Smile for Finals!

On the very hour-eve of my first college final, I am comforted, calm, and free. Maybe that's something our parents don't want to hear...we've got to care! And I do. I do.

But to you, what are finals? Why should you care?

Throughout high school, I've understood the gospel. I've recited it and shared it and told it to myself. Yet without entirely realizing it, I haven't been living in full freedom. I would lug around my sins and past mistakes. Some of them I know I committed out of little faith in our real and perfect God. Some of them I committed out of idolatry. Then, out of seeking to please the flesh. From lying to being prideful to skipping a date with God for sleep, I made one mistake after another and I saw their familiar faces regularly in my life. Because I woke up in the morning and remembered these sins before I remembered God, I would unconsciously stop meditating on the freedom Jesus Christ has bought for us.

What has been your spiritual struggle? I ask because I think God is trying very hard to reveal truth to you. Since coming to college, He has graciously poured out conversation after conversation, sermon after sermon, verse after verse, and worship experiences/meetings galore for me to experience His freedom. His acceptance. His embrace. I'll be honest-I still struggle with guilt. With remembering the weight that Christ held on His shoulders.

But praise God, I've tasted the freedom He had always intended for me.

Finals are a blessing. School is a blessing. Money to go to school is a blessing. Sleep is a blessing. Think about it-it's more than you need. More than you need to survive. More than you need to worship. CARE because it's God's gift to you. But brothers and sisters, be free, because when we fail to do well, there is freedom.

Sweet Awakening.