To Those Who Are Studying

“Even though we speak in this way, beloved,

in you we feel sure of better things that belong to salvation.

For God is not unjust to forget your work and the love

that you have exhibited for his name, serving,

and continuing to serve, his holy people.”

Hebrews 6:9-10

Dear Law Students,
Our family was having dinner the other night with an MC|Law/CLS alum, and when I asked him what word he thought I should bring to you today, his answer was clear: encouragement.

Encouragement in two seemingly contradictory truths:

There’s more to life than this

but also, What you are doing here matters.

In the passage above, the writer of Hebrews was wrapping up a section of warning them about getting distracted and ignoring the powerful truths of the gospel of Christ Jesus.

After rather harsh words in the earlier part of Hebrews 6, the writer went on to speak encouragement.

Encouragement that those beloved brothers and sisters were stronger than temptations and distractions.

If we are in Christ, then we, too, are stronger than temptations and distractions.

The writer had confidence that those believers knew about the “better things of salvation.”

Confidence that they would remember that there was more to life than what they could see swirling around them.

It’s easy to get distracted here in law school.

Grades, papers, rankings, activities.

Legal Writing, App Ad, Moot Court, Law Review, the Bar exam.

It’s easy to forget that this will “only” last for three years.

It’s easy to become myopic, not seeing much of anything outside these walls. Not seeing much of anyone outside these walls.

So here is an encouraging reminder:

There’s more to life than this.

You will graduate, someday, even if it feels like it will never come.

You have friends, family, and a community out there who care about you.

And it is your care for them—and for those within these walls—that “exhibits your care for the Lord.”

It is your ability to let them care for you—to be part of a community—that shows the evidence of your salvation.

When we trust God’s truths, when we remember to stop sometimes, look up, and see the world around us, when we trust God to care for us, we show that we know the “better things that belong to salvation.”

It is only in that freedom, then, in understanding that God loves us, not because of what we do, but because of what he has done, that we can truly understand the flip side of the coin.

Then can we understand that second truth, and find life and flourishing in this encouragement: What you are doing here matters.

It matters that you are using the brain that God gave you to learn about the law. It matters that you are studying, perhaps harder than you’ve ever studied before.

It matters that you go to organizational meetings, study groups, professors’ office hours.

It matters that you are striving to get a really good externship, and that you are striving to do really good work there.

It matters that you are making friends, leading organizations, sharing meals and life together.

“God is not unjust. He won’t forget the good work” you’re doing. How could he, when he planned those works for you from before there was time?

How could God forget your time in law school when he is the one who has brought you here, brought you this far?

How could he forget the way that you are loving and learning about people, and loving and learning about the law, when this is the work to which he’s called you?

Your perseverance, your patience, your faith in God to carry you through, these all showcase--not really even our hard work, but God's work in us.

Believers see, and are also encouraged. Non-believers see, and are curious. And God sees, and he is pleased with the work he is doing. 

So be encouraged, “beloved.”

If we have faith in Jesus, we have salvation.

If we have faith in Jesus, he will see us through all of life—even through law school.

It may not look like what you had hoped. You may have to let go of some things.

But no matter your ranking, your grades, your successes or failures, be encouraged.

We and all “his holy people” are the “beloved of God,” and that makes all the difference.

Be encouraged,

A fellow worker, student, and servant.



Note: I "cheated" on this post. It wasn't new material; it was a devotional talk I wrote for the Mississippi College School of Law's Christian Legal Society meeting. Also, if you'd like to read it in a broader graduate school context than Law school, visit The Well.