for a worth-while objective—with decisions involving the yielding of a principle in order to keep a position; or switching allegiance for a seemingly desirable plum; or, throwing overboard a conviction for an easy situation. Many have preferred comfortable submission rather than honorable contest.
There arise in the lives of young people questions also of whether or not to forego certain unsound pleasures for the enduring satisfaction of a sounder way of life; whether or not to part company with the crowd for the sake of maintaining personal convictions; whether or not to hazard an immediate popularity for future strength and self-respect. Every young man and young woman should know early in life that there will inevitably come many such decisions to be made—all of them basically involving the question as to whether or not we should face reality now, and pay the price, or postpone it, and pay double the price later—perhaps for much lost and nothing gained. It is such decisions as these that constantly face the youth of every generation. “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful—for he had great possessions.” That course in life which sacrifices in ultimate good for an immediate convenience is but the beginning of sorrow and regret.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Jan. 23, 1944, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1944.
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January 23, 1944
Broadcast Number 0,753