A Sunday school teacher once told us that college would be a special time: “You will never again have so much freedom and so little responsibility.” He explained that we would have so few hours in class and so much free time to play or study or work or whatever.
He added: “Use your time wisely.”
Few of my friends were diligent. They were kids, right? They watched TV, listened to music, went to concerts, dated, and generally goofed off. I won’t name any names—but my brother was my only close friend who studied more than I did and he did not often have to balance work and school. I studied AND worked. Thirty years later there remain movies, songs, and TV re-runs from those years that I have no memory of: I was too busy for pop culture.**
On top of that, I started reading through the books of the Bible. I did not read them in order—just whatever interested me. But I read a lot and kept a written, daily prayer list. Throughout five years of college, I spent about an hour a day in the Word, in prayer, and memorizing verses. In the years since, I have rarely been able to match that. Paul explained that it’s different when you have a family:
“An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband” 1 Corinthians 7:32-34.
You will never again have so much free time. Have fun! But use your time well! Spend time in the Word every day. You will NEVER regret time you spend with the Bible—and God will bless you!
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**(I know this sounds like bragging, but I was studying because I was trying to make up for lost time. I had ignored school and failed classes for years, and I knew if I did not study as hard as possible, I would fail college classes too. In the early years, I considered my situation one of sink or swim, do or die. I studied madly, desperately, a man running for his life.)
Household Words: 