If you came for expertise on how to get inebriated on alcohol, then you've come to the right place.
If you came to get a glimpse into my perception of what a waste of space my life used to be, then you've come to the right place.
If you came to find an understanding of how not to waste your life, then you've come to the right place.
You see…
I used to party like a rock star for 5 months of my life specifically in Tampa, FL. Spent loads of hard-earned cash on alcohol, cigars, clubbing, and chasing women. Worked 6 different jobs in those 5 months time to pay for my expensive habits. Drank Grey Goose vodka…about a bottle a night. Smoked Black & Mild's and quite a few illegally imported Cuban cigars which came with a high price. Partied with models and had coffee with them and special guest Derek Jeter a few times. Went clubbing in Ybor City time and time again and paid high prices just to get in the "high end" clubs. I had it all going for me!
Or did I?
Wasted every bit of money I had, but mostly wasted 5 months of my life I'll never get back. Wasted countless opportunities to witness to those who were lost and broken. I was a waste of space for 5 months of my life…Come to think of it I've been a waste of space for nearly all 27 years I've been allowed to live.
I would like to say that I've stopped being a waste of space, but that would be a lie. I wasted away my day today as I do most days. Could have told the girl beside me at the car wash as we vacuumed our cars that she is blessed because Jesus knows her by name. Could have spent my day visiting people in the hospitals or nursing homes because most of them are alone all day every day. Could have talked to people about my mission trip.
But I did none of this. Another day wasted. Another day gone that I'll never get back.
You see, Lecrae was sitting in the back of a cop car about to be arrested for drug possession, but rather this event would be a turning point for his life. You see, Lecrae carried a Bible with him as a good luck charm; it was a gift from his very devout grandfather. The officer spotted the Bible in the back seat of Lecrae's car and questioned as to why he had it. Lecrae told the officer, "I know I need to live it." The officer then told Lecrae that if he was willing to live as the Bible instructed that he would let him go.
And he did.
Now it wasn't an immediate turnaround. It took time and an on campus ministry helped to guide him in the right direction. Thank God for that.
So take a stroll with me as I break down a few pieces of Lecrae's hit "Don't Waste Your Life."
"Waste my life, no I gotta make it count,
If Christ is real then what am I gon do about,
Everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21 ya really gotta go and check it out."
Well rather than expecting you to go look it up yourselves, I'll kindly post it right here…right now…so "check it out."
Luke 12:15-21 "Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
So this parable is more than just a parable for most…it's reality. We are given so much, but we squander it all away as I did during the 5 months I was living in Tampa, FL. Just recently I went through my closet and gathered around 160 clothing items that I then took to a homeless shelter. I'm not saying this because I want people to look at me and say, "wow! He's such a great guy! Look what he did!" It wasn't about me. It was about meeting a need that the Lord revealed to me. It's all Him!
And by no means did I stay on track with this kind of life. I've squandered away more on more clothes, eating out, excess use of my car burning up gallons of gas just to go joy-riding, and more. We have excess so we can help others who don't have the things they need. NEED -vs- WANT.
What we want?
-Money
-Designer clothes
-Shiny cars
-Fancy homes
-Luxury
-Luxury
-Luxury
What we need?
-Food
-Water
-Shelter
-Clothes
But most of all…
-Jesus
Another parable that catches my attention is the one of the prodigal son. So here is my take on how this would go down today.
CHARACTERS:
Randy(Prodigal Son)
Dad
Steve(The other son)
James(The butler)
Ida(The maid)
Randy- "Hey dad. I want my half of the money you're planning on leaving me in your will."
Dad- "Ok son. I'll give you what's yours, but don't spend it all in one place."
Randy- "Ok." (Randy chuckles quietly.)
The next day Randy packs his things and hops in his car and heads to Atlanta where he squanders away every dollar down to the last penny and even sold his car to party it up at the clubs, drinking, gambling, and throwing money around like it was an endless supply.
Randy- Thinks to himself…"Oh crap! I'm screwed! I have nothing to show for the past few years of my life and I am STARVING, I have no home, no car, no job! What will I do?!"
So Randy finds work with sanitation services and finds himself eating food scraps straight out of the garbage. He decides he needs to go home after being so desperate to eat a defenseless family of cockroaches when he could find no scraps. So Randy hitchhikes back home and sets across the field towards his father's house when he is spotted by his father.
Dad- "RANDY! You've come home! Everyone! Randy is home!!"(He runs to Randy with excitement and embraces him.)
Randy- "I'm sorry dad. I don't deserve your love and I definitely didn't deserve my inheritance. I've lost everything."
Dad- "Nonsense. You will always be my son and I will always love you."
Then the father asked Ida to run to the store and buy the biggest, best steaks she could find and James to get Randy some clean clothes, shoes, and a gold ring so that they could have a party to celebrate his son's return. When the older son, Steve, got home from work he realized his brother had come home and asked his father…
Steve- "Why are you throwing him a party?? He spent all the money you gave him and now you are rewarding him for living like a fool?!"
Dad- "Steve. You should be glad your brother is safe and sound. Please come in and greet your brother with love. He may have thrown away all I gave him, but I've been providing for you for years and everything I have left is yours. Your brother threw away part of his life, but has finally come home. We must celebrate that his life is not going to waste any longer."
Like Randy, we are constantly choosing to throw away our money, our talents, and our time to have momentary joy, but a life well spent is one when we choose to live for God instead of living for this world.
"So I know I got life,
Matter fact better man I know I got Christ,
If you don't see His ways in my days and my nights,
You can hit my breaks you can stop my lights,
Man I lost my rights, lost my life,
Forget the money, cars and toss that ice,
The cost is Christ,
And they can never offer me anything on the planet that'll cost that price."
"Don't wanna waste my life!"
"See your money, your singleness, marriage, talents, your time,
They were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is divine,
That's why it's Christ in my rhymes,
That's why it's Christ all the time,
See my whole world is built around Him,
He's the life in my lines,
I refused to waste my life,
He's too true to chase that ice,
Here's my gift and time,
'Cause I'm constantly tryna to be used to praise the Christ,
If He's truly raised to life,
Then this news should change your life,
And by His grace you can put your faith in the place that rules your days and nights"
So I challenge you with this…
Live with less. Give more.
But more importantly…
Live out loud. Live for Jesus. Live for others.
Luke 12:48b "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
We are held so responsible and to a higher standard because we are capable of all things because of Christ who dwells in us. The same Christ who resides in the pastors, missionaries, and people such as Charles Stanley, Billy Graham, and Joyce Meyers, also resides in those of us who are Christians.
So let's go make disciples as we Christians are called to be little Christs here on this earth.
Don't be ashamed of the Gospel, or Jesus, or our Abba Father.
"Expect difficulty when you do what's right. Great opportunity is often accompanied by great opposition."
And as the oh-so-famous Johnny Cash and June Carter once sang…"Time's a wastin.'" So get out in the world and make a difference today. Don't wait til tomorrow. Tomorrow may not come.
For the full story on Lecrae by CNN click below:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/10/for-the-rapper-a-new-life-a-new-message/
For a great story on Ed Dobson by CNN, click below:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/18/tending-the-garden-one-person-at-a-time/
