Iredell County Home Educators
Graduation
Let me begin by saying how very grateful I am for this opportunity to speak to you at your graduation from High School. At the same time it is a daunting assignment because this is a fun, exciting day, a day of celebration therefore the last thing you want is some heavy, weighty, serious & lengthy speech. Out of the thousands of graduation speeches given this year, most of the hearers simply want the speaker to hurry up & get through so they can get to the fun part. Therefore I realize what I am up against.
To you the class of 2006, you are entering a new chapter in your life. You will be making over the next weeks, months & even the next few years decisions that will have great impact on your life. Decisions concerning schooling, jobs, career, even marriage. That is what you are facing in terms of your immediate future. But what I want to do today is jump ahead to the end of your life which may seem like an odd thing to do on this day when the immediate future is what is on your mind. But let me share w/ you what is on my heart as I stand before you today.
As I look at the 8 of you, my prayer is that when you come to the end of your life on this earth, however many years God will mercifully grant to you, my concern is that you will not have wasted your life. I know that is a heavy topic on this day of celebration but there are times we need to think on these important, issues. And 1 reason why it is important is because the majority to the people you will know, go to school w/ & work beside will be people who will waste their lives. In other words, you are going to be surrounded by people who are wasting their lives.
For some of them it will be quite obvious to you that they are wasting their lives, but there will be others that will have the appearance of living a successful life because there are some very convincing counterfeits out there. None of you probably know who Lee Iacocca is. He took over the Chrysler Corporation back in the 1980’s when it was on the verge of bankruptcy & turned it around. He was the one who introduced the minivan to American culture. And he became a household name. Practically everyone knew who Lee Iacocca was. From all appearances he had a successful life, but listen to what he said in his book Straight Talk: “Here I am in the twilight years of my life, still wondering what it’s all about....I can tell you this, fame & fortune is for the birds.” Here is a man our society would hold up as having lived a successful life & yet you just heard his own evaluation of his life. Furthermore, the number of people who have committed suicide after experiencing the fame & fortune of “a successful life” is astonishing.
So my challenge to you, the class of 2006, is - don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your life.
We, as your family & friends, are here today to say, “Well done.” That is good. It is important for you have reached a milestone. But as a person grows older 1 of the things that should happen is they develop a better perspective on what is truly important. And 1 of those extremely important things to know is that there is day coming when each 1 of you will have the opportunity to have the Almighty, Supreme God & Lord of this Universe say personally to you, “Well done!” And all the accolades & honors you may receive in this life combined will not hold a candle to that 1 “well done” from the lips of Christ. When that day comes – that great perspective altering day, you will be willing to trade any & everything to be able to hear those words from His lips.
John Bacon was a famous sculptor. Listen to what he had inscribed on his tomb in Westminster Abbey: “What I was as an artist seemed of some importance to me while I lived; but what I was as a believer in Jesus Christ is the only thing of importance to me now.”
I want you to hear that “well done” from Christ, but you won’t if you’ve wasted your life.
John Piper tells of reading in Reader’s Digest the story of a couple who took early retirement from their jobs. He was 59; she 51. They now live in Florida, where they cruise on their 30ft. trawler, play softball & collect sea shells. He writes, At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life – your one & only precious, God-given life – and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball & collecting sea shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: “Look, Lord. See my shells.” THAT is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream… Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.
In Edge of Eternity, a book by Randy Alcorn, the King tells Nick, who is the central character, the truth that we all need to hear: “A moment after a man dies he knows exactly how he should have lived. But then it’s too late for him to go back & live differently. After death, there is no second chance.”
I don’t want you to waste your life. I want you to live a successful life. The problem is there are a lot of opinions of what makes for success. There are a lot of voices shouting out to you on a daily basis on what success is & how to achieve it.
But if you want to hear the words “Well done” from Christ, then you have to understand what He says brings success, how He defines a successful life. And the only place you can find that out is in the Bible.
