Corona Devo 1882
Well, Spring is in the air, and this time of year means graduation season for some. Many events encircle the final exercise of a graduate receiving their diploma, and a baccalaureate service is one of them.
Baccalaureate?
"The odd name, 'baccalaureate', comes from the early years of higher education when the bachelor’s degree was called 'the baccalaureate'. It is believed that, during the 15th century, Oxford University established a tradition of sending their graduates off through a (very) long service that included (student) sermons offered in Latin. When this tradition was carried to the U.S.A...the distinctly religious aspects of the ceremony were encompassed in a service before Commencement. That service came to be called 'Baccalaureate': baccalaureus (bachelor), and bacca lauri, (laurel berry) to mirror the bay tree leaves that were woven into crowns to be placed on the heads of scholars).
The modern theme of a baccalaureate ceremony offers the opportunity for a graduating class and their families to pause and reflect on this rite of passage, and to celebrate the graduates’ achievements and perseverance. (source: https://college.lclark.edu/commencement/baccalaureate-celebration-faqs/#:~:text=The%20Baccalaureate%20is%20said%20to,their%20own%20communities%20and%20values).
Our school district has an upcoming baccalaureate service on the calendar, but a school staff member recently pulled our son aside to ask if he might be interested in organizing it because "they are thinking of cancelling it due to lack of direction".
Friends: our cities, our schools, our states, our Nation, and our families need the Bible and God's Word because without Jesus, everyone is "lacking direction".
Our (fleshly) knee-jerk reaction is to cut-God-out and not-be-bothered by Him and His Law, but our conscious and determined decision to include God (in our lives and in acknowledgement of who we are and what we are) will be life-altering for every individual (marriage and family) that makes that choice.
Eighteen years old or over eighty: Our lives will explode with God's potential for us if we will commit to Christ and the Bible today.
Stay committed.
The world, the media, our fleshly desires, even churches that have fallen away from maintaining all of God's Word and Law...they lack direction, and they will distract and tempt us to compromise.
Do not fall away today.
Listen to the word of the Lord. ~Ezekiel 13:1
Stand.
Even (and especially) in the midst of other/louder/false messages...we must stand and prophesy of the message of God.
Then this message came to me from the Lord: (2) “Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. (3) This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’
(4) “O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins. (5) They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the Lord.
(6) Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ even though the Lord never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies!
(7) Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ when I have not even spoken to you? ~Ezekiel 13:1-7
Stand!
Yes, there will be a baccalaureate service in our district this year. (Can you be a part of one in yours?)
We cannot allow the cancellation of a public (school) opportunity to acknowledge God in people's lives.
Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. ~Ezekiel 13:1
Stand!
What purpose/event/ministry/opportunity is the Lord calling you to step-out and stand-up for in His Name for today?
And don't say, "Nothing", because you and God both know that is not true.
Stand today.
Stand for the Lord and His Truth today so that we might shepherd others in the way of His Ways, instead of the other way around. People lack direction, but God gives it.
Stand for the Lord in faith/word/and deed today: Whatever that means in our life today.
~~~
It is not just graduates who are encouraged (and called) to reflect-on and acknowledge who and what God has called them to be. We all can and should make a conscious and determined decision to include God in our lives today, and to listen to the word of the Lord (Ezekiel 13:1).
And those who teach us otherwise (opposing God) had better beware:
You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins. (23) Because of all this, you will no longer talk of seeing visions that you never saw, nor will you make predictions. For I will rescue my people from your grasp. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ~Ezekiel 13:22-23
~~~
There are those that are lacking direction, and there are those who are providing false direction.
But who is God calling us to give His direction to, and how?
It might be a high school graduate baccalaureate ceremony. It might be sharing our faith-story (testimony) with someone who is hurting and searching. It might be a family member, friend, or mere acquaintance that is asking us questions..and God is the answer.
Stand today.
Our conscious and determined decision to include God (in our lives and in acknowledgement of who we are and what we are) will be life-altering, and to be living in God's will is a state that I never want to graduate from.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ~Ephesians 6:13
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