How I Met Jesus at University

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home.

My parents were loving and kind, but I didn’t know Jesus, and I didn’t know the good news of the Gospel.

By the grace of God, that began to change in my first year at university.

An Unexpected Invitation

I still remember standing awkwardly at orientation on day one when a friendly student walked up and invited me to the Christian group on campus.

We had a few mutual connections. I thought I had a rough idea of what a “Christian group” might be. It felt harmless to say yes. Why not have a look?

What happened next surprised me.

They opened the Bible.

That might sound obvious, but it wasn’t to me. I had barely seen a Bible, and I’d never read one. Watching a group of students quietly open those thin pages felt strange, almost novel – like stepping into a room I didn’t know existed.

No hype. No hard sell. Just words on a page – and people who seemed to care about them.

Through the group, I started reading the Bible for myself.

I didn’t suddenly understand everything. I asked basic questions. I held my doubts in one hand and the text in the other. But the more I read, the more a single figure came into focus: Jesus.

I began to see that Christianity wasn’t mainly about becoming “better” or earning spiritual points. It was about a person and a cross – about what God had done, not what I could do.

That realization unsettled me in the best way.

When the Cross Stopped Being Abstract

As I kept reading, something clearer – and weightier – landed.

If the Gospel really is true…

If Jesus really did die…

If the cross is God’s way of dealing with sin – even mine – then this isn’t a set of ideas to admire from a distance.

It demands a response.

Not pressure, not panic – just the honesty of facing a gift I couldn’t pay back and a mercy I couldn’t earn.

A few months later, at an Easter event on campus, the pieces came together.

I believed in Jesus Christ. I accepted that forgiveness of sin is only possible through his cross. And I decided I wanted to follow Him.

There wasn’t a spotlight or a dramatic soundtrack. Just a quiet “yes” that felt like the most honest thing I’d ever said.

What Changed (and What Didn’t)

Not everything became easy. Life didn’t suddenly arrange itself into neat lines.

But something essential shifted. I wasn’t standing outside anymore, looking in. I belonged to the One I’d been reading about. The questions didn’t disappear; they became part of a conversation with Someone real.

I kept reading the Bible. I learned to pray in plain words. I found myself wanting to know Jesus, not just know about him.

Grace turned belief into a path I could actually walk.

I never expected to meet Jesus at university. I never expected an invitation in an orientation line to change my direction.

But that is the beauty of grace: it meets us before we know how to look for it.

If you find yourself where I was – curious, uncertain, a little surprised – open a Bible. Ask your real questions. See what the cross means, not in theory, but for you.

I did. And it changed everything.

© Nathan Cole

Originally published on Medium.