There is the only 1 place in the entire Bible where God specifically gives a blueprint for success – in the sense He actually uses the word “success” - therefore what He says there is very significant. It is found in the Book of Joshua.
Now you probably think your 12 years of schooling has been a long time but Joshua was in school, was trained & mentored by Moses for over 40 years. And now Joshua, here in chapter 1 was, in a sense, going through his graduation ceremony. He was entering a new chapter in his life – that of becoming the leader of the Children of Israel. And he got a much better deal than you did today because God Himself came & delivered Joshua’s graduation speech. Here, in part is what He told him.
Joshua 1:7-8…
So in these verses God ties living a successful life to knowing, mediating on & doing God’s Word.
Through your 12 years of schooling you’ve had many textbooks. Maybe some of them you’ve liked more than others, but this is the best textbook. You need to master this book like no other book you have come in contact with. It is the ultimate textbook on how to live a successful life.
Now the reason why it is so important to know & mediate & follow what this book says is two-fold:
#1 - Because through it God is revealed so that you can know Him.
Most people have no concept of the awesome privilege that has been given to them to literally know & daily walk w/ God.
There is man I knew who was somewhat of a well-known Christian speaker. And it was not uncommon for people to come up to him & ask him if he knew _____ & they would mention some Christian celebrity. Somehow they thought that was important. We’re funny people sometimes. If he did not know that celebrity then his response was, “No, but I know God!” And it was like, “what!” He had come to understand that it was much more significant & exciting to know God than even the most famous celebrity & he wanted the person who asked him the question to grasp that precious truth. It is awesome thing that we can know God.
This book is how you come to know God. And how can you truly have a successful life if you do not personally & intimately know God?
Is there anyone you have studied in school that you wish you could know? You know about them because of what you have read but if it was possible you would really like to meet them & know them. God gave you this love letter, not just so you could know about Him but far more importantly so you could know Him. Don’t waste your life by going to church, occasionally reading the Bible, singing Christian songs & simply knowing about Him. Get to know Him.
We live in a world where people love to boast. We see it especially in sports. Boasting is generally bad, but God does give you permission to boast about 1 thing – it is that you know Him.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 – “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, & let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands & knows Me…’”
Don’t waste your life by having a successful career, a nice family, by accumulating things but failing to know God as an intimate friend. And you don’t have to wait to become my age before you can.
The 2nd reason why it is so important to know & mediate & follow what this book says is:
#2 - Because through it God, who possesses every drop of knowledge & wisdom there is, has explained to you the best way to live & thus how to keep from wasting your life.
There are so many voices out there daily telling you what constitutes a successful life. Yet only God truly knows because He’s the One who created you & this world. So you will need His wisdom to navigate through all the convincing frauds out there.
This is your owner’s manual, your survival guide, your instruction booklet, your help page, the ultimate textbook & God’s love letter written personally to you so that you can live a successful life & thus hear “well done” when you stand before Him.
If fact it comes w/ a guarantee. God says if you follow these instructions you will have success & since God cannot lie then this is a guarantee. Follow this & you will live a successful life.
One other thing - God told Joshua, “Be strong & very courageous.” If you want to hear “well done” from Christ it will require you being strong & very courageous because the majority of people are wasting their lives & so for you to go in a different direction, to live a different life, to pursue different goals, to have a different passion, to live according to the truths of this book - it will require going against the flow - & that will require strength & courage.
There is a race to be run & there are rewards to gain. There is the ultimate “well done” to hear. Don’t waste your life! You only get a few short years to earn that “well done” from Christ.
I have addressed a serious subject this afternoon. I recognize that, but you only get 1 life to live. Our community has lost a number of young people over the last year. You only get 1 live to live & it may not be a long one – don’t waste it. Start now to live a successful life. Begin now to live so that you will hear Christ’s “well done.” Don’t waste your life!
John Wesley said, “I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.”
Don’t waste your life!
