Christianity = College.

Christianity 101?

College started today, and boy oh boy, talk about a change. I was sitting in the park when 3 people - an older man, younger man, and student-age girl - came over to me and started asking me if I knew Jesus. As a Christian, I told them, yes, of course. They quizzed me until they really saw that when I said I was a Christian, I meant it.

As they walked away, it got me thinking. College is already so much more different than anything I've experienced so far. Instead of setting your watch by A-R time when you get to school, you glance at your phone and see how long until class. No annoying bells telling you to move - I don't even remember what they sound like - instead you have to watch the time and figure it out yourself, because classes are insanely spread out. Instead of suffering through lunches like pizzaburgers and rib BBQ sandwiches, I can choose what I want to eat and when I want to eat it. It's going to be as lot of work, but I can say - I like college.
The thing with college is, though, is that you have to discipline yourself to do what needs done, when it needs to be done. Professors won't care at all that you don't come to class, unlike high school, where you HAD to go. You know what you need to do - homework, projects, and other assignments - but noone is going to guide you along. You have a "rule book" - the class syllabus, the college handbook or guide - and normally it sets an expectation, like an academic standard for integrity. You decide what "road" you go on - the right one, where you do your own work and follow the expectations, or the wrong one, where you copy, cheat, and barely do what needs to be done to get by. It's your choice, and it's entirely up to you.
Your Christian walk is like that, too.
Once you put your faith in Christ - like leaving high school for college - your life changes, even though it may not seem like it. You're still going to school, you're still leading the same life. However, like college, once you turn your life over to Christ, you're playing by a different set of rules. The Bible is now your guide, and there are things in there - like the 10 Commandments, for example (Exodus 20: 2 - 17ish) - that tell you how to live.
The same thing applies to your decision, however. Like Christianity, you can choose to follow God's word and his plans for you. It's your own choice, and noone can make that decision for you. Likewise, you can choose to avoid it and not accept God's grace and forgiveness and His way of living. You can live your own life doing what you want, and it seems perfect, in a sense. Complete free will - God's gift to man. Watch out though, because at the end of everything comes the result - in college, living how you want will earn you a flunking grade, or worse. Same thing with your Christian walk. Except here, there aren't any do-overs and make-ups that you can take once life is over. You can't try again like you can on an assignment. It's simple - Heaven, or Hell. Your choice.
So here's your NR challenge for this post - I challenge you to make the choice between the "fun" life - going down the wrong road, and straying from what God's will is - and the "difficult" life. Life with God isn't going to be easy, and by no means is Christianity a walk in the park. You're going to get persecuted. You're going to get made fun of. You may lose friends, respect, anything. But in the end, isn't it worth it - when you walk into Heaven and hear God saying, "Well done my good and faithful servant?" Of course it is!
So make the choice. It's up to you.
Are you in?



-Kimber.