An open letter to Kylee Hope- my sister, my best friend, and our latest high school graduate.
Kylee,
It's hard to believe how quickly the time has passed. I can still remember sitting in the boy's room in the Crestwood house asking what you wanted to be when you grew up, to which you responded "a boy!," and the way you would make us laugh when you would tell us that you had a blue baby in your tummy. Not much has changed-- now a high school graduate, you still are the one that keeps everyone laughing with your light-heartedness and wit. Carefree Kylee. I pray that you keep that same demeanor in many ways but I do challenge you to break out of it in some respects. Where it's important, where it matters.
Graduation is a wonderful, frightening thing. You have, in many respects, moved on from being a "child" to being considered an "adult." You have finally left the elementary ways of high-schoolers, only to be greeted by a world telling you to continue in that ignorance and self-absorption. You were educated in order that you might move on and make a difference in the world, but to the world that difference is about self-promotion and satisfaction in status and possessions. You have left the many temptations and pressures that come with high school behind, but only to be greeted by a whole new host of them that are designed to make you numb to what really matters and so waste your life in the name of "happiness" or the pursuit of "the american dream."
Kylee, amidst all of these new opportunities you are going to have to make a big choice. A choice that will guide the course of your life- your affections, your pursuits, your purpose, your end. You must "chose this day whom you will serve," Joshua 24:15. You have been brought up and raised under the faithful teaching of God's Word and have benefited in many ways from it; however, you must decide whether this faith will be your own. Our parent's faith will not save; morality will not save; ignorance and oblivion will not save. I thank God that you are aware of these things and that you have not fallen into the the idea that is so prevalent in the church today- that a mere confession is enough to save you and that obedience is not required because "grace abounds." You are aware of the reality of God and of your sins but not to the extent that you truly see your need for a Savior and understand the fear of the Lord. I pray that you will soon know this.
My prayer for you as you leave high school is not that you would go to college; my concern is not that you would attend a university, get good grades, graduate, and earn a good living; my prayer for your life is not that you would be "comfortable" and "secure;" no, it is so much more. My prayer for your life is that your eyes would be miraculously opened to the glory of God, that you would truly see the Cross of Christ, and that you would spend your life in the glorious pursuit of knowing Him. That you would risk all for Christ and that you would use whatever gifts, whatever talents, whatever success, whatever degree you might have or attain, to make others glad in God.
I urge you to "remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them,' (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Do not put off knowing Him, do not put off a relationship with Him by accepting the notion that a life with the Lord "requires too much sacrifice for now, that these are your selfish years." Don't believe the lies that the devil uses to distract you from the purpose that God created you for. The lies that he so subtly feeds you until you are so stuffed with the world that you think yourself satisfied without the Lord. That God is a killjoy and a relationship with Him will be the end of your fun and your happiness and the beginning of your slavery to a harsh God that requires an obedience that diminishes any hope of freedom or joy in your life. Know that it is the exact opposite. Know that you were created, "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27)- meaning that you were created in His likeness, that you were created to share in His holiness and for reflecting His glory- and that a failure to see and understand that will result in a wasted life and an eternity of suffering. You are never truly more human than when you understand this truth, and by God's grace, participate in His creative order. You will also never be truly happy without knowing this. You will never find fulfillment apart from God. You were created for a purpose, and until you understand that that purpose is to glorify God, you will continue to feel an emptiness in your heart and your life regardless of what you try to fill that empty space with. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). Made to know Christ, made to embrace Christ, made to share in Christ's life and death.
Graduating is a good thing. Moving on to college is a good thing. Earning a degree is a good thing. Having a career is a good thing. But these good things are to point us to the one True and highest Good- Christ. Every blessing that you enjoy, every gift that you are given, has been given to you by God in Christ- "every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…" (James 1:17). John Piper says:
"The glory of Christ…is the glory above and behind every blessing we enjoy. He purchased everything that is good for us. His glory is where the quest of our affections must end. Everything else is a pointer- a parable of this beauty. When our hearts run back up along the beam of blessing to the source in the blazing glory of the cross, then the worldliness of the blessing is dead, and Christ crucified is everything."
"The glory of Christ…is the glory above and behind every blessing we enjoy. He purchased everything that is good for us. His glory is where the quest of our affections must end. Everything else is a pointer- a parable of this beauty. When our hearts run back up along the beam of blessing to the source in the blazing glory of the cross, then the worldliness of the blessing is dead, and Christ crucified is everything."
