If you are a student reading this, I have no doubt you are able to testify that college gets busy and there are many days when you wish there was more than 24 hours in a day.
Unfortunately, it’s during this time of “busyness” that the urgent gets placed above the important. Meaning, our spiritual life and growing in our faith takes the back seat when we have a paper due, a project to get done, or even the social aspect of meeting people and going to events.
Life gets busy. And it gets busy quick.
As a matter of fact, there are some of you reading this blog that will walk away from the faith before you even graduate college. And it’s not just me, it’s statistics:
According to Barna Research, 80% of high school students who enter college as a professing believer will leave with little to no faith.
How do we avoid becoming a statistic?
The answer is simple, yet profound: value Christ.
Some of you reading this may view God as a “to-do list”. Having to go to church because it’s “good” and “just what you do on Sundays.” Or maybe you think of God as your vending machine, living in the mentality of, “I pray for this, and He gives me something in return.” Some may even think of God as this angry Being sitting in the clouds that laughs at you whenever you mess up, just waiting for you to fail again.
How we view God is rooted in whether or not we value Him.
Today I am going to show you how to avoid being a statistic. But this knowledge isn’t provided as a “self-help” guide you can find in a Readers Digest, rather, they are words from God Himself, on how to grow in your walk with Him.
1. In Your Personal Life.
John 15:4-5 – “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Everyone reading this can agree that a relationship without communication is no relationship at all. In fact, our human nature craves communication so much, we have developed apps like Facetime, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. in order to make everyday communication more accessible and possible. In the same respect, however, our relationship with Jesus Christ cannot and will not grow if we never talk or spend time with Him.
I recommend getting a solid quiet time planner, maybe one recommended by someone you trust, or maybe a mentor of yours in the church. I have found that this helps tremendously in removing the anxiety of “what am I going to read today?,” while also saving you from taking certain passages out of context by reading a few verses here and there, and not the whole chapter.
2. Community
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
As much as we wouldn’t like to admit it, who we hang out with does effect us. Whether it effects our speech, perceptions of certain things, how we dress, even our priorities.
We as followers of Christ should be actively seeking community with other believers. This includes getting involved in a theologically sound church in order to grow under sound teaching, or seeking out mentors to disciple you or you to disciple others. While we have a personal relationship with Christ, the intention was never to have a private relationship with Christ.
3. Outreach.
James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Just like you have been mentored by someone with more wisdom than you, you also are able to pour into others with the knowledge you have gained or the personal experiences you have gone through. We were never meant to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and just retain it.
By claiming to follow Christ, you aren’t just saying “I think He’s cool, He’s just a good guy.” You are claiming to follow the footsteps of the Man whom people rejected. When Jesus walked this earth, He was delivered over to be crucified. Will following Him be easy? No.
But will it be worth it? Pastor David Platt says it in this way:
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy… It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And He is more than enough for us.”
So the next time we are faced with the plethora of excuses that come with a busy schedule, a lazy attitude, or a college lifestyle–may what we treasure reflect our heart back to us.
Will the urgent overwhelm the important? It depends on what you value the most.
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Alexa is a Junior Psychology Major and intern for the Marketing and Communications Department at TMU.
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