Many of the high school seniors I teach are preparing to graduate. Even a couple of the college men who I mentor are completing their degrees this June. The next step for both groups can be an exciting adventure into adulthood and independence, but also it can be intimidating and worrisome. What will happen now? Can I make it on my own? How will I find my way? Where will I live? Will I enjoy my job? Who will my friends be? Will I be happy? Perhaps you too are at a transition point. If you are, I am convinced that every one of your concerns can be answered in Jesus.
Jesus is God the Son who became a man and died and rose again, so that you can know God. Anyone who trusts and obeys Jesus can be saved from their wrongdoing and live rightly with God now and forever. Jesus loves you. He understands where you are at and he wants to help you move forward with him into your best life. The remainder of this note includes my advice and some thoughts from a book written by my uncle titled, “Sojourners.” I hope it encourages you to align your way with Jesus’ way.
Jesus’ First Commandment
When Jesus ministered on earth he showed anyone who would listen how life with God is radically different and so much better than living life on their own. He taught with divine wisdom. He performed miracles with heavenly power. He served people with godly love. Yet Jesus didn’t just tell people they needed to change in order to experience true life with God. He enabled them to do so by graciously giving his innocent life on their behalf and rising again to make it possible for anyone who believes him. Even today Jesus is calling all who will listen and trust in him to an unsurpassed, abundant life with God in his kingdom.
The teaching of Jesus must be thought about and pondered, so that it can sink in and the truth he is revealing can be seen and received. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). This could be considered the First Commandment of Jesus, perhaps the one that is needed most to be received today. Everywhere people are seeking things, material things and all the good things and happy times that make up a good life. Money is considered the obvious key to success and security, so the need for money drives most areas of life, including education, business, family life, and even humanitarian and religious endeavors. But Jesus has a different take on these things. He concentrates only on the essentials. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:32). Jesus teaches that we should trust God for them. Even this is usually interpreted as the opportunity or ability to make more money. Will the Lord God really provide for our needs, if we put his kingdom first? How will he do it? Will he just find ways to provide money? Will he send manna from heaven, as he did for the Israelites on their journey through the desert? Actually, we won’t know until we put him to the test, until we come to the place where we are depending completely on him. Maybe this place is the desert journey! Maybe we need to become sojourners in the wilderness to learn what is really essential in life, what our heavenly Father considers important, what he will provide if we trust him.
New Life
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you?” (Matthew 6:28-30). How valuable a human life is to God! How much he cares for his own children! But do we allow him to feed us and clothe us and determine the progress of our growth? Or do we too readily follow the course set for us by others, even by the world, and then expect God to help us meet the obligations of that life style? Jesus came to bring us new life and a life style that is determined by the kingdom of God. It is a simple life, unencumbered by worldly things. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). It is a free life, no longer bound to sin or the demands of the world. “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!” (John 8:36). But you are free for a reason—to trust God and depend on him and let him set the course of your life. And that he does—through his Son Jesus Christ! “Follow me,” Jesus says. These are words not just for a certain time in history, but for all time. Jesus is the new way, the new life, the new life style. And he says, “Seek first the kingdom of God…” To learn what this means and then put it into practice requires a new relationship, which is discipleship with Jesus. It is the life of following, the life of a sojourner, who is committed not to the things of the world but to the coming of God’s rule.
New Purpose
The coming of God’s rule has always meant both salvation and righteousness. To seek first God’s kingdom means to put the saving of others above everything else. “The Son of man [Jesus] came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). This is the life that Jesus teaches his followers. “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Everyone who spends time with Jesus and puts his teaching into practice will learn to seek those who are lost rather than his own interests and then find ways to make God’s salvation real to them. Now let’s be honest, is this the direction of your life? Is this how you spend your time? Is this what you are working for, the salvation of others? If not, what makes the difference, what will change you, the purpose of your life and your life style? It is discipleship with Jesus–spending time with him, taking in his words and actions, letting his teaching sink in and open your heart to his truth, depending on his Spirit to prompt you and lead you and move you to care for others, to go out looking for the ones who need him and his salvation, to become at times a wanderer, like Jesus, turning your back on the luxuries and comforts and even the necessities of life in order to go out and seek the lost.
Conclusion
Align your way to Jesus’ way. Find your life and completeness in him. Filter what you think, what you value, and what you do through a desire to follow Jesus—to know him and to make him known. If you do, what you are left with is truly valuable. It has eternal significance, because your intimacy with God is your greatest gift to the world. No matter what career you are pursuing, where you end up residing, or who you are blessed to befriend, let God lead you through the wilderness of discipleship with Jesus. Depend on him. Seek his kingdom first by seeking the lost. Then your way with everything else will become clear and well aligned.