What the World has to offer versus what a relationship with Jesus has to offer!
So here it is, 9:44 PM on February 4th, 2023. Although this year has only begun, the way God has already moved in my life has been incredible. I started my 2nd semester of college in January, and although it’s only been a month, this last month has been so memorable, and I have SO much to look back on and smile at. At the start of each semester, we have a chapel experience called Summit. They bring in a guest speaker, and have a morning and evening session for three days. This semester’s speaker was Davey Blackburn, and he has QUITE the story of how he came to Christ (I’ll attach a video link below for more context). He did an INCREDIBLE job challenging us the first few days of our semester to grow deeper in our faith through vulnerability with each other and God’s word. I’m telling you for real that week was life-changing. There’s no feeling in the world like having the opportunity to worship our incredible creator surrounded by people who mean SO much to you. I 100% know that God put my IWU family into my life for a purpose and that I wouldn’t be the same person I am now without them. We had opportunities that week to humble ourselves before the Lord and spend time together in prayer and worship with each other. There’s something extraordinary about putting everything aside and shifting our focus from this world to the one worthy of all our praise and worship. Those moments have been breathtaking, and I know there will be plenty more this semester, but I’m awestruck by all God has done this semester. God designed us to live in a community with one another, and I could write a book about how blessed I truly am to be a part of such an incredible community. I prayed for this kind of community for so long, and it’s been amazing to see how he’s answered my prayers. I have people who genuinely have my back whenever I need it, any time of day or night, and those people know that I have theirs as well, and it’s just amazing. I wouldn’t trade what I have here at IWU for anything. On Wednesday Morning, The Chapel Speaker asked the age-old question, “What is the barrier between you and your relationship with Jesus?”. That was not the 1st time I’ve ever heard that question, but that WAS the 1st time that the answer became abundantly clear. For me, It was my social media. I used to be so attached to it for no reason. It took control of a part of my life and shouldn’t have. The only one who should control my life is the one who created me. So right then and there, I deleted it off my phone, and with the help of my INCREDIBLE accountability partner Andrew and many others, I’ve been free from it for almost a month. Have I missed it? A little, but it’s very freeing not to be tied down. On average, I spent 4-5 hours a day on social media alone. How crazy is that? Since quitting, I’ve watched my screen time decrease each week, and it’s been so internally rewarding. I’ve spent more time in the word than ever before, and not having social media has given me the time to spend in prayer.
Tonight I was at Meijer’s getting my groceries for the upcoming week. I was walking over to the Lunchables when I walked past the Wine section. As I was walking through, I overheard one female telling another male that she needed her bottle of wine to have happiness. As it should, that made my heart sad to hear that. As I returned to my dorm, I unloaded everything, sat down, put on my worship music, and did some thinking. That woman thinks happiness is found in that bottle of wine which is temporary happiness. Temporary Happiness is one of the many things the world has to offer. People find temporary happiness in all sorts of things. Fancy Cars, Big Houses, High Paying Jobs, Lots of money, you name it. I wondered how that person might react if she knew everything a relationship with Jesus could offer versus everything the world offers.
I sat down and made a list of a few simple things, and God put it on my heart to share what was on my mind tonight as I was thinking this through. I made two lists: “What the World has to offer” and “What a Relationship with Jesus has to offer.” The 1st thing my mind went to when it came to this was the word Fun. So often, it’s the stereotype that, as a Christian, fun isn’t allowed and that if you choose to follow Jesus, you have to give up everything fun. As a Christian College Student, I can assure you that NOTHING could be further from the truth. Following Jesus is SUCH an adventure, and I’m only 20 years old, so for me, the experience has only just begun. The world offers “Fun,” though if you choose to live for the world, you can have ALL the fun you want. Drugs, Sex, Alcohol, parties, everything that society says is “Fun.” What’s crazy, though, is that you can have JUST as much fun WITHOUT any of those things as you can with them. A lot of people just don’t realize it.
The next one is “Freedom.” People assume that if you’re a Christ-Follower, you must be tied down with many rules and restrictions. Again, Nothing could be further from the truth, and I’ll explain. The world offers lots of “Freedom.” The one thing that came to mind was the “Freedom” to be whoever you want to be. We live in a society where you can be whoever you want. Male, Female, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bi-Sexual, Queer, you name it. The younger generation has a lot of pressure to try and define themselves by their gender, sexuality, and pronouns, and I can’t help but wonder how much fear and anxiety it can be to grow up in a world where you can “Be whoever you wanna be.” The great part is that one of the things on my “What a relationship with Jesus has to offer” side of the board is not having to worry about how to define yourself. As Christ’s Followers, we don’t have to worry about defining ourselves because we serve a God who already does that for us. He defines us as many things in scripture, but a few are Loved, Chosen, Enough, and his perfect creation. What better way could a person ask to define themselves than words like that?
The last one on the list is External Happiness. If you choose to live for the world, it can be easy to look “Cool.” To look like you “Have it all put together” even if you don’t. In this world, it’s easy to “fake it until you make it.”. That can be easy for a while, but you can only live that way for so long before someone sees through you and sees that the real you isn’t as perfect as the exterior you look. To match that, one of the things on my “What a relationship with Jesus has to offer” side of the board is Space for vulnerability. Jesus, already knows that he’s the only one who is perfect. He wants to take the weight off of your shoulders. With Jesus, You don’t have to have it all put together all the time. You can go to him with all your emotions. You name anger, Frustration, Anxiety, Worry, and Fear, and he wants to take care of it. If you think about it, the church is just one big hospital for the Sick and Broken. It’s where people can find healing in the ultimate healer. Jesus offers space for vulnerability every day, all the time and it’s such a freeing feeling know I have someone who wants 110% of me ALL the time. Even when I’m a total wreck and am in tears, God never stops chasing us.
Well, I went on longer than I meant to. Sorry that was a lot to read! Thanks for reading all the way to the end, I hope you found something in here that you can take and apply to grow stronger in your relationship with Jesus. If you haven’t started that relationship yet, What are you waiting for? Jesus gave it all so we should too. He paid the ultimate price on OUR behalf and because of that, we get to live in FREEDOM! Seriously though, don’t be afraid to reach out if you want to know more about what it looks like to start a relationship with Jesus or how Jesus has changed my life!
Hope you have a blessed week!
Here’s the link to the video on Davey Blackburn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqusI_pqbGI