Life After Graduation Series

INTRO.- ILL.- Physics Teacher: "Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. Isn’t that wonderful?"

Student: "Yes sir, if he had been sitting in class looking at books like us, he wouldn’t have discovered anything."

Do we really learn anything from school and/or college? Well, yes. Some things, for sure. Like what? Like reading, writing and arithmetic. Those were the basics of what we learned in elementary school, anyway. And these have stuck with me. What about you? Can you add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers? Some people can’t! Or else they’ve stopped working at these things. USE IT OR LOSE IT, as they say.

ILL.- One time many years ago when my mother was still living in her home in Webb City, MO, but suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s disease I found an envelope on the arm of her chair. I picked it up and asked mom, “What’s this? What are all these numbers?” She said, “It’s where I was balancing my checkbook.” I said, “But mom I bought you a calculator.” She said, “I don’t use it. I’m trying to keep my mind active, etc.”

I think I got out my calculator and checked her figures and yes, they were correct! However, I’m not sure many people do things like this today in order to keep their memory sharp or be able to keep doing math.

I have discovered, however, than many kids have trouble with math and everything else that was taught in grade school!

I have often thought that if cashiers didn’t have computerized registers that counted the money for them then they wouldn’t be able to make change for the customers!

Now, as far as college is concerned, I would hope that young people are learning something. I sometimes wonder if the college courses that are offered actually help students after they graduate.

ILL.- When I went to Ozark Christian College in the mid-60‘s the main emphasis at that college was on Christian service. If you were a young man they encouraged you to get involved in either preaching ministry, youth ministry or missions ministry. I took a number of class that dealt with preaching. How to preach. Expository preaching, etc. We were drilled over and over on how to prepare sermons and make sermon outlines from the scriptures. But I’ve continued to learn a lot more about preaching since college!

One thing is sure: Life doesn’t stop after graduation. In reality, life starts after graduation. No matter what you learn or don’t learn in school or college, life continues on.

PROP.- Let me share some goals for life after graduation.

1- Seek the Lord

2- Continue your education

3- Concentrate on people

4- Go to work

I. SEEK THE LORD

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Above all. Above everything else seek the Lord in life. Seek the Lord first. What is your major goal in life? Is it knowing yourself or knowing God?

ILL.- 77 year old Actrress Shirley MacLaine wrote one time: “The most pleasurable journey you take is through yourself, the only sustaining love is with yourself...” I BEG TO DIFFER! Some years ago she wrote a book entitled, “Out on a Limb” and some people thought she was “out of her tree” or else the limb broke off and she hit her head, because she was dabbling in transcendental meditation and other such weird stuff.

One time fellow actor, Anthony Hopkins, worked with her and said, “she was the most obnoxious actress I have ever worked with."

The reason she had so many troubles in life, with men and otherwise, and the reason most people have trouble in life is because they are so self-absorbed and self-focused. But when we get our eyes off us and on God, life changes for the better.

As Chuck Swindoll wrote: “I am more convinced than ever that life’s major pursuit is not knowing self but knowing God.”

The more we seek Him and come to know Him, the better off we’ll be in all areas of life. Knowing Him is the key to a better life! So how can we get to know Him? We do it privately and congregationally. We worship at home and at church.

Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”