The gospel isn’t through with you, and you shouldn’t be through with it. Yet, many Christians stop thinking about the gospel after the moment of their salvation and move on to learn or accomplish other Christian things. Moving on from the gospel is not something we’re meant to do. It’s the announcement of what reconciles us to God and it provides us the strength that we need to live each day. Knowing the gospel, understanding the gospel, diving deeper into the gospel, and meditating on the gospel is the key to experiencing the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us in John 10:10.

Have you ever stopped to think about what it takes to live an abundant or full life? The college experience, as our society defines it, is a shortcut to the “abundant life”—the so-called abundant life of experiencing everything you can during these years. As much sex as you can with as many people as you can. As much partying as you can. Dabbling in anything that comes your way. The thought is that these are the years that you have to experiment with anything and everything—and that this is “abundant” living.

That college experience may be fun for a season, but it only leads to pain, scars, baggage, and consequences that last long after your college years.

There is a different way, and it is incredibly rewarding, exciting, and joy-filled. That kind of college experience, what I would submit to you is the only worthwhile college experience, is lived with your eyes firmly focused on Jesus.

The Importance of Obedience

We are an easily distracted people. Maybe you remember the movie Up from when you were a kid, and the dog who was continually distracted by squirrels. If you’ve never seen that movie, think back to the most recent time you tried to study for a big exam or write a research paper. Remember how every little thing would pull your attention away from what you were trying to accomplish? The same is true in our relationship with God: we are easily distracted.

The next several years of your life in college will bring more distraction than you’ve experienced before. It’s in those moments of distraction that we can find ourselves in compromising situations and most susceptible to sin. Remember that sin only brings destruction and leads to more sin, which takes us away from an abundant life. So, if sin takes us away from the abundant life Jesus means for us to have, then the opposite action must lead us toward the abundant life: following Jesus and living in obedience to Him.

Throughout the Bible we see God commanding His people to obey Him. It is a pervasive theme throughout the Old Testament as we follow the storyline of God’s people and how God was orchestrating His plan to reconcile His people to Himself through Jesus. Then, as Jesus enters the world, we continue to see the command for the people of God to obey Him. In John 14:15 Jesus says plainly, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” We see similar commands in John 14:23, 1 John 5:2, 1 Peter 2:9, Luke 11:28, 2 John 1:6, and a host of others. The Bible is clear: if someone loves Him, follows Him, has been reconciled to Him, has been saved by Him (and so on), then that person will obey God.

All the other things we love are created, so the restrictions they place on us are from one created thing to another. School and status and sports don’t know what’s best for us. But the restrictions God places on us are from our Creator, and He does know what is best for us.

Brian Mills and Ben Trueblood

You may be thinking at this point, Obeying Jesus all the time doesn’t sound like abundant life. In fact, it sounds very restricting, and abundant life is all about freedom. You’re right—there are restrictions placed on us by Jesus. But here’s the thing: we all have restrictions placed on us by whatever we love most.

If what you love most is excelling in your education so you can get a great job, you’ll have to spend extra time in the library and be restricted from hanging out with your friends. If what you love most is achieving status and popularity, you’ll have to spend extra time hanging out with friends and be restricted from that extra time studying. If you’re an athlete and what you love most is being the best player on your team, your diet, exercise, and sleep will have to be rigorous, and will restrict you in other ways.

Following Jesus is no different, except for one thing: the restrictions that Jesus gives us actually bring more freedom. How is this possible? All the other things we love are created, so the restrictions they place on us are from one created thing to another. School and status and sports don’t know what’s best for us. But the restrictions God places on us are from our Creator, and He does know what is best for us. As Timothy Keller puts it, God’s “directives are from your designer. And therefore they aren’t busywork. To break them is to violate your own nature and to lose freedom, just like a person who eats the wrong foods and ends up in a hospital.”

You need to know that your obedience to God through His Word is important, and as a follower of Jesus, you should be continually growing in obedience to Him. This isn’t always easy and it doesn’t happen right away. We must learn to obey God, just like we would learn to do anything else in our lives, and the great news for you is that God has provided the way for you to grow in your obedience to Him.

Excerpted with permission from A Different College Experience: Following Christ in College by Ben Trueblood & Brian Mills. Copyright 2019, B&H Publishing Group.

Ben Trueblood serves as director of Student Ministry for LifeWay Christian Resources. He has twenty years of student ministry experience, thirteen of which were spent in the local church as a student pastor. Ben is the author of Student Ministry that Matters and is involved in training, consulting, and speaking to student ministries across the United States. Ben and his wife Kristen have four children: Jonathan, Avery, Josiah, and Adrienne.

Brian Mills serves as the college pastor at Cross Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which reaches over 1,000 college students and young adults each week. Brian also serves as one of the chaplains for the University of Arkansas football team. He has authored three books and travels the country as a communicator of the gospel. He has led some of the largest student ministries in the country, along with serving as a teaching pastor since he began in full-time ministry in 1999. Brian is happily married to Jennifer and they have two awesome children, McKenna and Parker.

For many, the college experience is defined by drinking, sex, impulsive decision-making, and a journey of self discovery. It's packaged as a consequence-free zone to have the "best time of your life." But the reality is that what happens in college doesn't stay in college. There are real, lasting consequences to your decisions.

Student ministry leaders Ben Trueblood and Brian Mills have seen this firsthand. Fortunately, just as the gospel redeems all of life, the gospel redeems the college experience. It tells us there is another way. In A Different College Experience: Following Christ in College, Ben and Brian provide a biblical and practical guide for how you can have a fun, joy-filled, and spiritually enriching college experience while avoiding the pitfalls that have captured so many before you.