I was once a student. In a sense, we are all students for life. But as a formal student you have to study and prepare for examinations. The work-load may be heavy. The pressure may be great. At the same time, you are learning many things, and enjoying the student’s life.
Have you stopped to ask why you are studying? Is it just to pass exams? Is it to prepare for a brighter future? My question to you is, What when you have passed all your exams? And, What if you have procured a good job? What will you do next? You might say, I will get married and have a family. Beyond that, what plans have you got? To become rich? And famous? And influential? And useful?
Noble as your aim may be, have you given any thought to what will happen to you as the years pass by? You know that you are not the baby that you once were, nor the infant, nor the young person. You are now older, although you are still relatively young compared to many others. By the time you finish your studies, you will be at the prime of your life. Equipped with your academic qualifications, you will be ready to launch into the working world. You will be full of youthful energy to begin achieving your ambition. You will be at the mature age to consider marriage.
Alas, you will not be young for ever! Or energetic. Or good-looking. The prime of life is between the ages of 25 and 35 years. Stretch it 5 years each way, and what you have are only 20 years of youthful, energetic, and good-looking life. Below the age of 20 years, you are still developing as a person. Above the age of 40 years, you will be growing old. Wrinkles will appear on your face. Your hair will get thinner. The stamina of youth will leave you. Your joints will begin to give you problems. For some, health problems will appear. You will discover that life has its joy, but also its sorrow. The time will come when you are near the end of your life. The Bible says,
The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away (Psalm 90:10).
This is all very depressing, but my purpose of saying it is to awaken you to the reality of life. You can adopt the attitude of the hedonist, and seek to enjoy life by eating, drinking, and seeking pleasure of all kinds. Or you can adopt the attitude of the fatalist, and say that whatever will be will be. But hedonism and fatalism will not help you to live well, since life’s problems will not go away. Hedonism and fatalism also will not prepare you to die well, for you will not have peace and hope beyond the grave.
The only wholesome way of life is that of faith in the true God, who has revealed Himself in the Bible as consisting of three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each person is completely God, yet there is only one true God, not three. The eternal Son of God took to Himself a perfect human nature, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to bear the sins of His people. He rose from death and was seen by many people, before being taken up to heaven. He will one day return to judge the living and the dead. He is none other than Jesus Christ, who calls upon everyone to turn from his life of sin and trust in Him for eternal life.
We live in God’s world. Life becomes meaningful only when we are at peace with our Creator, who may be known only through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Come what may, we know that God will be close to His children. We can live, work, play, and have a family like other people, but with the knowledge that this is a passing world. When the time comes for us to leave this world, we know that God will lead us safely to be with Him in heaven. We will not fear the day of judgement, knowing that Jesus Christ has cancelled our debt of sin, and given us eternal life. We will look forward to life with all those who are saved, in the presence of God, on a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
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