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Additionally, as you read
the Gospels, you find Jesus
devoting Himself to His disciples
for three years. From the time He
called them out of their relatively
obscure lives, every moment was fraught
with intentionality, whether it be in the guise
of a parable, a meal shared with sinners, or
with a washcloth and a basin full of water. Every
moment with Jesus had deliberate meaning, all
toward the end of preparing them for His commission
to go into all the earth and make disciples.
Finally, the Apostle Paul had a three-year waiting
period of sorts, writing in Galatians that he “went away into
Arabia and returned again to Damascus,” and “after three years I
went up to Jerusalem” (Gal. 1:17–18). While we do not knowwhat
happened to Paul or exactly how long his “wilderness experience”
was, it is possible that God had a deliberate purpose in mind that
prepared Paul for his unashamed ministry of the Gospel.
Whether it be living in the midst of Babylon, walking in Galilee with
the Messiah, or dwelling in the desert, 1,000 days is a significant amount of
time, and one that God can and has used to shape a
person for His kingdom purposes. As Providence
would have it, Cedarville University also has its
undergraduate students for about four years,
amounting to just more than 1,000 days once
breaks and holidays are considered.
With the Apostle Paul, we want to intentionally
develop our students for God’s mission in their
lives, to teach them to look carefully how they
walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best
use of the time (Eph. 5:15–16). At Cedarville, we
have deliberately shaped the 1,000 days students
have on this campus toward this formative
endeavor. From the classroom to the residence hall
room, each facet of the Cedarville experience is
framed to set students on a Gospel trajectory and
help them “understand what the will of the Lord is”
(Eph. 5:17).
At the heart of their 1,000 days at Cedarville is
chapel. Students, faculty, and staff set aside 10 a.m.
each weekday to gather with the Word of God at
If you look at Scripture, you see a pattern of 1,000 days
used for the purpose of personal formation. For instance, in
the opening chapter of Daniel, we find King Nebuchadnezzar
commanding Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring the best and
brightest of the conquered Israelites before him. For three years,
these “youths without blemish” were acculturated into a Babylonian
worldview. They read Chaldean literature, learned their language,
adapted their diets to Nebuchadnezzar’s personal meal plan, and received
new names in order to remove any explicit connection to the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This intentional training resulted in a useful citizen
for the Babylonian king.
1,000 Days
by Thomas White
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Cedarville Magazine