It’s that time of year when cap and gown pictures are flooding my newsfeed and graduation announcements have arrived in my mailbox. I have a few words I’d like to share during this commencement season.
______________________________________
To the Graduate:
Whether you are graduating middle school, high school, or college my message to you is the same.
You are standing at the edge of a new world that awaits you. The comforts or the pains of the past are no more. That world will soon be a distant memory. Even though your mother warned you not to blink, you find yourself in amazement at how fast time passed you by. Like your mother, I am here to tell you it will only go by more quickly. The excitement of the next adventure entices you, but, nonetheless, this new chapter is terrifying.
No matter how old you are or what world you are entering, I can make you one universal promise: it is a compromising world that awaits. There will be times you stand at a crossroads and you will have to choose which way is the right way.
We live in a world in which wrong has become right; and right has become wrong.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
There will be choices to be made. Lots of choices! Each decision will come down to this: will you honor the Lord, or not honor the Lord?
Be aware that the right way will not always be the popular one. The world will tell you that whatever decision you want and whatever is best for you is the right choice. But that is a selfish way to think.
The world will mock you for standing on biblical principles, and even the church will continue to become more politically correct. If you are not changing with the world, they will label you as a hypocrite or as intolerant. Remember God’s word is unchanging! His standards always remain the same. Generation after generation his truth does not change.
To know what is right, you must study God’s word – you must live it.
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone
who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;
yet do it with gentleness and respect
1 Peter 3:15
So, here are my last words of encouragement – Honor Him and He will honor you.