SCHOOL BEGINS
It’s August and for most students, both High School and College, school begins this month. It is an opportunity for a new beginning. A time to start over. Last year is gone. It is time for a fresh start. Here are some suggestions.
One, set some goals. Jesus had goals. “For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk. 19:10). Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (Jn. 6:38). Jesus had goals. Students set some goals. Determine to make a higher grade. Determine not to procrastinate.
Second, determine to work. Laziness is one reason many students accomplish very little in school. Solomon had it right when he wrote, “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Prov. 13:4). Here is another translation of that verse, “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (ESV). You may crave good grades but they only come by diligence. Another word for diligence is work. Do your assignments.
Third, watch your friends. Many years ago my High School Biology teachers wrote a statement on the chalk board (Today that would be a dry erase board) which read, “Birds of a feather flock together.” If you choose your friends among those who are lazy and don’t care, you will develop the same attitude. This is an interesting statement by Plato, “People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.” Ask yourself whether spending time with this person will lift you up or drag you down? Paul wrote, “…Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6).
Fourth, pay attention to those ole fuddy duddies, out of touch ignorant parents that pay your bills. Remember the passages that reveal how Jesus spent an extra day in the Temple. His parents found him there and headed back home with him The Bible reads, “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart” (Lk. 2:51). Your parents love you. Listen to them.
Make it a great and memorable year.
Larry