No Reserves, No Retreat, No Regrets

William Whiting Borden, the heir of the Borden dairy estate, received a trip around the world as a gift from his parents. So Borden, a Christian, traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and felt a growing burden for lost people. Finally, he wrote home and informed his parents that he was going to give his life in preparation for the mission field. And after making that decision, William Borden wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."

Upon graduation from Yale in 1909, Borden turned down some very high-paying job offers, determined to fulfill the call that God had placed upon his life. And he wrote two more words in his Bible: "No retreat."

After graduating from Princeton Seminary, he went to Egypt to study Arabic. And during his time there, he wrote these words: "No regrets." Those three statements summed up Borden’s life: No reserves. No retreat. No regrets.

Some would think, "Oh, what a waste of a life." But no life is ever wasted when it is invested in bringing people to Jesus. No life is ever wasted when it is lived for the glory of God. Life is wasted when it is lived for selfish ambition.

In the end, God will look at your motives. It will be not so much a judgment about quantity as it will be about quality, about motives. Why did you do what you did? If you have been faithful and served God with what He had set before you, then you will be rewarded for your faithfulness. But if you have been unfaithful or have done things with the wrong motives, you will not receive that reward. As Alan Redpath once put it, "You can have a saved soul and a lost life."

So it is not enough just to get to Heaven. We want to get to Heaven having done something with our lives for God’s glory.