Jump Start # 1616

Luke 4:16 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.”

  I have been writing about going to college the past couple of days. One more thought about this important topic. The college years can set a person on the right path or begin a long journey of misery if he makes the wrong choices. It is at college that a person’s character, faith and responsibilities come to the forefront. You are no longer tagging along with mom and dad. You are your own man or woman. You are in the grown up world, even though most of your fellow students do not act very grown up.

Credit card companies will flood your mailbox with offers of free stuff if you sign up for a credit card. Many do. Within four years they will leave the campus with a degree in their hand and a mountain of student loans and now credit card debt. Reality soon sinks in. It will take a long time to get out of that hole that they dug themselves in. College is an atmosphere of free thinking and much of that thinking isn’t sound, right or good. Everyone has an opinion—from politics, to war, to liberal theology, to same sex marriage, to social agendas. Colleges are the breeding grounds of protest movements. Skip class, carry a banner and demand change. That’s been going on since the hippies of the 1960’s. If you get caught up in some of that stuff, you’ll miss classes, get behind and find out that you have wasted thousands of dollars on tuition and have nothing to show for it.

Our verse today is very important. It takes place early in Jesus’ ministry. He is in this 30’s. He returns home. He goes to the place of worship and He participates. He stands up to read. It is from this passage that the Lord makes connections to Isaiah’s Messiah. It is fulfilled today, He says. I am the One. Important passage. Powerful lessons.

From this, learn:

First, Jesus had spiritual habits. He entered the synagogue “as was His custom.” This wasn’t the first time for Him. He had been doing that on a regular basis. He had continued to do this as a grown man. College student, you will be on your own soon. The choice of worshipping God will be your choice. It will be easy to skip. It will be easy to miss Bible class. It will be easy to stay up too late studying that you sleep in on Sundays. Four years of this pattern will lead you to being weak spiritually, if not dead. You are establishing patterns and habits. Those around you will notice. Skip this time to study. Skip the next time to sleep. Skip the following one for a road trip with your friends. Soon worshipping God isn’t high on your list. When you leave college, you may move to a new town and not even find a congregation. You’ve gotten accustomed to skipping for any reason.

Make spiritual habits in college. Continue to pray daily. Continue to find time to read your Bible. Find a congregation and make connections with the people there. Get to know the preacher and the shepherds. Some days it will be hard. Some days you will be stretched with deadlines. Don’t cut God short. Don’t start that pattern. Many who do, never get back to where they ought to be.

Second, Jesus participated. He stood up to read. He opened the book and found the place and read. He wasn’t sitting in the back row sleeping, so He could honestly tell His mom that he went to church. He was engaged. He participated. When you find a congregation, place membership. Participate where you can. Many years ago, I preached a weekend meeting up in Lafayette, Indiana—Purdue country. One evening, a group of college students had me over to their dorm. We ate pizza and had a great time. It was impressive. A couple of men from that group are preaching today. Teach a class. Have a Bible study with fellow students. Invite roommates to services with you. Don’t park your talents on the sidelines. If you do, it may be hard to get going again. Jesus stood up to read. Will you?

Third, Jesus found the place where it was written. That is impressive for a couple of reasons. First, He didn’t need to do that. Being God, He wrote the Bible. He could have quoted all of Isaiah. Secondly, Isaiah was three long scrolls. No chapters. No verses. Jesus found the place. He knew the book. He didn’t settle with, “I’m not sure where it’s at, but it’s in the Bible somewhere…” No, He found the place where it was written. Being able to show someone exactly what God says is important. Don’t give them your “think-so.” Don’t trade opinions. Stick to what God says. Being able to open the Bible and show someone is critical. It is God’s word that will convict and convert. This is one reason why you need to make connections with a church family. They can help you.

I’m amazed that some college students head off to the university without taking their Bible. Are they ashamed? Are they not planning on using it? Is it any wonder that they return spiritually indifferent, weak and confused. They have failed to feed their faith.

If you do not feed your body for a semester it will die. If you don’t feed your soul, it will also die. For some, all it takes is one semester. No worship. No praying. Listening to liberal theology, they announce at the Thanksgiving table that same-sex relationships are not really wrong. Dad chokes on the turkey and mom runs to the bedroom crying. What happened? A faith died.

You can return home stronger in the Lord than when you left. I’ve known several, myself included, who went off to college and in the midst of all that, decided to preach God’s word. It wasn’t my intention. My faith grew and grew when I was in school. Lightbulbs came on in my head. I started getting what all of this is all about.

Habits—worship-participation—those things will help you. There is a strong possibility that while you are in college that you will meet the person that you want to marry. If your faith is dying and you are not developing spiritually, that will affect who you are attracted to. A decade later you might be in a real mess or you might be considered to be a deacon in the church. What you do during those college years can set the course for what you become years and years later.

As was His custom…He entered…He stood up to read…He found the place where it was written. Amazing! What a great plan for all of us to follow. What a powerful course for college students to follow. These simple things can make all the difference in the world. They can lead you to a lifetime of following God and will end with you in Heaven. Or, if you ignore these things, you may find yourself divorced several times, drunk often and grumpy about life and scared to death of death.

I hadn’t planned on this, but I believe I will put these three articles in a small booklet to give to high school grads. If you want one, they are free, email me at: Rogshouse@aol.com

God bless our high school grads. O the places you may go—not just a cool title of a book, but a true statement of life. Take God with you on your journey! You’ll need Him. You’ll be so glad that you did.

Roger