Thursday, Dec. 28 am
Jeff MillerStudent Testimony
"Is what you're living for worth Jesus dying for?" This question resounded in Jeff Miller's mind at the end of his freshman year at the University of Iowa. Challenged by his campus staff worker, Jeff began to consider if what he had been living for in the past was worth Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
Going from a one stoplight town in Missouri to the relatively larger world of Iowa City, Iowa, Jeff, valedictorian of his high school, was determined to continue down the path of academic success. Prior to leaving for college, Jeff took a final glance around his empty bedroom at home and prayed that God would grant him the energy and ambition to seize every new experience that crossed his path. With that resolution, Jeff entered his freshman year and promptly began to fill his plate with activities from the quiz bowl team to acting as a docent for the art museum. One of the openings in his busy schedule was slotted for Hawkeye Christian Fellowship. As a Christian for nine years, Jeff committed to "fulfill my obligations to God" by attending this fellowship, but God exploded his pre-conceived ideas of Christianity with a vibrant, new experience of Jesus.
In this fellowship, Jeff heard testimonies of a diverse group of people who practiced the spiritual disciplines and gained tangible benefits. They had given up their former identities as drug dealer, prostitute, high school athlete, and valedictorian to pursue their lives as followers of Christ. As Jeff began to see "Jesus outside of stereotypes," he began to worship more joyfully as he deepened his knowledge of Jesus and to pray more diligently as he recognized the power of God.
In this process of discovering the true Jesus, Jeff felt the tensions between his personal ambition and God's desires for him. This conflict crystallized in a decision he had to make on the eve of an exam: was he to study for a test or pray for a friend? Could he entrust his grades to God?
This tension
reached its breaking point later at summer camp when Jeff's staff worker
asked him and his fellowship, "Is what you're living for worth Jesus
dying for?" As Jeff left that meeting, he walked into the refreshing
air of the Colorado Rockies, and considered the priorities in his life.
Standing atop a mountain, Jeff laid down his desire for academic prestige
and committed to know Jesus before all else and derive fulfillment from
his knowledge of Jesus.
The practical applications of his mountaintop "experience" emerge
in his academic choices. The glamour and prestige of Biomedical engineering
is now lost to Jeff. Though he has no major currently, he is confident
that God has something even better for him. Now he realizes that "the
only thing that counts is faith working through love" (Galatians
5:6).
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