Dear Daily Message Readers,
READ: Luke 9:18-27
Luke 9:23 (NLT) "Then he said to the crowd, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.'"
In 1904, William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world's hurting people. Writing home, he said, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: No Reserves. Turning down high-paying job offers after graduation from Yale University, he entered two more words in his Bible: No Retreats.
After completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden then sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first at Egypt for some preparation. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. A waste, you say! Not in God's plan. In his Bible underneath the words No Reserves and No Retreats, he had written the words: No Regrets.
Like Borden, God calls us to live a life of no regrets. Each day is new adventure that we can only go through once. If we fail to seize our God-given opportunities, we might not regret them initially, but someday we will. Living a life of no regrets requires we deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). While we may still have regrets, we can also rest in the assurance that God is sovereign and He can use even our failures to work in our lives.
Are you clinging to a missed opportunity? Do you need to come back to God and follow His plan for your life? Do you live in your past mistakes as an excuse not to go on in the future? If so, then follow the example Jesus has set before us so that we can hear Him say to us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"
Faith Lesson: To be used by God, you must learn to let go of the past and live in His promises now.
In Christ,
Darin Smith
READ: Luke 9:18-27
Luke 9:23 (NLT) "Then he said to the crowd, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.'"
In 1904, William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world's hurting people. Writing home, he said, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: No Reserves. Turning down high-paying job offers after graduation from Yale University, he entered two more words in his Bible: No Retreats.
After completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden then sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first at Egypt for some preparation. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. A waste, you say! Not in God's plan. In his Bible underneath the words No Reserves and No Retreats, he had written the words: No Regrets.
Like Borden, God calls us to live a life of no regrets. Each day is new adventure that we can only go through once. If we fail to seize our God-given opportunities, we might not regret them initially, but someday we will. Living a life of no regrets requires we deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). While we may still have regrets, we can also rest in the assurance that God is sovereign and He can use even our failures to work in our lives.
Are you clinging to a missed opportunity? Do you need to come back to God and follow His plan for your life? Do you live in your past mistakes as an excuse not to go on in the future? If so, then follow the example Jesus has set before us so that we can hear Him say to us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"
Faith Lesson: To be used by God, you must learn to let go of the past and live in His promises now.
In Christ,
Darin Smith
