Leaving university is the start of a whole new chapter in your life. It’s a time of great opportunity: to pursue a career; earn some money; become independent and established in life etc. But it’s also a time of great uncertainty: where should I live; what should I do; how do I make decisions; what’s important in my life?

You will never meet an older Christian who says they wish they had done less for Jesus, but you do meet a whole load who say they wish they had done more…Live your life now the way you want it to look later on. Do not postpone the great things you dream to do for the glory of God. 

Of course money is brilliant! But, left to itself, money does strange things to our hearts. It makes us believe we never have enough, that more will always be better, that we really deserve more than we have. Of course, as Christians we don’t have to buy into the system, but it is so easy to give in to the whispering voices ‘what’s mine is mine,’ ‘it’s mine because I’ve earned it,’ and I can spend it how I want ‘because I’m worth it’.

Be wise, be aware. The world’s bright lights await. Our world lives by a different agenda: ‘more is always better', ‘you only live once’, ‘life is no dress-rehearsal’… You will find yourself under constant pressure to take your eyes off Jesus, to lose sight of your heavenly citizenship, and instead to focus on the immediate, to build your own kingdom. Success. Heaven on earth, where Jesus becomes a lifestyle choice like good coffee on a Sunday morning.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever trusts in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) In the Greek, ‘pistis’ translates as both believe and trust. The Gospel starts with trust, it ends with trust, and trust is the daily heartbeat of the Christian life. Trust is like a muscle, and the more we learn to actively exercise it, the stronger it becomes!

Many people see work as something negative but necessary that helps pay the bills, or buys your lifestyle…and if you’re lucky, may even bring occasional moments of pleasure. To be distinctive, we need to see our work the way God sees it. Here are three ideas from the book of Genesis. Work: God’s gift of creativity The Bible begins with the story of God making the heavens and the earth - it is his work (2:2).

Your future workplace will be one of the great unreached mission fields. Pastors can’t go there, but every day you will be paid to spend your life surrounded by people who know very little about Jesus. Amazing. It’s the place where you can “shine like stars in the sky”, a place where you can be an ambassador for Christ. Our witness to Jesus is about pointing those around us to him - like being a whole-lifesignpost to Jesus.