ARE YOU AFRAID OF WASTING YOUR LIFE? I USED TO BE.

Fear of this motivated many of my decisions: applying to and attending Princeton, studying hard, taking a summer internship at a law firm, working at a management consulting firm, and starting an internet company. The list could go on. I need to confess, though, I don’t think these activities will lead to a life less-wasted.

Are you hoping to live a worthwhile life? I am confident that one decision I’ve made guarantees that I won’t waste my life. That decision was to become a Christian. Let me explain this.

The Bible says that God created us to know Him and to enjoy Him as we our lives for Him. But, rather than living for God,we live for ourselves. We reject God’s authority over our lives and we ignore His ways. The Bible calls this sin and says that every one of us is guilty of it, that we are all sinners Romans 3:23. There are consequences of sin such as guilt, bitterness, envy, sickness and finally death.

The worst consequence of sin is that it creates a break in our relationship with God that we can never fix. In the same way that hurting someone strains your relationship with them, so sin against God strains your relationship with Him. One day we will be brought to account and God will put us away from Himself forever.

The Good News of Christianity is that God has provided a way to restore our relationship with Him.He sent His Son, Jesus, to live in the world and to live a perfect life. He died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sin and He rose again, proving that sin was powerless over Him.

The Bible says that every one of us needs to make a choice in life. Either we will continue to live our way and face the consequences of our sin or we will live God’s way in a relationship with Him.

In order to live in a relationship with God, we must repent of our sin and believe in God’s provision for us. “Repent” means to turn from living against God and to agree that living our way and ignoring God is not the way that we were designed to live. “Belief ” means having faith that Jesus can restore our relationship with God by forgiving us and by giving us new hearts that want to live for Him. “He who believes in me,” Jesus says, “shall never thirst”. John 6:35

This is what it means to be a Christian, to turn from living our way and to trust in Jesus for forgiveness and new life. Deciding to follow Jesus requires faith that a relationship with Jesus is infinitely more valuable than anything else we can have.

There is no secret formula for this despite what you might have heard.Walking down an aisle at a church service or following rules might be an outward expression of a desire to repent and believe, but what matters is your heart. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7

Deciding to follow Jesus is the most important decision that you can ever make and I encourage you to do so today. You can only finally decide this in your heart, but a prayer can be a way to express this.An example prayer follows: “God, thank you for creating me to know you. I repent of my sin against you and of living my life as though you don’t matter. Please forgive me. Thank you for Jesus and for providing a way for me to know you. Please help me live for you. Amen.”

Fifty years ago, a brave man about my age made a seemingly life-wasting decision to go to an Indian tribe in the jungles of Ecuador to tell them about Jesus. After planning, praying and thinking about this mission for 4 years, he was killed during his first meeting with the Indians. His life ended in his late 20’s, and for what? Because he wanted to tell people about Jesus.

Now, you might think that this man wasted his life. Well, this is what Jim Elliot said prior to his untimely and obviously tragic death. “He is no fool who gives up what he can not keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Friends, you will lose your youth. You will lose your status. You will lose a job someday. Some of you will even lose your hair. But you can’t keep any of that anyway.

To paraphrase the philosopher Kierkegaard, the decision you make about Jesus will affect every other decision you make for the rest of your life. At least for the sake of intellectual integrity, make sure you understand Jesus before you reject Him.

10. Sebastian Traeger is class of 1996 and is president of Christianity.com in Washington, DC.

This ad has been paid for by Princeton alumni donations. www.ChristatPrinceton.com

Life or Death Sponsored by

Tennent Media.

Life or Death WE MUST CHOOSE TO TRUST IN JESUS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE NEW LIFE FROM GOD.

Source: http://involve.christian-union.o rg/site/DocServer/Princeton9.pdf ?docID=269