Welcome to the University. Welcome to the world of knowledge, the centre of learning, and the world of intellectuals. Welcome to the ladder to greater heights and to the pathway to fulfilling your great dreams. Welcome to new friends, new passions. Welcome to discovery and rediscovery. Are you excited? Terrified? Expectant? Intimidated? Dismayed?
The university is a place of great freedom. For the first time, you get to choose whether or not you will go to class. For the first time, your evenings and nights are your own, with no rules and regulations to follow; you have no curfew, no boundaries. Here you will meet all categories of people – the good and the bad, the confused and the focused. You will meet those who are careless with their lives and those who value their lives. What you do with the newfound freedom will determine what you will become. The university has produced great men but in it, the lives of potential great men have also been ruined. Maybe you came to this university with a great passion to succeed and set out on a journey to a wonderful life. Maybe you had no passion on your heart as you were joining the university. Whatever your desires were, we are sure you did not join the university to fail. You did not join to ruin your life morally and become infected with diseases through reckless behaviour. You did not come to become a drug addict, a drunkard, or an abortionist because of unwanted pregnancies. Our desire for you is that you may have a meaningful, goal-directed, successful, and accomplished stay at the university. Whatever the number of years your course will last, our greatest prayer for you is that you will one day look back and be excited that you made the right choices while you were at the university. In all that you are getting in this university, get wisdom. The word of God says,
“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore, get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding (Proverbs 4:5-7 )
The word of God also tells us how to acquire this wisdom. It says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:7). Wisdom is to fear the Lord.
God has great plans for your life. He says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Yes, God brought you to the university to give you a hope and a future. It is exactly these great plans of God for your life that satan desires to destroy. Satan is committed not only to make you fail, but to destroy your life. The word of God says,
“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). The thief is the devil, he wants to kill your great passion; he desires to destroy your future and life.
How does he do this? While you are in this university, he will try to entice you into all sorts of ungodly passions; sexual passion, pornography, alcoholism, drugs, wild living, etc as stated in Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
You have a choice to cooperate with satan to destroy you through your sinful ways or to give yourself to the Lord Jesus and walk in the fear of God so that he takes full control of your life throughout your stay at the university. Whatever your choice is, one thing however is clear, you will reap the consequences. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians6:7-8) We, however, counsel you to live your life to please God and the Spirit and He will fully accomplish His eternal plans for your life.
Listen to what one of the wisest men who ever lived said, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ).
You may be wondering how you can truly give yourself to fear God; you cannot do this on your own. Adam’s disobedience introduced sin into the world and all men became sinners. “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ” (Romans 3:23 ). Only the Lord can help you out of the life of sin and give you the power to live to fear and please Him. Apostle Paul also recognizes in Romans 7:24-25 that only God can give the power to help us out sin. He says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! ”
You can let the Lord Jesus come into your life and give you the power to live right and to obey Him. There are just four things to do represented by the letters A, B, C, and D.
ADMIT that you are a sinner by nature and by practice, and that on your own you are without hope. Tell God that you have personally sinned against Him in your thoughts, words, and actions. In a sincere prayer, confess all your sins to Him one after the other. Do not omit any sin that you can remember. It may be helpful if you write out your sins on sheets of paper and then burn them after God has forgiven you. In doing so, you must be truly sorry for them, since they pierce God’s heart. Then, truly turn your back to and abandon your sinful ways. If you stole, steal no more. If you have been committing adultery or fornication, stop it. God will not forgive you if you have no desire to stop sinning in all the areas of your life; but if you are sincere, He will give you the power to stop.
BELIEVE that Jesus Christ, who is God’s Son, is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. Jesus said, «I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me» (John 14:6), and the Bible says, «For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all» (1 Timothy 2:5-6). If you believe this, you are also rejecting every other system or philosophy that suggests that a man can be reconciled to God outside of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will want to receive Him, for, «As many as received him, he gave them the power to become the children of God» (John 1:12). But,
CONSIDER the cost of following Him. Jesus said that all who will follow Him must deny themselves. This includes selfish financial, social, and other interests. He also wants His followers to take up their crosses and follow Him. Are you prepared to abandon your own interests daily for those of Christ?
Are you prepared to be led in new directions by Him? Are you prepared to suffer for Him and die for Him if need be?
Jesus said, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace but a sword… and man’s enemies shall be they of his household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of me» (Matthew 10:34-38).
This is very costly, but God’s gifts – peace, joy, eternal life, etc, are far greater than whatever it may cost you. You do well to choose Him. Jesus will have nothing to do with half-hearted people. He demands a total commitment. He will only receive and forgive those who are prepared to follow Him AT ANY COST. Think about it and count the cost. If you are prepared to follow Him come what may, then there is something you must DO.
Invite Jesus to come into your heart and life. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door (to his heart and life) I will come into him and eat with him and he with me» (Revelation 3:20).
Why not pray a prayer like this one or another one as the Holy Spirit leads you?
«Lord Jesus, I am a wretched, lost sinner who has sinned in thought, word and deed. Forgive me all my sins and cleanse me. Receive me, Saviour, and transform me into a child of God. Come into my heart now and give me eternal life. I will follow You at all costs, trusting Your Holy Spirit to give me all the power that I need. Amen.»
If you have prayed the above prayer sincerely, then Jesus has forgiven you and made you God’s child right away. He has blotted out all your sins and forgotten the fact that you ever sinned (Hebrews 10:16-17). You have eternal life (1 John 5:11-13). You are born again; you are an entirely new creature and the past is gone (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are saved (Romans 10:9).
Rejoice in your new position before God. Thank Him for His marvelous love, forgiveness, salvation, etc. Begin at once to tell other people about your new life in Jesus.
