The temptation is real: the sun is out, we're nearly halfway done with the quarter, and summer is so close you can feel it.

But there can be either a true danger or a true blessing to this current season of life we call "spring quarter."

While our temptation as college-attending Christians is to coast it out and get ready to enjoy summer, that is the last thing we should be thinking as followers of Jesus!

Yes, school is almost out for the summer (unless you're taking summer classes, God bless you). But, an attitude of just "coasting along and running out the academic clock" is far from the mindset we, as self-proclaimed Christians, should have. In fact, I argue that this lazy mindset is entirely anti-Jesus-minded.

A very early Jesus follower, the apostle Paul, wrote a letter to a community of other Jesus followers in Thessalonica. In his letter, Paul addressed to them a handful of issues that were holding back the community of Christians, with one of these areas of an issue being idleness.

Idleness in this instance (especially within the context of the church being addressed) means being irresponsible and refusing to do one's work. And while there is a lot of nerdy, historical context of the type of work not being done by the Thessalonians and why they were refusing to work, I think the heart of Paul's words cut deep to college students who are in the spring-quarter-coasting-to-the-end zone.

Paul writes of when he was personally at the church in Thessalonica, and how he and those he served with partook in manual labor, so that they "would not be a burden to any of [the Thessalonians]" and "in order to offer [themselves] for a model for [the Thessalonians] to imitate" (2Th 3:8-9 NIV).

It may be a stretch, but again the heart behind Paul's words are the key here: Paul could have easily demanded money from the church for his services and taken the easier, lighter load in this situation. But he didn't: for the sake of not burdening others and being a model to imitate, Paul took on the work and duties that were necessary and expected of everyone.

In the face of being in the "home stretch" before having a break from school, we need to re-evaluate our character in light of how followers of Jesus are supposed to live.

Are we burdening our professors and classmates by slacking off with our schoolwork, making others' jobs and classroom experiences tougher and more complicated? Are we burdening our Christian community by not taking on the work and duties needed to continue to spread the Kingdom of Jesus across campus, by not showing up to a small group and refusing to help support outreach events?

How can we be a model to imitate by turning our assignments in on time and giving forth the rightfully expected effort, even if our classes may not seem as important to us than our professors and fellow students (shouldn't we, as Jesus followers, be putting forth others' needs and concerns above our laziness and refusal to work)? How can we be a model to imitate by being engaged and committed to our Christian community, showing up to a small group and supporting/taking on outreach responsibilities?

With just about half of spring quarter left, now is not the time to take the easy way through to the end of the school year: now is the time to lighten the burden of professors and fellow students, and to be an example to imitate in our respective communities of Jesus followers.

This home stretch of classes isn't even our own: it's all (like always) for glorifying Jesus and showing those around us that the whole "I'm a Christian" thing is actually worth living out.