1. What’s ahead?

Once there was a farmer who walked through his fields sowing wheat by hand. Some of the grain fell onto the ground and was immediately eaten by crows. Some of the grain fell onto a hard path, and although it started to grow, it never really got established because its roots could never go deep enough. Some of the grain fell in the right place but as it grew strong and upright, it was surrounded by weeds that choked the life out of it, so that the harvest was only half as good as it should have been. Some of the grain fell in just the right place, and when the harvest came its crop yielded up to 100% return! 

In the gospel of Mark chapter 4, Jesus tells his disciples this parable of a farmer sowing seed in a field to illustrate four ways people respond to the gospel: 

• Group One never believes, because Satan snatches away the good news; 

• Group Two believes, but when they face persecution they give up because their faith is not deeply rooted; 

• Group Three is going well with Jesus, but their lives become overwhelmed by selfish ambition, anxiety and the deceitfulness of money; and

• Group Four multiplies the impact of the gospel 30, 60 or 100 times. 

As Christians, we obviously all want to be in Group Four! We want to be fruitful followers of Jesus, living with meaning and purpose, being declared by him “good and faithful servants” (Matthew 25). We want to receive God’s ‘pat on the back’; we want to receive the crown on our heads (Revelation 14:14)! We want those things. But at the same time…what else do we want? 

The reality is that, like Group Three, most of us will spend much of our lives distracted from fruitfully following Jesus by things like personal ambition, anxiety and money. 

Leaving university is the start of a whole new chapter in your life. It’s a time of great opportunity: to pursue a career; earn some money; become independent and established in life etc. But it’s also a time of great uncertainty: where should I live; what should I do; how do I make decisions; what’s important in my life? 

The world shouts to go this way or that; to live here or there; to choose these priorities or those. How do we know what is best…after all graduation is the start of the whole of the rest of our lives! 

This booklet aims to help you clarify your priorities as you transition from university into working life so you can make wise decisions and allow the roots of your faith to deepen.