Monthly Musing

                                  My 2025 commencement speech for high school students
  
                                     by James Baker, (minister Mt Airy church of Christ)                  
 
Students, congratulations!  For 12 years you have been working hard to reach this moment and now after many years of watching the calendar, watching the clock, enduring hardship, late hours of study, looking at the outside world and wishing that you could be a part of it.  Smile!   Your time has finally come!   You should be very happy and appreciative, because now you stand on the verge of becoming the future. 

We adults have done the best we can to leave you a great world to enter but it's not perfect and that's where you come in.  You must pick up the baton from where we left it and move this world to a better place.  Man needs better education, better nutrition, better humane treatment and you can do that and more; make it your goal to improve this world because that's what education is all about.   Turn around look at your fellow classmates on your right and left, tell them we made it and now we celebrate; but tomorrow we plan our beautiful future.
 
Students! I am a preacher.  I preach for the Mt airy church of Christ and being a preacher is what I wanted to do all my life.  I started after high school in 1975 and I have been at it ever since.   Please don’t call me reverend, my name is James or Mr. Baker.  Reverend is God name. Psalm 111.9    
 
You must have God in your life if you want to be successful.  With life being as it is, no one can be successful without help from God.   And if you don’t know the Lord, you need to.   And if you need help getting to know the Lord; I will be more than happy to help.    When a person obeys the gospel of Jesus Christ, he enters a relationship where God will direct as one goes forward.   The Bible teaches to put God first and He will see to our needs.  
 
This, I’ve experienced, and I can tell you it’s a promise that God has never failed to keep.   I've really enjoyed and appreciated what He has done and I would like for Him to do the same for you.  The Devil looks upon us as fresh meat. You are young and inexperienced and that is what he craves in potential victims. Satan has destroyed many lives and he hasn’t retired.  Satan would love to get you into trouble, ruin your future and cause chaos for you, your family and the world.  Don’t let him do that to you. Learn from the mistakes of others; for if we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.  Don’t go along with the crowd just because its popular; stand for what is right, even if alone.  The devil has all kinds of tools to throw you off your game; so resist him as the bible commands and complete your mission to make a better life for yourself.    You cannot defeat Satan alone.  God must be by your side for He will direct your paths away from the dangerous roads. These days everyone is surfing on their device and I would like to add one more URL for you to surf.  
I encourage you to check out the Mt Airy Church of Christ at www.mtairychurchofChrist.org   
 
Also, I want to recommend every student read the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.  These writings say a lot for young people.
 
The final point I would like to make is personal responsibility. You are a human being living on this earth.  You are responsible for the life God has given you. You must protect and grow your life.   You must make your life the best it can be, because life is you.  Be like the five wise virgins who took oil so their lamps would be ready as they awaited the groom.  Don’t be like the five foolish virgins who didn’t prepare their lamps for the arrival of the groom.  Take the time to decide what kind of job you would like.  Pick something that you love and as they say, “you will never work a day in your life.”   It doesn’t matter if you are college educated, though I hope you will be. Trade school, on the job training, etc.   Learn something that will serve as your bread and butter and do that job well.     You want to be happy in life, you want to be prosperous, these things don’t happen by themselves, you must work at making sure these virtues are in your life.  Remove negative people from your presence, you are trying to go somewhere which is good and you cannot do so with losers and negativity hanging on to you.  
 
Work with those who have goals, try to lift up everyone around you, because such is a welcoming environment to grow in.  Get yourself a decent job, work hard at it and save your money. Pay your bills and don’t make bills that you cannot afford to pay.  Get out of your parents’ house. It’s time to do so, you cannot progress still hanging around your parents. Set a time, select an apartment and make it your goal to have your own place. Don't look back. Work hard, persevere, to make sure you won’t have to look back.  And even if you fail and have to return, don’t give up and remain there. Get it into your head, to try and try again to establish your own place in life.
 
Don’t live with the opposite sex. Respect the word of the Lord and respect yourself. Living under the same roof is husband and wife status, not boyfriend and girlfriend.   Concerning marriage, don’t rush and marry anyone.  You marry for love and till death do you part.  Divorce is a rocky road and you can ruin your life.  No children until you are married and ready to provide and teach them the right things in life.   Learn from those who have made the children error. Those who aren’t married and have children with many different women and cannot afford to care for them; because their own lives isn’t ready.   Don’t cause a child to have parents who weren’t ready.  Plan your marriage. Plan your family. Plan your job. Plan every move by following Jesus advice which is;
“ count the cost.”       Find a spouse with your same drive, goals and conviction.
 
Just a final few words on education. No matter what your job in life will be, never stop learning.  Reading was a class you took in school. Reading is important because it opens your eyes to information from the printed page.   Have a hunger for knowledge.  Skills you can learn to take on that new job, skills to learn so your job can bring safety to mankind.   Just read and read and never stop.  No one can take away the knowledge you will gain from absorbing information.
 
Now, since I have held you long enough, I let you go.  Get out there and make a positive change in this life.   I will be on the sidelines cheering you on class of 2025.     God’s speed!