Student Senate president encourages students to draw near to God
Aidan McKinnon
This story is featured in the August print edition of the Sower newspaper.
Hello, fellow Concordia students!
Welcome back to campus – back for another year at Concordia!
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Aidan McKinnon and I am a junior undergraduate student here at Concordia. I am studying criminal justice with ambitions to attend law school after graduation. I am also on our school’s Speech and Debate team, and this year I have been blessed with the responsibility of being a resident assistant!
Last semester, you elected me to be the president of Student Senate for the 2026-2027 school year, and I am so excited to be back on campus to fulfill that responsibility! I am here for a brief word of motivation.
This year is going to be uncharted territory for all of us. Whether it is your freshman year here at Concordia or your final couple of semesters, all of us are moving into a new season in our lives. I am here to encourage all of us to press into this wonderful school we have, your friends and peers, our amazing faculty and staff, but most of all, our sovereign and merciful Father in Heaven.
In the book of James, we are given a wonderful promise: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (4:8).
There is no caveat to that promise. It’s a simple calculus. Draw near to God; He will draw near to you. Not if you are getting all As in your classes or know the perfect words to say in a prayer, or if you have it all together. No. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
This semester, I would like to urge all of us to take God at His word and draw near to Him. Whether it’s just sending up a prayer before a big exam, attending chapel with some friends, or waking up to one of our wonderful Nebraska sunrises and praying through a Psalm, you will never regret searching out our God.
College is never easy. Whether it is balancing just our coursework, extracurriculars, and social life, or if it is dealing with heartbreak, anxiety, grief, or anger, none of us can do this whole college thing alone. At Concordia, you will never have to do that alone.
I am honored and excited to be your Student Senate president this year, and I look forward to pressing into the wonderful promises that God has given us in His Son.
