I was asked to deliver the baccalaureate service message to the 2020 graduating class of Nodaway Valley High School here in Greenfield, Iowa. The service was canceled due to the pandemic. The ministerial group put together a special certificate for each graduate and asked me to prepare a short message from the Word of God that could be presented with it. Here is that message, which is good for all to hear:
A Special Word for the Graduates of 2020
Dear Graduate,
Proverbs 15:30 says: "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives life to the bones." In other words, when you look at other people with cheerfulness, it brings joy and life to their own spirits. They're lifted up and encouraged.
As graduates, all of you are at a point of decision. Many of you will go on to college. Some will find work. But all of you will continue to learn and grow no matter what direction you choose in life.
Even when things get a little tough, as we all have experienced first-hand over the last several weeks and months fighting the coronavirus pandemic, gladness and joy in the heart works wonders. Perhaps Jeremiah had this in mind when he penned the words of Jeremiah 29:11-13. He knew that life would not always go so well, so he told us to look up. Trust God and rejoice in all things because God has a special plan in mind just for you. "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'Plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope'" (v. 11).
God has your back! Believe it or not, the Lord God has your best interest in mind. He has planned for your welfare. He has planned for you to succeed. He wants "to give you a future and a hope." Your future lies in Him. Do not leave God out of the picture. To do so opens you up to certain calamity. But God does not want that for you. He looks forward to your success and He looks forward to helping you make a difference in this world.
The Lord continues in verse 12: "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." How do you find the plan God has for you and how do you gain that future? By calling upon Him. "Come and pray to Me," says the Lord. And what? "And I will listen to you." What a promise! Just ask, and He will listen and obviously, He will give you that future and hope—everything He has in store for you.
Again the Lord God continues in verse 13: "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." If you desire the plan God has for you, and I pray you do, then you will seek after God. You must! There is no other way to find God's perfect plan, that special plan He has just for you. If you want your life to make a difference in this world, then seek after God. And if you do, God says you will find Him!
But you must seek after the Lord "with all your heart" (v. 13b). The "heart" is the center of your emotions. You must want God with your whole being. With all you are, seek God. If you do, again, as God promised, you will find Him.
Keep safe and may God bless. Amen.
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