Graduation is a busy time.  After years of making choices about everything to get to this point, you spend time finishing up studies, and fulfilling all of the requirements for graduation!  Before you know it, the time comes to move to the next phase of life.  Whether it is going off to college or pursuing a career dream, every graduate is faced with choices—before, during, and after.  Making choices never ends.

One choice, though, is very important to every Christian graduate. 

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” —Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

I once read a story about a young Christian who went off to college.  After spending his whole upbringing seated every Sunday morning in church with his parents, he had decided to exercise his newfound freedom of choice.  He was out on his own and away from home.  He and his college roommate had decided to spend their first Sunday morning in the park—just hanging out with friends and having fun.  On his way to the park, he heard a church bell ringing the start of the morning service.  He tried to ignore it, but that nagging voice would not leave him alone. 

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” –Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

Without much more thought, the young Christian suggested to his friend that they stop by a church– just to see what it was like– and, then, head on to the park.  They did, and both continued serving the Lord throughout college and even afterwards.

As Joshua said to the Israelites, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Every one of us must make that decision.  Nobody can make it for you, and you can’t make it for anybody else.  Sometimes the decision isn’t easy.  Because of our sinful nature, we all get tempted to do our own thing.  So, it really comes down to this: Do you really want to serve the Lord?  If you do, then God will give you that resolve.   When the Lord came to Moses and spoke to him through the burning bush, Moses basically said, “I can’t do this. I don’t know what to say. I stumble over my words.”  But later in Exodus we see him facing off with the most powerful man on the face of the earth at that time. That is because God gave him the strength. 

In this same way, God will give you the strength to do what you need to do to serve the Lord and to live a life pleasing to Him.  It won’t be too hard, and you will find that you still have time to do things outside of church.  As we recognize our graduates, let us also urge every one of them to make a good choice to be completely committed to Jesus.