I stood before the brown brick entrance to my university campus, with its three-pointed arches and wrought iron fence, and read the medallion framed in its wall: Established, 1874.

Over one hundred forty years ago, a group of people gathered around a mission and founded a school. They hired a handful of teachers, erected a single building, and offered six degrees of study.

The mission continues, but now has grown to include over three thousand teachers and students from virtually every nation, a beautiful campus with twenty-seven instructional buildings, and one hundred and thirty degree offerings.

If a medallion were to commemorate when you gave your life to Christ, what would it say? Established: ________. That’s when He drew you to Himself and founded His life in you.

It probably started small. As you trusted Him to work in you, maybe you became less irritable toward your co-workers, or stopped one destructive behavior, or found yourself serving without complaining.

Over time, like the expanding scope of my university’s campus, more qualities of Christ take root. Along with your Father, He promises to establish you — to set you up on a permanent basis — in every good work and word.

Even in spite of inevitable setbacks, we can trust that He is establishing us. We have hope that His good work in us will be completed.