Kylee, take the blessing of graduation and trace is back to it's source. Who has given you life? Who has given you each and every breath you have been given for the past (almost) 18 years? Who has given you the ability to comprehend and understand and learn and memorize? God. God in Christ. If it were not for Christ we would have already been cast into hell. God made justice and mercy meet at the Cross. God's grace is given to us in the life and death of Christ. Consider these things. Attempt to feel the full weight of what Christ purchased for you in His death. Of what Christ did that He might offer salvation to us wicked, undeserving men. It is a feeble attempt for any of us- none of us truly understand- but God is able to give you the eyes to see the glory of Christ. I pray that He would.
I encourage you to take this time- this summer, this next year, the rest of your life- to seek the Lord. "Seek the Lord while he may be found" (Isaiah 55:6), knowing that "you will seek Me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Do not use God's sovereignty in election as an excuse. Do not despair or grow apathetic. Seek the Lord. Cry out to Him. Ask Him for understanding. The Bible says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…and it will be given to him" (James 1:5).
In this time of excitement and uncertainty about the future I pray that you would seek God and that He would reveal himself to you in a very real way. I pray that you would leave the useless idea of "comfort" and "security" and that you would be a risk taker. I pray that you would be free from the bondage of money and success and that you would come to the end of your life knowing that you have given all for Christ. I pray that you would see and savor Christ, and that the things of the world would truly dim in comparison to Him. I love what Piper writes in regard to this:
--"O God, such riches are a wasted life. Protect us, Lord. Grant us to hear and heed another call: 'Lay up your treasure not on earth, but in the place where moth and thief will never come. Make treasures for yourself that cannot fail.' But then we ask, "What treasures, Lord?" We see you smile. 'I am your Treasure and your great Reward. I am your food, your drink, your festal garments and your everlasting gain. I am your life and your all-satisfying Joy."
Yes Lord, that is enough.
Yes Kylee, that is enough.
I pray that you would know that. You must know this God. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Do not put this off. "Choose THIS DAY whom you will serve."
Don't go another day with the false idea that you "have time"- "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
I love you an incredible amount. An amount that is embarrassingly small compared to the love that is in Christ for his people. I pray that you would know this love personally. That when you are fearful of the future and feel the great weight of the decisions you have to make that you can say, "you make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually" Psalm 105:4.
Seek. Find. Taste. Know.
Graduate from the elementary ways of the world. Live for Christ and let your life be a testament to His grace and His goodness. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him; may your life- past, present, and future- serve to honor and glorify God.
With great love and a heavy, full heart-
Your sister,
Kacey
In this time of excitement and uncertainty about the future I pray that you would seek God and that He would reveal himself to you in a very real way. I pray that you would leave the useless idea of "comfort" and "security" and that you would be a risk taker. I pray that you would be free from the bondage of money and success and that you would come to the end of your life knowing that you have given all for Christ. I pray that you would see and savor Christ, and that the things of the world would truly dim in comparison to Him. I love what Piper writes in regard to this:
--"O God, such riches are a wasted life. Protect us, Lord. Grant us to hear and heed another call: 'Lay up your treasure not on earth, but in the place where moth and thief will never come. Make treasures for yourself that cannot fail.' But then we ask, "What treasures, Lord?" We see you smile. 'I am your Treasure and your great Reward. I am your food, your drink, your festal garments and your everlasting gain. I am your life and your all-satisfying Joy."
Yes Lord, that is enough.
Yes Kylee, that is enough.
I pray that you would know that. You must know this God. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Do not put this off. "Choose THIS DAY whom you will serve."
Don't go another day with the false idea that you "have time"- "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
I love you an incredible amount. An amount that is embarrassingly small compared to the love that is in Christ for his people. I pray that you would know this love personally. That when you are fearful of the future and feel the great weight of the decisions you have to make that you can say, "you make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually" Psalm 105:4.
Seek. Find. Taste. Know.
Graduate from the elementary ways of the world. Live for Christ and let your life be a testament to His grace and His goodness. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him; may your life- past, present, and future- serve to honor and glorify God.
With great love and a heavy, full heart-
Your sister,
Kacey
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