By Mike Juday

As this year has progressed, I have been busier and busier. I had finally found that “groove” that I wanted to be in: three meetings here, small group there, service that night, etc. I had finally started to feel great about the amount and quality of the work I was doing. It was such a great feeling… I hope you noticed I said, “was”. Not that I don’t feel great anymore, it’s just the reasons behind my feelings.

I applied to work at this church because of one main reason: I am desperately in love with God and I want to serve Him with all that I am. Somewhere in between FLP orientation, writing a women’s small group study, and trying to make friends here at University of Maryland, I lost that desperation for God, that deep and sacrificial desire to commit each breath for Him. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that service is an amazing way to worship God BUT only when your heart is worshiping, when your heart is focused on loving God. I had lost that, my heart was fixed on my checklist, on all the “to-dos” of my day.

I didn’t even realize that I was at this point until I met with a young girl at UMD. She is a new believer and follower of Jesus Christ and she wanted to ask some questions. Her family isn’t followers of Jesus Christ and she couldn’t understand how God could send good people, like her family, to hell. I explained to her, through Scripture, that it wasn’t the good things we do that get us into heaven but the fact that God sees Christ in our hearts. She immediately broke down in tears, she cried so sincerely because she knew that her friends and family weren’t going to heaven if they died today. In that moment, God’s love, pain, and sincerity were shining through that young girl who had only been following Him for no more then six months.

I was reminded why I’m doing this “job”, why I spend 30ish hours a week on a college campus in MD, why I try to meet with students, why I shouldn’t be ashamed to proclaim Christ’s love to anyone and everyone. I was reminded that there are more than 30,000 students at UMD who don’t know God, the best thing in my life and the best thing that anyone on this earth could have.

Through all of the sitting in a cubicle, all the emails to be answered, all the sitting through traffic, our foundation, motivation, and passion must be fixed on and remain on Christ.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” – Colossians 3:1

“For, as I have often told you before and now again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame.” –Philippians 3:18-19

I ask that after you read this that you will pray for every Christian who may get swept away with busyness and work so that there heart will become fixed off of Christ. Pray specifically for those who are working in churches because, I now know first hand, how quickly and easily we can loose sight of our truest and deepest passion.