Tuition Paid

Andrew Wang

Board Blog

In college, my roommate kept an old test pinned to the wall beside his bed. Now you?d think this test would be somewhat of a trophy, perhaps a tough exam he?d aced along the way, and here was sure validation that he could rise up to any academic challenge. We were pre-med students, after all. The competition for top grades was stiff, and we faced the constant reality that most of our class would not make it through to medical school.

So it took a certain amount of bravado to display an exam with a big red ?F? on the front page.

But it was a declaration to all of us, including himself, that he was better than that grade. He would do whatever it took to raise his GPA. And to his credit, after years of rigorous work, he got that acceptance letter to a prestigious med school.

There?s an even tougher place to get into, and the acceptance rate has been likened to ?a camel passing through the eye of a needle.? An impossible task for mere mortals.

It?s the University of Jehovah. The Kingdom of God.

And I?m told the campus is pretty awesome.

Now you could try to work really hard to get into the place. You could give everything you had to the poor. You could cast out demons and perform miracles in Jesus? name. You could possess all knowledge and speak all the languages of the earth and the angels, and it still wouldn?t be enough.

?And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.?Genesis 3:21

?In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.? Hebrews 9:22

If it?s a matter of us doing more good stuff than bad stuff in this lifetime, in a vain attempt to garner God?s favor, then we?ll find ourselves working hard, doing what we can, while we can, because that?s all we can do. This is the essence of religion that?s practiced by many in this world. But it?s not good enough.

It takes a relationship with God. It takes the shedding of blood. And these elements can only be fulfilled when we start a relationship with Jesus.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve didn?t have to worry about inclement weather, either because their bodies could handle it, or they didn?t have lake effect snow. But when sin entered the world, a lot of things got colder. Hearts. Souls. And, hey, why not the weather?

Adam and Eve tried to fix things. They tried to make their own clothing out of fig leaves. They probably worked really hard at it. But there?s only so much we can accomplish with our own hands.

It took God?s personal intervention, and the sacrifice of several animals, for Adam and Eve to be clothed appropriately. It was an early illustration of what Christ would accomplish on the cross, and the covering He provides us when we accept Him.

So where are you at in your application process to the University of Jehovah? Are you stepping up your game, like my old roommate, working on that resume? Got good works? That?s fine. Just make sure you?ve got a letter of recommendation from the Son of Man. That?s what really matters.

And, hey, no student loans! He?s paid your tuition!