Final Year

What are your priorities for your Final Year? Take a moment to write them down.

There is an unspoken acceptance that Final Year = panic, no time for anything other than work, certainly no time for CU or church which seem to cater for younger undergrads anyway ...

Looking at what you've written down, how do your priorities fit in with God's goal for you, as we saw in the section on Guidance? How many of your top priorities are to do with growth into maturity as a Christian?

If they don't, it's worth thinking about how God might view them. That's not to say that some of them aren't important, such as getting a degree, but again we need to be strategic in our thinking and align our priorities with God's.

Many final year students don't prioritise CU or church in their final year. There are many reasons - it mainly caters for First years, it's getting a bit cliquey, it meets on a night when you've got lots of work to do before your class next morning, it's your only night to chill out.

Frustrated by CU? Feel a bit out of it at church? Feel a bit too old to do much good?

Sure, CU and church aren't the be all and end all of Christian life at Uni. Your salvation doesn't depend on it.

But perhaps the reasons for not going any more run deeper than we think.

2000 years ago, the Hebrew Christians were giving up meeting with each other, beginning to get a bit fed up with having to live Christian lives and forgetting the awesome salvation that had been won for them. They were forgetting that they needed to proactively engage in the incessant spiritual battle. They were beginning to drift away from fellowship and teaching.

Not a drastic move, or so they thought. But according to the writer of Hebrews, it was extremely serious: they were in danger of drifting away. He reminds them of the gospel message, and warns them to pay more careful attention.1

As Christians we have the amazing security of knowing that we are forgiven and have a right standing with God because of Jesus' death. There's nothing for us to do as it has all been done.

But we know too that we're not where we ought to be: there is a very long way to go before we reach maturity in Christ, as God wants us to do. It's hard in the final hear to keep your perspective on this: your relationship with God doesn't seem as pressing as attaining good grades, or winning that Hockey cup.

But when push comes to shove, what is our priority as a Christian?

Just like the Hebrews, we need to grow up in our salvation2. We can't focus our energies on other things and give up growing as Christians: that is against God's will for us.

There is no "standstill" in the Christian life: it's either forwards or backwards.

Another reason why we are slow to mature as Christians is to do with a lack of humility. We forget that we need to keep encouraging one another and meeting up3 if we're to keep growing and persevering in our faith.

2 key priorities for all stages of our Christian lives:

Seek to mature as Christians

Seek to meet with Christians

1. Pray that God will use you, your leaders and other members of your church / CU.
2. Meet up and be someone who people know. Be a support.
3. Realise that especially as a Finalist, you're an example to others whether you like it or not!
4. Plan to use your time wisely.
5. Don't let the urgent things get in the way of the important: Guard your time with God and other Christians jealously.
6. Make priorities now that will carry on into your working life. It won't get any easier.