Tonight was Clovis East's baccalaureate. It was a time of celebrating faith and the future of our graduates. The class asked Anthony Flores of Adventure Community Church to speak. His message was simple. As a person who was running from God in high school, he came to a place where he now follows God passionately and wants others to do the same.
So to the class of 2013, he gave this challenge - die empty. He told the story of a young man seeking riches and he was directed to a cemetery wherein lied the paintings left undone, the stories left untold, the songs left unwritten, and the dreams left unlived. Anthony said that when he stood before Jesus, he wanted to be able to say, "Lord, I left it all down there for your glory. I lived to fullest to serve and honor you and I died empty."
What a challenge! I know we are encouraged to live boldly and amass whatever makes us happy, be it memories, money, adventure, collectibles, etc. What if we lived boldly and saw how much we could give away for the sake of the kingdom? What if the parable of the rich young ruler came to life because we learned to give more away than we tried to keep, particularly in light of promoting and advancing the kingdom of God and His grace and justice?
Anthony spoke with passion and I am glad I was present to hear what he had to say. It might have been directed at the graduates, but it was meant for me.
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