Your Best Decision in College

You’re about to waste the most important gift you’ve ever been given—and you won’t even realize it until it’s too late. Here’s why making Jesus your one thing in college might be the best decision of your life.

I learned the importance of making a decision about “the one thing” even before my college classes began.

Many universities now bring freshmen to campus a week early to help them adjust to college life. It feels more like summer camp—icebreakers, ropes courses, and seminars on everything from checking out books to doing laundry. Like many freshmen, I eventually slipped away from the over-scheduled activities. I was actually looking forward to classes starting just so I’d have something meaningful to do.

That Friday, I borrowed my roommate’s bicycle and took a ride through a nearby golf course, thinking it would be a relaxing afternoon. It wasn’t. When golfers began yelling at me—emphatically signaling I was unwelcome—and launching golf balls in my direction, I quickly exited the scene. As I sped toward the highway, I heard an ominous clicking sound. The chain snapped. The bike stopped. I didn’t. I flew over the handlebars and slid across the concrete onto the road.

After limping a mile back to the dorm with a busted bike and bloody limbs, my roommate greeted me with the compassionate words, “What did you do to my bike?” Freshman year was off to a great start.

As I returned to my room, I realized my watch was gone. It wasn’t just any watch—my girlfriend (now my wife) had given it to me as a graduation gift. It was engraved and irreplaceable. I dreaded seeing her that weekend—not because I didn’t want to, but because I had lost something valuable she had entrusted to me.

That moment made me think about something even more serious: what if I had to face God one day and admit I had lost something far more valuable—the life He gave me?

What if I said: “Jesus, thank you for saving me, but I wasted my life. I believed just enough to get into heaven, but I never really lived for you. I went to church when it was convenient. I did some good when I felt guilty. But I never truly followed you with all I had.”

There has never been a better time to decide that Jesus will be your one thing. Everyone lives for something—why not live for the One who gave you life? College is the perfect time to make your faith your own. Without your parents watching, you have the freedom to choose what really matters. You can follow Jesus—not because you’re guilted into it, but because you want to.

Jesus wants your heart, not your half-hearted obedience. He desires followers who find joy in His commandments (1 John 5:3), who delight in His ways (Psalm 119:35). So why wait?

Make Him your one thing—before you lose what matters most.