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Verse:“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” —John 10:10, NKJV
As an educator, I am always amazed at how students learn life lessons. I have been a teacher for almost fifteen years, and without fail, there is always that one student who makes a decision that is not in his or her best interest.
A few years ago, while working at a middle school, we had a student with behavior problems. No matter how many times he got into trouble, he just couldn’t seem to learn his lesson. If he wasn’t skipping class or smoking behind the school, he was fighting his classmates. For a while, the student would get suspended at least once a week. After he was suspended for several weeks for a host of things, his mother accused the school of picking on her son. When the student got his tenth suspension, one of our male teachers decided to go to his home to talk to him.
The teacher hoped to establish a relationship with the student and make a difference in this young man’s life. But the young man refused to talk to the teacher, and his mother asked him to leave. The teacher was disappointed and hurt.
We often do the same thing to God. He continuously offers us salvation, yet we refuse to talk to Him. We run all day, and not once do we thank Him for our lives. We make decisions without asking for guidance.
We refuse to accept His grace and mercy.
We remain this way until something bad happens. Yet God says, “All who follow my ways are joyful” (Proverbs 8:32, NLT).
If we choose not to follow God’s ways, we are choosing to live a life without joy. During spring break, that same young man picked up a loaded gun to play with. Sadly, he accidentally shot himself in front of all his friends.
While his life ended tragically, the young men who witnessed the accident were forever changed. I was changed. I remember going to his funeral and hearing his mother’s words: “No one could save my son.” My prayer today is that we will not need a tragedy to learn that God wants to give us joy. I hope we learn to seek His face and trust His Word. He offers us life more abundantly, if we will simply ask.
He loves us with an everlasting love.
I pray each day that we choose life with God.
Paula Sanders Blackwell