Southland Students - Thursday
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (NIV)
During a rough patch of my life, I needed help making decisions and knowing that everything would end up okay. My future seemed dark and lonely, and I felt lost with no sense of direction. Every time I would get stuck in places like this and needed help, I would go to a very close friend of mine for comfort because sometimes I just needed someone to talk to. One time when we were talking, something he said stuck out to me: ”As long as you are with Jesus, you’re on the right path.” Ever since that moment, I’ve felt a sense of confidence from those words that I’m really grateful for—a confidence that comes from Jesus. It made me realize that Jesus is with me and will continue to be, which helped me through my uncertainty then and still helps me now, especially with college and other big decisions I have to make in this season.
Trusting in Jesus and having His confidence has been amazing, but there are still moments sometimes when my path seems blocked or I get totally lost, and I need help finding my way back. I’ve learned that when these things happen, it isn’t because Jesus isn’t with me; it’s usually because I’m not with Him. There are times when I let sin into my life, and it leaves a mess that I have to clean up with His help so I can get back to Him. Other times, I don’t make an intentional effort to stay close to Him, and then I get lost.
On our High School Beach Week trip a few weeks ago, one thing I learned was that your life follows your focus. So if you want to follow Jesus, you have to make Him your focus. This means fixing your focus on Him daily by reading His Word, worshiping Him, talking to Him, spending time in His creation, etc. Along with this, I learned that to be a follower of Christ, He has to be your number one priority. Jesus is the path, and we fall off the path when we follow anything that isn’t Him. We get lost when we don’t trust Him and choose other things over Him, like lying, hanging out with bad friends, and other poor decisions that separate us from Him. In order to live the life Jesus wants us to live, we have to have Him as Lord—the one focus in our life.
Thursday’s Reflection
Throughout the day, how can we make Jesus our main focus? In what ways can we consistently strive for Him to be our Lord?