The purpose of the child of God in all that he does is to show his gratitude to God for the marvelous things God has done for him.
Now, as graduation approaches, we seniors look back on twelve or thirteen years of schooling and see that God has indeed been good to us.
He has given us Christian parents. And He has given them the desire to give us an education, an education aimed at bringing us up in the fear of God. Our parents have contributed and still do contribute, much of their time, money, and effort to providing us with schools. They have seen to it that through these schools we are given an education, the goal of which is to prepare us to take our places within the church and the world.
God has also given us teachers who are dedicated to the goal of training us to love God. They have taught us well and faithfully throughout our school years. They have been patient and preserving even when we have been rebellious. They have given us an education which is unequaled in any other school. They have well prepared us to take up the positions God has chosen for us within the church and the world.
These are but a few of the wonderful blessings God has bestowed on us. Yet many times we have taken these blessings for granted, as if we deserved them. We have even rebelled against them, saying that we hate school, that we do not want to learn, that we will not do a particular assignment because we do not feel like it, or that the education we are receiving is not worth the amount that our parents are paying or the effort we must put into it.
Nevertheless, there are times when we have been grateful, when our hearts have overflowed with thanksgiving to God for the wonderful parents, teachers, homes and schools He has given us.
Graduation, as everything we encounter in this life, offers a marvelous opportunity to show that our hearts are overflowing with love and gratitude to God. Now, with the school year drawing swiftly to its close and the time for us to take up careers fast approaching, we must remember to continually consecrate ourselves as living sacrifices of gratitude to God for all that He has done.
As we look back over the years of schooling we have received, our hearts swell with a prayer of thankfulness to God for His guidance and care. As we look ahead from this milestone, we pray that God will continue to give us His all-sufficient grace that we may carry on in His name and in His fear.