What to do after Graduation

Introduction

Life changes every day, I think we could agree on that… And for some of you, life is getting ready to change in significant ways.

For some of you children and grandchildren are growing up, they are completing a great milestone in life, They are finishing school, some high school and some college… and that is a great achievement. It is a great milestone for them today.

Its a great day for them… They might say...”we’ve made it!”

So what’s next?

No matter if its high school or graduation, these people are experiencing change, some are going to college and some are going to the work place and life is getting ready to change for them.

What can they do?

There is all kings of practical and yes, not so practical advice for them today. But I want to share some thoughts of what is good for them today, what will best benefit them and help them have access.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to never loose sight of God.

He is the one constant, the One who never changes, Who knows our steps and each of our days.

So this morning I want to share with you what I would call a plan for success for your days ahead. And this can speak to any of our lives, no matter our age, its never to late to follow the Lord more closely...

So let me share a three passages I want to say is our base today for all I will do and say.

Regardless of what our next step in life is, there are practical things for graduates to consider as they begin the next phase of life.

Psalm 37:23 ESV

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The New International Version Chapter 7

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

So from these three passages, What do we hope to discover… I would call it steps for living, as we go about this thing called life, what can we do to be found pleasing, successful in the eyes of God.

So from these three passages, what can we learn and what do we hope to

It begins with His plans for our lives...

Matthew 7 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Matthew 7

1. He has a Plan for Your Life....

I am convinced, and no one can prove it any differently to me, God has a plan for our lives…

Why am I so convinced of this?

His word is a testimony of this truth, and we know that there is nothing false when it comes to God, He doesn’t lie.

If you look back to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, we find the message God has sent for him to deliver to the people of Israel as they lived in from God.

The children of Israel have sinned against the Lord, and in the midst of sin, shame and captivity in a foreign land. God wanted to assure them He has not abandoned them, He has not forgot them.

In fact He has plans for them and their future.

Lets look again at

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Now some would argue that this verse is only applicable to Israel, during a terrible time in their history, but I would disagree simply because when you take in the whole message of His word here in Jeremiah is echoed in other books as well.

So lets break this down my friends… Understand who is speaking…It is God, and He is timeless and Message is as well.

Jeremiah doesn’t know the plans… The “I” here speaks to the great author of Scripture, the Lord God himself. He is the one whose very attribute is omniscient… He is all knowing.

Its hard to imagine that before the day of creation, … God knew all … everything and every person.

And in the case of the world we live in , people are looking for truth, direction in many areas, from taro cards, physics and other false gods… but they only pretend to know the things and ways of God…

You cannot find truth in those who do not know God...

And God in turn makes the case very personal, I know the plans I have for “you”

God knows us… he knows are name, our days and our ways....

Now consider His plans...

And then the word “plans” must be considered… The Hebrew word speaks to a line of thinking or reasoning that creates a purpose, the reason for our existence in the future.

God says I know the plans I have for you .... And if you notice, what He says, God has no intention of harming you, seeing you fail. Plans for welfare, future and hope...

So what does that mean, - at the very center of His will for you is success, happiness and peace. Nothing evil is every in the mind of God for you.

What is He saying… He is assuring you that He has nothing but good intentions for us as we walk with him and his ways...

Now like Israel, do not expect to discover and experience His hand of blessing if you are not following after his ways…

God intended for Israel and its children to see their homeland again, God desires you to see Him and His hand as you discover his ways for your life....

God has a plan for your life....

Follow Him and discover it… there is the beauty of our life in Him...

As you venture past this time of graduation, never loose sight of God and his ways… He loves you and has a desire to bless you

Now what is next.... Here is your second thought.....

2. Allow God to Direct Your Steps....

Consider this… if you trust God, and that is essential to our faith, knowing that He has a future for us.... what we have just looked at… then the next step is allowing God to direct your steps.

How do we do that...

Let me share a couple verses with you

Psalm 37:23 ESV

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;

There is a old saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

People plan their journeys, consider taking a trip somewhere. We plan for that trip. We make sure we have the funds, we make sure the car is ready and gassed up, tires checked etc…

We think about how long we are gone and what we need to pack and then we make plans on how to get there, what roads to take, where we may want to stop etc…

All of these points are important, and planning is involved every step of the way.

