Drop Outs
Adults who care about young people begin to encourage them at a young age to be diligent in their school work, and to stick with their education through high school and even college. Education can help young people grow up to be more productive in their communities, get better jobs, and become better providers for their families. But I remember some of my classmates who quickly became bored or dissatisfied with schooling, and who decided that life had more to offer than classrooms, teachers, and administrators. They walked out the school doors and never returned…drop outs. This is sad because of the missed opportunities that likely resulted, and the problems that may have been caused by their lack of education. But as I bring to mind those who quit their worldly education, I realize how much more severe and detrimental it is when people, young or old, “drop out” of the Lord’s church.
Sometimes it
seems to work the same way that dropping out of school does. Specifically young people may begin attending
church services upon the wishes of their parents, and later be added by the
Lord to His body (Acts
It is much like the mindset that the prodigal son exemplified in Luke 15. The son was oblivious to the riches he had at his very fingertips, and he longed to explore the “far country,” where the sinful pleasures of the world awaited him. But his eyes were opened by the harsh reality of worldly living. Then, devoid of food, friends, and family, he cast his mind back to his home where his loving father had loved and cared for him his entire young life.
Maybe you have been yearning for the far country, or perhaps you are residing there now. I beg you to cast your mind back to the rock-solid reality of Christ’s love, and the inevitability of an eternity in either heaven or hell. Don’t do the Lord any “favors” by going through the motions of Christianity, while your heart is in the “far country” (Matt 15:8). If you’ve dropped out of the life you once lived for God, the door is still wide open, and the father stands watching, waiting for your return (Luke 15:20).
----Darrell Powell