Part of Acts 1 is the description of how Judas was replaced by another man as one of the 12 disciples. An interesting part of this is the criteria Peter listed for accepting a replacement. He said that the person who would replace Judas must have been a follower in the "beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us." In other words, the person had to have been there through it all, just as long as any of the other disciples had been there.

There are times when it may seem to younger people that it would be better to become a Christian at an older age, late in life. After all, whether young or old, as long as you get saved at one point the end result is the same, right? Sometimes, for those who are young, it can be hard to see the benefit of spending you whole life in self-denial and service to Christ.

There are many people who have a life story of being out in the world, going to parties, taking drugs, sex out of marriage - basically living for themselves and doing what they want - and then later they are converted to Christ and are set on fire for Him. If these people can get away with doing all they wanted, why can't we?

I think there are many answers to that question, however one of them lies in Acts 1. Eventually Matthias was chosen as a replacement for Judas. In order to be considered for this position, Matthias had to have been there from the beginning. The disciples weren't looking for someone who came in during the height of Jesus' miracles and ministry, or someone who waited on accepting Jesus until later. Not that these people weren't good people, but they were just not qualified for the job.

The fact is, those who are in it for the long haul - those young people who accept Christ at an early age and give their whole lives to Him - may be the only ones who are qualified to fill certain roles for God. Right now, it may not seem that there is any merit or benefit to this type of perseverance. We may feel like the jealous brother in the story of the prodigal son. However, sometime down the road, God may be looking for a special position to fill. For this position, He may be looking for someone who has been there from the beginning, who has kept the faith from when they first heard it and never looked back. Perhaps this may come at a time when one least expects it, however when it does happen that person who persevered may be the only one qualified to take the position.

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