I have been blessed. We have been blessed here in America. As the brilliant singer/songwriter Rich Mullins once said, God did not bless us so that we could heap those blessings on ourselves, but so that we could turn around and bless others. I, for one, tend to forget that life is not all about me, but all about Jesus Christ and God our Father. It is my desire tonight to challenge you to join me in living a passion filled life for Jesus Christ. What we do, where we go, who we are, why we are here…that is all about Jesus Christ. He has placed each one of us where we are for a reason. He has given each one of us our passions and dreams for a reason.
One passion He has given me is for Justice. Our God is a just God. He hates injustice. All around the world today, there are men, woman, and children who have been enslaved and are in bondage. It is my desire to stand and fight for these men, woman, and children and to bring to them the hope of Jesus Christ. I believe with all my heart that God has given me this passion, and that He will lead me as I seek to fight injustice. What is your passion? What desire has God placed on your heart? Are you listening to it? Allow me to challenge you to not allow yourself to miss out on any part of God’s plan for your life. Whatever your excuse for not acting upon your passion, God is bigger than it. If your excuse has anything to do with age, you need to get a little more creative than that. For those of you who are younger that me – and it feels really funny saying that since I’m not very old – now is your time. Don’t let these years go by wasted. Many of us, whatever stage of life we are in, look forward to certain things.
For example, growing up the ages 16, 18, and 21 were the big numbers I was told to look forward to. I learned to look forward to those ages even though I didn’t really have a reason to. Most people generally associate turning 16 with two things: dating and driving. I didn’t have either to look forward to. I had decided long before my 16th birthday not to date, and my family couldn’t afford insurance for me to drive. And yet, I was still mildly excited. Why? Because for some strange reason I thought I would be a different person after my 16th birthday. I was wrong. You can’t suddenly be more responsible and mature over night. I have learned that we can not expect to be tomorrow different than who we are today, if we are not trying today to be who we want to be tomorrow.
My challenge to you is this: don’t wait until you are graduating from Junior High, turning 16, turning 18 and graduating from high school, or graduating from college to be the person God wants you to be and to do what God is calling you to do. It doesn’t matter how old we are or how educated we are. God only wants are obedience and He can and will do the rest. So while I am excited to be here tonight and am looking forward to seeing what God will be doing in the coming years, I believe that in the long run, today is no different than yesterday. Those of us who are graduating tonight are turning new pages in our lives, but we did the same thing as babies. The day we learned to talk we turned a page. The day we learned to walk we turned a page, and the day we learned to write we turned a page. The day we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior we turned a page. You see, I believe that if you and I live in obedience to Jesus Christ everyday of our lives, whether we are 5 years old or 50 years old, and whether or not we even graduate from Junior High, High School, or College, God can and will use us to impact the world in ways we could never imagine. So I am going to endeavor to surrender my everyday life to Jesus Christ and live in obedience today, and not worry about tomorrow, and I am asking you to join me.
