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A Life With No Regrets

Ephesians 3:1-13

William Borden was the heir to the Borden dairy farm.  At age 16 in 1904 he was worth millions of dollars.  His family was grooming him, preparing him to takeover the dairy farm when he had a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ.  He was at Yale on his way up, when suddenly he felt called to change things.  He felt called to go to China to witness to Christ among the Muslim nation.  And so he gave up everything in order to pursue that.  

Friends, family came to him and said, “William, are you sure about this?”

And he responded that he had no reservation. 

In fact he wrote on the back of his Bible: No Reservation.  And so he prepared himself to move overseas, to give up the dairy farm  and to venture this way.  In his journey he stopped off in Egypt in order that he may better learn the context and culture that he would be facing in China.  There he caught spinal meningitis and within a year died.  So his family went over to Egypt to pick up his body with his belongings and they found his Bible.  There under the statement, “No reservations” were two more phrases:

No Retreat

No Regrets

Borden had given up the dairy farm, had given up privilege and power without reservation.  When faced with calamity, when faced with hardship he did so without retreat.  And then a 25 year-old man on his deathbed he was able to boldly claim that he lived a life with No Regrets.

He lived a life with no regrets because he realized he was living in the very manner that God, Himself, has chosen to live with us.

For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles…

Ephesians 3:1

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is for your glory.

Ephesians 3:13

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Genesis 50:20

Questions:

• Would you be able to leave behind everything with “No Reservations?” Why or why not?
• What is preventing you from being a servant to others? What are you sacrificing for others?
• When a man wanted to become a Scottish minister, he was asked—“Are you willing to be damned for the glory of your church?” How would you respond?
• How might God use your suffering for other people’s benefit?
• What do you regret? How can you experience God’s forgiveness so that you might live with “No Regrets?”