God says He knows the plans he has for us, thus we must also consider he has our steps planned out as well. The only thing that is is required is “for us to follow...”

How do we follow the Lord, so what we can follow His steps...

Trust Him

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

There was a valuable lesson that I have learned in life, I don’t know it all.... It wasn’t wrong to ask a person for help, how do you do this or that… And I have been blessed to learn from people, and I am still learning...

Solomon reminds us that we don’t know it all, He was the wisest of all men, and he tells us this.... you must do two things in life..

Trust the Lord will your whole heart. The call is for us to have faith and trust Him with all that is in us. He is omniscient, he knows our days. He is the creator of all there is and He is our redeemer. If we can trust Him with our salvation that we have not seen but believe is real, trust Him with your daily life.

Do not fall prey to your own ways… Solomon says, lean not to your own understanding.. My understanding is faulty, so is yours.. do you know why? because we are touched with sin, we are in a fallen world, and so our information for living, it limited, lacking, so I cannot see past this moment. I can hope, I can wish, and I can try...

If we recognize that he is

But If I trust him, then I am operating at full capacity if you will. If I trust Him, then my day to day steps are planted well, they are sure.

Remember, God has said He knows the plans He has for us… and he can direct my steps in a way that I find success, his success, peace, fulfillment and purpose.

Remember, God has said He knows the plans He has for us… and he can direct my steps in a way that I find success, his success, peace, fulfillment and purpose.

Life is done on planning, people rarely live in a random state of events,

And when I want like that… the second part of says I am delighting, blessing in His way.

Consider .... Blessed is the man who walks in the ways of the Lord. Blessed means to be characterized by happiness, and being highly favored by God.

Psalm 1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Commit your ways, your steps before the Lord, trust Him to take care of each day and let your joy, happiness be found in Him...

I love what the apostle Paul says I am persuaded that He ( God ) is able to keep that which I have committed unto him each day…

He can and will, if we give it to Him and live for Him...

That my friends is good, safe news for anyone but especially you starting life ...

Now just one last thought for you today…

As you walk in the ways of the Lord, expect him to walk along side you and help you. He is not giving you all the things you desire, but is promising you as you walk in His pathways, He has you, will bless you and keep you.

Now just one last thought

3. Remember the Narrow Way Leads to Life...

Now why do I bring this up to you today? Why is this thought important?

I want everyone here to remember that life is about choices, the choices we make.

Everyday contains choices, some more crucial than others…

Listen we make choices, decisions every day, and too often we do not give enough time to those decisions. By time I mean carefully consideration that is delivered by prayer.

And as a child of God, we must be praying and seeking His will and direction for life.

Listen to what Jesus says about having life on the Sermon on the Mount..

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Obviously we understand the broad or wide gate speaks to living for self and the world and the narrow gate is living for Jesus and it is tied to life.

The beginning of this type of decision is salvation, the choice of following Jesus as Savior and Lord.

But that decision never stops happening, it must be a day to day lifestyle..

Why do I say that..

Everyday we are traveling the narrow way… may there are exits every mile that lead back to the wide, broad ways of life. If we are not careful, we find our self heading in the wrong direction and we can figure out how to get back to the correct road....

Listen, most of the world is one the broad or wide way.. it s crowed, it looks good , and there is a lot happening there and every step is one that leads us deeper and deeper into sin.

I see it every day, and I see people making poor choices every day. I had a person tell me the other day, how can we get married if we don’t know for certain that we can live together, that our sex life isn’t mutual, that we are good for one another. That is what the world promotes, a perverted disarray of what marriage is ....

Marriage is God’s most wonderful institution… it is about people loving God and each other. And by following God, they are ready to join their lives together. And guess what, by following God, God has directed their steps and they have come to the person He has set forward for them to enjoy life with..

The narrow way leads to life.

Jesus said I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest.

The world cannot imagine, following Jesus, the narrow way and staying on it is truly liberating and life giving.

The narrow way bring life and life eternal.

So ask yourself, what choices are you making today?

Do those choices follow and honor God.?

Do those satisfy your will or His will?

Stay on the right pathway..

Remember

Remember

He has a plan for your life

He can and will direct your steps

Choose the narrow way to find life....