As I sit to write these last words for seniors who will soon be leaving Taylor for their next adventure, I find myself at a loss.
What can I offer to people who have given so much to me? What can I tell these young men and women that could possibly strengthen them or show them how beloved they are?
How do I thank them for the countless prayers, conversations and demonstrations of care they have shown over the past four years, when all I have is a blank screen and 500 words?
The only words that come to mind for me are found in Hebrews 11:14-16, which is surrounded by the author of Hebrews describing various people of faith and the ways they trusted in the Lord, even when they didn’t know what their individual futures would be or when they felt uncomfortable and isolated.
The author then delivers these beautiful verses: “People who say such things (that they are foreigners and strangers on earth) show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (NIV).
Seniors, in just a few weeks, you will leave Taylor behind and go off into the world. I do not know where you will go, nor what you will do or even who you may become once you leave this place; but I do know that wherever you go, your God is faithful.
He is the one who sees you when you feel lonely, isolated or lost. He is the one who has established you in His perfect will, who calls you into the better country of His grace with deep kindness. And when you start to believe that the lies of sin and shame hold you captive and that you cannot possibly be loved, He reminds you that He has prepared a city for you.
It is true that none of us will fully experience this promised city until the new heavens and the new earth manifest, but in the waiting, we get to experience the kingdom of God here and now.
And you, seniors, because of all you have learned in your time here and the passions and dreams you are bringing into the world outside of Taylor, get to be part of God’s mission to bring the kingdom to the ends of the earth.
May you fix your eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith, as you walk in obedience to Him. Be rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflow with thankfulness.
Remember that your Savior who calls you into the better country is faithful to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His presence with great joy.
Remember that you are loved beyond what you can possibly ask or imagine by the High King of Heaven and by those you have impacted here. And remember — even when you don’t know your future — that you can always run into the arms of Him who will one day tell you with great delight, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
