ENCOURAGEMENT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP 

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 

(Col 2:8) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Just think of how far you have come in your life.  High school is over and you’re in the big leagues of life.  You are now a young adult preparing for your future.  The doors of education have opened for you and you have ventured forward ready for the challenge.  But as you take this step to attend a secular college or university you will find that your faith will be tested beyond anything you have yet experienced.  Here’s some encouragement for you as you move forward to what lies ahead.   

The first thing you will confront is a predominating worldview that is contrary to your Christian beliefs.  Since the Bible is in low esteem in education these days, liberal ideas will manifest themselves in just about every subject of study.  This will take some getting used to.  At first you will be taken back by this but after a while you will come to just expect it.  Every system of belief will arise to assault what you believe.  Every garden variety of philosophy and ism will be handed to you on a tantalizing platter.  In some cases you might be insulted for standing up for your cherished principles.   

College is a time for critical thinking.  The educational environment provides a time to reassess what you have believed and perhaps have taken for granted.  What the devil designs for your downfall can actually be something God can use to strengthen and galvanize your faith.  Never be afraid of subjecting your Christian core values to the crucible of secularism because the truth of God’s Word will always withstand the attacks leveled against it.    Truth is truth and lies are lies.  And God even invites the reasoning person to dialog with Him and the truth:  (Isa 1:18)

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord…  If the reasoning person is reasonable then he or she just may embrace the reasons of life.  This will only be induced though by the light of God’s Word and the illumination of the Holy Spirit bringing the honest and hungry seeker to saving faith in the person of Jesus Christ. (Jer 29:13; Mat 16:17; John 16:7-11)   

Many ideas look good on paper but are unable to deliver what people really need in life.  Look at the idea of Karl Marx in regards to the failed experiment of communism.  How about Sigmund Freud and his inability to identify a spirit in man that relates to God and how this has taken away the Savior and replaced it with behavior.  And let’s not forget Charles Darwin and his argument for the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Through this notion modern man has lowered himself from his God-given human dignity to living only on a sensate level like an animal that he is supposed to have derived from.   Be careful about what you hear from a distinguished and charismatic professor.  High ideas do not necessarily translate into high ideals.  It’s time to really believe what you believe.  That way you’ll never be deceived! 

Louie