Graduation 2013

Graduation

June 9, 2013

2 Timothy 4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

This is graduation week. My granddaughter, Bre, graduated from the eighth grade this week, along with one of my adopted granddaughters, Kylee. Kids are graduating from preschool, kindergarten, grade school, high school and college. We had a fun graduation party for Bre. Barbecue, giant Junga game that Julie made; lights, fire pit, Smores – it was lots of fun!

Graduation is a lot like life. The Scripture we just read is of Paul’s testimony to the young preacher, Timothy, and it could very well be a graduation speech. He is talking about his graduation from this life. And life is all about learning. We all go through the “School of Hard Knocks”. It IS our best teacher. So as we go through life – we get ‘schooled’, if you know what I mean!

Do you remember when you graduated from school? When you graduate from high school, one of the questions that you get asked over and over is – 1. “Well, what are you going to do with your life?”

That’s a good question. Most of us probably really have no idea of how to answer that question. I know I didn’t. I probably gave some sappy answer – but it was pipe dreams; just saying things I thought people wanted to hear. But it IS something each graduate ought to think about and pray about and work toward. It would be a good thing to know what we are going to do with our life and what God’s will is for us. We ought to prepare to be the best we can be for the Lord as soon as we possibly can.

That is also true of this earthly life and it is even truer of our spiritual life. We ought to think about what we are going to do with our life – spiritually! We ought to know God’s will. We, each one of us, ought to prepare to be the best we can be for God.

But so few in Christianity know what God wants them to do with their life. They are just bouncing around life like a ping pong ball. I remember after High School graduation that there weren’t too many people thinking about what they wanted to do with their life. They were thinking of the graduation party. They were laughing and giddy and rejoicing in the fact that they received their little piece of paper that said they met all the requirements necessary to graduate.

Very few were serious enough to plan their future and set goals and plan on how to achieve them. And that is the way it is spiritually, too. Very few Christians are serious and selfless enough to set down and seek God’s will for their lives. We blindly and aimlessly wander through life, going this way and that way without any real direction; without any real planning. Consequently, we don’t have much of a real impact of life either. We don’t make as much of an effect on our world as we could have.

What I am saying is that we ought to know where we are going. We ought to know God’s will for our lives. Graduation from Bible college was far different than graduation from High School for me. I KNEW God had called me to preach. I just didn’t know where. I KNEW what I was going to do with my life – I just hadn’t figured out how to do it yet.

So how do we get to know where we are going in life and what we are going to do with it and what God’s will is for us? That’s an easy question to answer. You learn God’s will by asking Him. Jesus said, “Ask, and you will receive.” Jesus said, “You have not because you ask not.”

Most Christians do not know God’s will for their lives because they don’t ask Him. They don’t seek the answer. They have not earnestly and seriously sought His will. We just drift to and fro. Our spiritual growth is just kind of happenstance. If we get training in a certain area it is just kind of by accident. It just sort of happens.

What we need to do FIRST, is to pray and seek and ask. We need to search our heart to see where our desires lie. Are we really open to God’s leading. If we aren’t open to what God may ask us to do – He knows that. He can see into our heart. He can see the future. And if He sees that we will say ‘no’ He probably won’t ask until we are open and willing to say yes –unconditionally. We need to be willing to do whatever God asks of us – then we need to purposely seek His will – and KEEP seeking it until we find it.