by: Drew Peterson

You must understand the spirit in which I tell you this.  I am speaking to you as a friend who has your best interest in mind, as a friend who longs to see you prosper and rise above foolishness.  And also as a friend who knows that sanctification is an on going battle of selfishness versus godliness.  We all battle it together, we all fail, and we all succeed through the grace of God.  Before I continue on let me tell you two things.  The first is that this letter will only specifically apply to a few people.  And second, if you don’t like being corrected, maybe you shouldn’t read this article until you are in the right frame of mind to receive correction.  Because I am going to address a very specific act of foolishness that college students participate in. 

Papers are adding up, group projects are getting in the way, field-ed and co-ops are too demanding, and I still need time for friends, family, and myself.  A question you may ask yourself is, “How am I going to get it all done?”  Crunch time is here, and you are over burdened, stressed, frustrated, and quite on edge.  There aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done so you come up with an ingenious plan to stay up all night pull an all-nighter.  Not the smartest idea.  Wisdom would tell us that we should have started working on our papers months ago when we were staying up late playing video games, watching movies, and socializing with friends.  So because of our foolishness, we have to walk through the valley of shadow of death for a week.  We have to suffer the consequences.  Most of us are mature enough to take ownership of our mistakes.  Okay, I think everyone would buy that.  But we would truly be fools if we didn’t learn from our mistakes and learn some discipline for next semester.  But this is not the only mistake some of us make in regards to pulling all-nighters.  According to Proverbs 12:23 fools will broadcast their foolishness.  The application of this is that when anyone of us decides to pull an all-nighter, many of us feel the need to tell the world that we haven’t slept for 35, 45, or 55 hours.  In doing so, is like rising a loud speaker up and verbalizing of one’s own foolishness. So to all of you that announce your lack of sleep and how much work you have to the world, please stop.  It’s not making you look good, nor God, who you represent in the actions you take and words you speak every day. 

Hard work brings rewards such as not having a crunch week.  Will you be disciplined and diligent next semester?  I plan to be, and I hope you will be.  My prayer is that this article fell on good ground.  And it you are feeling attacked, forgive me, it was never my intent to irritate. Proverbs 28:23 tells us that, “In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.”