Devotional thoughts from a student:

At a recent campus Bible study, a young women had an especially helpful insight for Christians on a college campus. She noted the stress and anxiety of being a college student. In every class, grades are taken, evaluations are being made. You work really hard to pass classes and impress teachers, to carry your weight on group projects, to work enough hours to pay your bills. So much depends on you. For her it was so refreshing to come to Bible study and be reminded of the one thing that doesn’t depend on her at all. Her faith in Jesus wasn’t her decision, it was a miracle of the Holy Spirit through water and the word. Her redemption doesn’t depend on her, she was set free from sin and Satan when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. The ability to share Jesus with her friends doesn’t even really depend on her, she is simply joining Jesus on his mission - the same Jesus who promised to be with his people always as they share his comfort, hope, and peace. We sighed, we smiled, we agreed. In a world, where it seems like so much depends on how dedicated you are and how hard you work, it is refreshing to hear again how everything needed for us to have peace with God forever has already been done by Jesus. The pressure is off. 

Do you have friends that could appreciate that concept too? Without being a pushy “Jesus salesperson,” this might be one way for you to share the peace that comes from Jesus in a world full of stress and anxiety.

Hang in there my friends!

In Christ,
Pastor Nelson