Don’t Waste Your Life

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

In the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” two brothers are killed from the same family in World War II, and there’s one other brother fighting in Germany. The military decides that losing all three children was too much for any mother to deal with, so they make a plan to go get Private Ryan and bring him home to his mother. The military sent a special unit in to find him and bring him home. The men who make up this rescue unit end up in horrible warfare and eventually are killed by the Germans while trying to get one man home to his mom. They all gave their lives so Private Ryan could live.

In the final scene of the movie, Tom Hanks, who’s the captain of that unit, has been fatally shot. He is lying on a bridge, bleeding and dying. Private Ryan is standing by him, and the captain reaches up, grabs Ryan by his shirt, and pulls him down. With his last words, he says, “Earn it.” Basically, he was saying, “Make your life count. Make it worth it. All these guys, including me, have given our lives. Do something significant with your life. Do something good with your life.” 

Think about Jesus. He must look at a generation that’s wasting their lives on drugs, partying, and sin. He probably wants to grab them and pull them close to Him and say, “Do something significant with your life. I died for you to have this chance!”

Jesus paid a tremendous price for you to be where you are. Do something great with your life. Don’t waste it.

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