From the pen of Dr. Sam Jones 

The challenge for today is to live each day to His glory. In Psalm 90:12, Moses prays for God to “…teach us to number our days.” His prayer is for his generation and future generations to realize the brevity of life. Each day should be lived to bring glory to God so there will be little or no regrets at death. The Apostle Paul, in 2 Timothy 4:7, is reflecting over his years as a Christian and worker in the Lord’s kingdom. Now, facing death, he writes, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” These are the words of a person who faced his last days without the enduring thoughts of things left undone. Paul lived for His glory!

Assess your life. What is your purpose for living? What is your mission in life? Life is brief and uncertain – make the decision to live to bring glory and honor to God. In 1904 William Borden, an heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. He was given by his parents a trip around the world. Upon observing the world’s hurt as he traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; he wrote home, and said, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.” When he made the decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: No Reserves. A year later, he arrived at Yale University. During his first semester, Borden started a movement that transformed the campus. A friend wrote, “It was well on in the first term when Bill and I began to pray together in the morning before breakfast. We had been meeting only a short time when a third student joined us and soon after a fourth.” The friend reported that by the time Bill was a senior roughly 1,000 of the 1,300 students were meeting in groups for morning prayers. Furthermore, it was reported that Bill turned down high paying job offers after graduating from Yale; he recorded two more words in his Bible: No Retreats. Completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first in Egypt to study Arabic. While in Egypt, he was stricken with spinal meningitis and died within a month at the age of 25. Borden’s friend wrote these words, “When the death of William Whiting Borden was cabled from Egypt, it seemed as though a wave of sorrow went around the world…Borden not only gave his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it was manifestly a privilege rather than a sacrifice.” A person living without a purpose may look at this young man’s life and say, “What a waste!” But those driven by a purpose would say, “No, what a mission!” When Bill’s Bible was found, underneath the words No Reserves and No Retreats, he had written the words, No Regrets.

Early in his young life, Borden made the decision to commit his life to the service of God. What is your mission? Decide today to live your life to His glory.