May is the month of black caps, sighs of relief, those crock-pot meatballs, and tacky graduation cards. As you celebrate these graduations, it is imperative that marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another is not marked by mere sentimentalism. It is a significant milestone to graduate from high school or college; but it will not fulfill you.
As Christians, it must be plain that these earthly accomplishments remain tethered to a grander purpose. You and I exist to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Congratulations Graduate balloons are obviously not the reason you are alive. The breath in your lungs is God-given and is to be used to render praise unto Him. If you just graduated, remember that all the studying, cramming, coffee, and hard work to get good grades were not ends, they were means.
Means to become a Christian who loves God with all their mind and strength. Means to become a great husband or wife, in order to showcase the glory of Covenant love. Means to providing for your future family, that you might raise your children as faithful Christians. All to the glory of God. Finish lines like this are deceptive in that they convince us that the “hard part is over.” Harder work is ahead, and this test has prepared you for those tests. Remember that God has called you to strain every sinew to the end of advancing His kingdom by proclaiming and living the Gospel in this world.
Those who are celebrating another’s graduation, give the gift of grandeur. When I graduated high school, I remember getting the classic cash & gift cards, along with multiple copies of the same corny $5 “You Can Do It Graduate” books you can get at the local Christian bookstore. But, I will forever be grateful that someone stuck a copy of A.W. Tozer’s  “Knowledge of the Holy” in the pile of gifts. In those pages I was confronted with one of the best articulations of the greatness of God I’ve ever come across. It stirred me, and compelled me to live for the glory and praise of Christ.
The soul was made for grandeur. It is why we stop and stare at mountain ranges and sunsets and pictures of far off galaxies. Don’t settle for low views of God, or of low views of what your life is for. Live for eternity, and compel others around you to live for eternity. To this end, don’t give books to graduates that will shape and coddle low views of God. They need to see God as supremely glorious and majestic. In this alone they will find fulfillment. Congratulations class of 2017!
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