Two groups of athletes in Massey University, New Zealand were asked to cycle for 45 minutes on exercise bikes. The first group were watching an accurate clock and when they got to 40 minutes, they started to tail-off and their energy decreased. The second group had an inaccurate, slow clock that took 55 minutes for the clock to register at 45 minutes. Even at 45 minutes real-time the second group of athletes were still at full pelt; their energy didn’t decrease until 50 minutes real-time. They didn’t tire out until they thought they were near the end.
When we are close to finishing something, lots of us take our foot of the gas and coast - like Usain Bolt when he broke the world record in the Olympic final. But unlike Bolt, for most of us it means that we miss out.
All over the UK students are finishing exams, handing in dissertations, completing degrees, and rightly with a huge sense of relief and satisfaction. They remain at uni and in their house with their for a few more weeks of parties, lie-ins and guilt-free daytime TV watching. This is a great time and should be enjoyed.
But what I see are students living as if they have already left. They no longer have the same drive and passion to talk to their housemates about Jesus. They are thinking about the next stage of their life not the present one. It is hard to live in the moment when you are near to the end – but that is how lives are changed. Let’s not become lazy or discouraged about what is still possible in the last few weeks of term. You mates are probably more open to the gospel now than when they were when they were stressing to meet a deadline. So chat now. Ask how they are doing. What their hopes are. How does life look from where they are standing.
In 2 Thessalonians 3: 11-13, Paul, Silas and Timothy say this to the church, “We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.”
Through working for Fusion over the last four years, I have become completely convinced that if Christian students live each day for Jesus it will transform the lives of their mates and in turn shape our nation with the values of God’s Kingdom.
Some people say that you should live each day as if it is your last. I suggest we live each day as if it is the first day of term not the last.
