The University of Life
[Jesus said,] “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.”
Matthew 11:29 RSV
What are the required courses in the university of life? You are going to have to face life; you are going to have to face death; you are going to have to face judgment. You can’t really face any of them without Christ. There are three required courses in the university of life. First, life itself. You had no control over the fact that you were born. There is nothing you can do to stop living. “Oh,” you say, “I can commit suicide.” No, you can’t. You were created with a soul or spirit which will live forever. Your body will die and go to the grave, but you, the real you, will live forever. You can kill your body, but you cannot kill you. So “life” is one course you have to take, whether or not you like it. You cannot be unborn.
The second required course is death. The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27). Every generation dies. You may die in an automobile accident. You may die of cancer. You may die of heart disease. You may live to old age, but you are going to die. God told Hezekiah, the king, “Thou shalt die, and not live.” The Bible says there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Are you ready to die? Adam lived 930 years, but he died. Seth lived 912 years, but he died. Methuselah lived 969 years, but he died.
At the end of every person’s life it can be said, “He died.” There’s a day, an hour, a minute, for your death. A prominent man was quoted in the press as saying, “I’ve prepared in the course of my life for every eventuality except death. I’m unprepared to die.” Are you prepared to die?
The third requirement in this university is to face the judgment of God. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, a wonderful thing has happened. The cross where Jesus died for our sins was a judgment. The Bible says that He was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). It was in the plan of God for the redemption of the human race that Jesus Christ should die. That was a judgment. God judged His Son for our sins, instead of us. Jesus became sin for us. And Jesus did it voluntarily, because He loves us.
Our Father and our God, prepare me for living, for dying, and for judgment at Your throne. I know I have so much to learn and that I fail often, but please hold my hand. Keep me on the road to life eternal with You. Don’t let me waver from Jesus Christ, who is the one and only Way. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).