Last week I had the pleasure of being the speaker for the Norwood High School Baccalaureate service at our church. Here is the gist of what I told them that night.
Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. When you start putting together a puzzle you begin by putting together the border pieces, the ones with the straight edges. These pieces make a framework inside of which all the other pieces fit.
As you start your journey of life you will begin by putting together the border, your belief system. Once you have defined your belief system the rest of the pieces of your life will be assembled within the framework of that boarder.
I then shared with them four verses for them to use as the framework within which to build their life.
The first verse of the framework is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The key to this verse is to realize that God loves you. There will be times in your life when you feel like all have abandoned you, like nobody loves you. It is important at those times to remember that God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to die for you so that God could have an eternal relationship with you.
The second verse of our framework of life is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
This verse says to trust the Lord with ALL your heart, not just a piece of it. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him. Too often people compartmentalize their life. They have their spiritual experience with God on Sunday and don’t think of Him again for the rest of the week. The key to success in life is to realize that our spiritual life, our relationship with God, affects all areas of our life. We are to acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our path in all areas of our life.
The third verse of our framework of life is 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
This is important because it tells us that we can withstand the temptations this world throws at us. Through out your high school career you may have been presented with temptations that you thought you could not resist. The temptations do not stop when you graduate. In fact, once you get out on your own and there’s no accountability to anyone but yourself, you will find there are a lot more temptations.
But this verse tells us that we do not have to give into them. God loves us, and if we trust in Him and do not lean on our own understanding we will see that we can resist the temptations of the world. Look for the way of escape, it will be there. In order to resist the temptation you’ve got to want to resist. The way of escape will be there, you need to look for it and take it.
Finally, the forth verse for the framework of life is Matthew 16:26-27. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
It has been said the only things certain in life are death and taxes. There is truth in that statement. Death will come to us all. True success in this life is not measured by how much of this world’s wealth you have accumulated. True success in life, as defined by the creator of life itself, is measured by where you will spend eternity.
Let me tell you from personal experience. The world lies. When you get to the top of the world’s mountain of success you find it is empty. It is like biting into a chocolate Easter bunny. You think it is going to be solid chocolate but when you bite into it you find it is hollow. True happiness is nowhere in it.
True success, true happiness, true joy in life comes from finding your purpose in life in God’s system for success and fulfilling your God given potential within His framework, not the world’s framework.
As a high school graduate, society sees you as an adult now. You must now decide what system of success you are going to follow. You will follow someone’s system as you try to find success in your life. The question is, whose system are your going to follow? Are you going to follow the creator’s system or some cheap imitation from the created?
The choice is now yours and yours alone. May God guide you to make the right decision.
Pastor Ken
www.PastorsHouse.com
Posted by pastorkensblog 
