Graduation Speech- Don't Screw Up Your Lyfe
May 15, 2014
Graduation Speech
What do you want most? It’s an important question. What you want most governs just about everything you do. Maybe you want to love others most, or maybe you want to make money most. While neither of those are inherently evil things to want, neither one compares to the greatest thing to be had: God Himself. Jonathan Edwards said in one of his sermons,
The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls... The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield then delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.1
The elect must want God most. The end. If we truly wanted God the most, all of our actions would stem from that. Yet that’s easier said than done. I wish I could think of more people who I could say truly desired God most. I dream that one day that could be said of me.
How do we then apply this to our lives? One time I was sitting out on the soccer field with Mrs. Wertz, tired and wanting to run from my problems, and she reminded me of something that my youth pastor, Nick Rundlett, a football coach here, told me: “Don’t sacrifice what you want most for what you want in the moment.” That’s always stuck with me. Now, what does wanting God most look like, or rather, how do we get God? While salvation stems from God’s revelation of Himself to you- the story doesn’t end there. He calls us to be holy. (1 Peter 1:6) Faith and works go hand in hand. (James 2) You can tell a Christian by their fruit. (Matthew 7:16) What we want most is God, and while we have Him, and will assuredly have him fully one glorious day, we
Graduation Speech
What do you want most? It’s an important question. What you want most governs just about everything you do. Maybe you want to love others most, or maybe you want to make money most. While neither of those are inherently evil things to want, neither one compares to the greatest thing to be had: God Himself. Jonathan Edwards said in one of his sermons,
The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls... The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield then delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.1
The elect must want God most. The end. If we truly wanted God the most, all of our actions would stem from that. Yet that’s easier said than done. I wish I could think of more people who I could say truly desired God most. I dream that one day that could be said of me.
How do we then apply this to our lives? One time I was sitting out on the soccer field with Mrs. Wertz, tired and wanting to run from my problems, and she reminded me of something that my youth pastor, Nick Rundlett, a football coach here, told me: “Don’t sacrifice what you want most for what you want in the moment.” That’s always stuck with me. Now, what does wanting God most look like, or rather, how do we get God? While salvation stems from God’s revelation of Himself to you- the story doesn’t end there. He calls us to be holy. (1 Peter 1:6) Faith and works go hand in hand. (James 2) You can tell a Christian by their fruit. (Matthew 7:16) What we want most is God, and while we have Him, and will assuredly have him fully one glorious day, we