Congratulations, Son! You have made it to your high school graduation! Mom and I are so grateful for this accomplishment, and we are proud of you. We see the significant effort it took to get here. Navigating COVID was hard for many adults – and even harder for so many of you trying to get through high school. In many ways, it did not simply interrupt your freshman year, but also impacted your sophomore and junior years as well. Thankfully, now as seniors, you have finally gotten a reprieve from the shadow of those many months. You and your classmates were especially vulnerable to its effects. But, then again, praise the Lord for getting through it and now past it.
What a blessing getting to spend time with you and your friends has been over these four years. Not only have you been sensitive to obey us as parents, but also your friends have been delightful to be around and spend time with. Your music, videos, photography, and camaraderie has been the glue that held you all together.
For sure, not every day has been sunshine and roses. Yet, through the tough days of the past four years, you have been sweet, loving, kind, and considerate. For these things, mom and I are grateful as well.
Four Guardrails for Life
Guardrails are important. Remember when we were walking along the trail in Glacier National Park? A narrow path along the side of a mountain – literally the side of it. Along that section of the path, we were never over three feet away from plunging hundreds of feet below. Mom and I were highly concerned for everyone’s safety. We explained what was ahead and warned you about the danger of the path – as well as the anticipated beauty. We would have loved guardrails that day! Life is not much different. Although you have danger around every corner, the anticipated joys are all around us as well. And, thankfully, God has provided us some guardrails that keep us save along the journey.
Glacier National ParkThe Fear of the Lord
The wise father in Proverbs told his son, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7). As Solomon put together Proverbs, he wrote to his son as well. In this book, he tells him so many very practical things. However, to get it started, he explains the foundation of wisdom – the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord refers to respecting God, trusting God and being in awe of who God is and what God does as God. All of those things together.
Simply stated, living with or in the fear of God means God is most important in your life. What God says (from the Bible) and what God wants (consistent with the Bible’s teachings) drives you every day. Further, the circumstances and situations God providentially grants you every day become opportunities to trust Him and obey Him.
My friend, Garrett Higbee, and I once were discussing life. I told him that I thought loving God keeps us from making major decisions that would “make you go over the cliff.” In our illustration above with a narrow path, love would keep us from jumping – more on that in a bit. What Garrett said to me was insightful. “Love may keep you from jumping off the cliff, but the fear of God keeps us from getting near the edge.” Essentially, he is saying, even though you may be motivated by love to not jump off the cliff, the respect for God keeps you from living right on the edge of it. These words are so insightful.
The Love of God
What I referenced a moment ago was the love of God. This is what I referred to as that which keeps us from jumping off the cliff. And, it does. The Apostle Paul explained how this works:
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (2 Cor 5:14-15)
Here, Paul tells us that Christ’s love for us should be our primary motivator in life. Whatever we do, wherever we go, whoever it is we are around, whatever it is we are contemplating, in all those circumstances, the love Christ has for us should motivate us to want to live for Christ while serving others. This is so important.
Christ’s love motivates my love and my actions. The more aware I am of the love of Christ and grateful I am for it, the more that motivates me. As Paul says, the incredible love of Christ controls or compels me as I live. Of course, the love of Christ is beautiful. Jesus left heaven to live a righteous life, taking on all the limitations of being human even though He was God, and willingly submitting His life to death on the cross. Why? Because someone had to take our punishment if we ever wanted to have eternal life. Our sin produced a spiritual debt that we could never pay. However, since Jesus is also God, if He came as a human (which means since we are human He could be our substitute) and lived perfectly without sin (which means He met every demand of God’s holy law), then if He died (which is the ultimate result of sin), then His death could become a substitute death for each one of us. God could pour out His wrath for our sin on Jesus. And, since He poured out His wrath for our sin on Jesus, then He could treat us as Christ (2 Cor 5:21). This is exactly what happened! That’s incredible love.
Going back to our illustration of living life along the pathway where there is a cliff over which we could jump… the love of Christ keeps us from jumping. As we contemplate and mediate on Christ’s love for us, we are motivated to do what is right, to honor the Lord, and to live well pleasing to Him. As we do that, others experience and enjoy our love as well. Part of living life motivated by the fear of God is loving and serving others sacrificially, as Jesus did for each one of us.
Staying Safe and Healthy
The path of life God has us on provides health and safety for us. We learn about this path from God’s Word. The Bible provides us everything we need to live a live that enjoys God’s best. Consider what Proverbs 4 teaches:
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a [c]deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil. (Prov 4:20-27)
There’s so much in this text that is important, but let me just highlight a couple of key ideas for you.
First, keep God’s Word before your eyes. You keep God’s Word before your eyes by reading the Bible, studying it, meditating on what it means, talking about it to others, and going to church where the Bible is taught. When you do this and follow what it says, the Bible provides you health and life. In other words, you experience the benefit of a full life with great satisfaction.
Second, use the words of God in the Word of God to help you protect your heart. Your heart refers to your mind, emotions, will, and motivations. It is one word (heart) which captures the rest of what goes on inside of you in your soul. This protection is paramount since everything you do flows out of your heart.
Third, walk down the middle of God’s path. This means, enjoy walking with God and others down the middle of the path. Don’t turn to the right or to the left; instead, stay right on the middle.
Back to our illustration. Switching locations from the Glacier trail to the Badlands in South Dakota, do you remember walking down those narrow paths with cliffs on each side of the path. A step or two too far to the left or too far to the right, and we would fall. Recall, your brother started slipping once until that stranger grabbed him. This illustration is good for this verse. The wise King Solomon teaches us to keep our eyes on the path and walk right down the middle of it. Yes, enjoy the path and everything it has to offer, just do so from the middle of the pathway instead of wandering one way or the other toward the left or the right.
The BadlandsBe Aware of the Fool
At this point, we have identified living with the fear of God as the foundation for wisdom, striving to honor Christ in gratitude for the love of Christ (purpose of life), and letting the Word of God provide you a fulfilled life and health. There’s one more thing to remind you of on this important day of your graduation – be aware of the fool.
The Bible describes it this way: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God‘” (Ps 14:1). This is such powerful and important truth to remember. The fool lives as if God does not exist. Remember from the verse above, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7).
Simply put: my prayer is that you will not live as a functional fool – the person who lives every day as if God or what He says and desires does not matter.
Back to our illustration. Living as a fool would be similar to in spite of the warnings, walk down this dangerous but beautiful path without paying attention to where you placed your feet. You stumble left and stumble right, you close your eyes to the path, and you ignore the warnings about it. When this happens, you will suffer the consequences of living a foolish life.
For sure, mom and I do not want this kind of life for you. Not that we think this will happen! But, we would be unloving not to at least provide you this warning.
Rock Sitting in South DakotaThe Adventure Ahead…
Oh the wonderful days ahead of you! We are so thankful to walk these days with you as your parents and friends. Your sweet spirit, long talks, and compassion for people make you an absolute joy to be around – not to mention your great humor. All these things encourage us as we look forward!
Who knows what will be next? God does, but none of us do. However, what a joy to walk these days with you.
As you consider your own personal strengths and abilities, this is for sure, God has given you many! Mom and I pray that you will use these to the honor and glory of God. We anticipate this. We look forward to it.
What seemed like a long way away at one point is here. You’ve made it. You are a graduate of Ozark High School. As much as that brings a tear to my eye, it also gives me joy in anticipation to what God can do in and through you in the days to come!
We love you, son!
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together
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