May and June mark commencement season. All over the country, young people march with caps and gowns and receive their diplomas. High schools, colleges, and universities send these young men and women to the next level of training, employment, and life. Speakers charge graduates to vigorously address the challenges and opportunities before them. Commencement time means a new phase of life begins, or commences. New doors open.

Revelation 3:8 is a great line on which to base a commencement address. Christ says to His followers, “Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut.” It is a door of service. “A wide door for effective service has opened to me” (1 Cor. 16:9). It is a door God opens to extend the influence of the gospel. “God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ” (Col. 4:3).

As a graduate, when you walk through this door, you commence a lifelong journey serving God at work, at ...