Don’t waste your life

You don't have to know a lot of things

in order to make a huge difference for the lord in the world

but you do need to know a few things that are great

and be willing to live for them and die for them

people that make a difference in the world

are not people who have mastered a lot of things

they are people who have been mastered by a very few things

that are very very great

Do you want your life to count

you don't have to have a high IQ and you don't have to have a high EQ

you don't have to be smart you don't have to have good looks

you don't have to be from a good family or from a good school

you just have to know a few

basic, simple, glorious, majestic, obvious, unchanging, eternal things

and be gripped by them and be willing to lay down your life for them

which is why anybody in this class can make a worldwide difference

because it isn't you! it's what you're gripped with

but one of the really sad things about this moment right now

is that there are hundreds of you in this crowd

who do not want your life to make a difference

all you want is to be liked

maybe

finish school

get a good job

find a husband or a wife

a nice house a nice car

long weekends, good vacations

grow all healthy

have a fun retirement, die easy, no hell

and that's all you want

that's a tragedy in the making

that is a tragedy in the making

Let me tell you a story

about ruby eliason and laura edwards

ruby eliason and laura edwards were killed in cameroon

ruby eliason over 80, single all her life

a nurse poured her life out for one thing

to make jesus christ known among the sick and the poor in the hardest

and most unreached places

laura edwards a medical doctor in the twin cities

and then in retirement partnering up

with ruby also pushing 80

and going from village to village in cameroon

and the breaks give way over a cliff they go and they're dead

instantly and i asked you

is this a tragedy?

two women in their 80s almost

a whole life devoted to one idea

jesus christ magnified among the poor and the sick in the hardest places

and fly into eternity with a death in a moment

is this a tragedy i asked?

it is not a tragedy

I'll read you what a tragedy is

I’ve got a little article here from reader's digest

this is a tragedy

title of the article “start now retire early”

bob and penny took early retirement from their jobs

five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51.

now they live in punta gorda florida

where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler

play softball and collect shells

that's a tragedy

that's a tragedy and there are people in this country

that are spending billions of dollars

to get you to buy it

and i plead with you

don't buy it with all my heart

i plead with you don't buy that dream

the american dream

a nice house a nice car a nice job

a nice family a nice retirement

collecting shells

as the last chapter

before you stand before the creator of the universe

to give an account with what you did

here it is lord

my shell collection

look lord my shell collection

and i've got a good swing

and look at my boat

god look at my boat god

well not for ruby and not for laura

don't waste your life

don't waste it