00:00Hey friends, I was having an amazing conversation with somebody, and the more we talked, the
00:08more I started to think about the way most of us are taught to live.
00:13We spend the first 20 years of our life preparing for work, going to school.
00:19Then you spend the next 40 years working.
00:22Often, when you work, you're just helping somebody else build their company, their organization,
00:31their vision, or their dream.
00:34And if everything goes according to plan, somewhere near the end, you finally get your freedom.
00:42Maybe you get 5 years, maybe 10, maybe 20 if you're blessed.
00:47But I want to ask you something.
00:51When did God tell you you had to wait until the end of your life to start living the life
00:58he gave you?
00:59Because I don't remember Jesus teaching that anywhere in the New Testament.
01:05Jesus talked about today.
01:08He talked about purpose.
01:10He talked about faith.
01:12But he also talked about stewardship.
01:14And he repeatedly challenged people to stop allowing fear to determine what they did with
01:22their life.
01:23The life God had placed in their hands.
01:27One of the clearest examples is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.
01:33A master entrusted three servants with different amounts before leaving on a journey.
01:40One received five talents, another received two, and another received one.
01:48Now the first two took what they had been given and did something with it.
01:53The third didn't.
01:55He buried it.
01:57And listen carefully to the reason he gave.
02:00Fear.
02:02He essentially said, I was afraid, so I hid what you gave me.
02:08That's the part I want you to think about today.
02:11He didn't lose it because he tried and failed.
02:15He didn't waste it chasing some impossible dream.
02:19He buried it because he was afraid.
02:23And I wonder how many dreams are buried for that exact same reason.
02:30Maybe you're 25 and you're already convincing yourself that you need to wait.
02:36Maybe you're 40 and you're wondering whether you missed your opportunity.
02:40Maybe you're 50 and looking at the years behind you.
02:45Maybe you're 60, 70 or older and thinking, what could I possibly start now?
02:51Now, start anyway.
02:54I'm not telling you to quit your job tomorrow.
02:58I'm not telling you to gamble your family's security on some reckless decision and call it faith.
03:06I'm telling you something much simpler.
03:09Stop treating the life God gave you like something you're going to start living later.
03:15There is a difference between being responsible and being afraid.
03:20You can work your job and start building your dream.
03:25You can take care of your family and begin pursuing your calling.
03:30You can pay your bills and write the first page.
03:34You can work your shift and record the first video.
03:39You can go to school and start the business idea on the side.
03:44You can be 60 years old and learn something you never learned before.
03:49You could be 70 and begin serving people in a way you thought about for 20 years.
03:56You don't have to have everything figured out.
04:00You just have to stop burying what God gave you.
04:04And maybe what you're supposed to build isn't a business.
04:09Now, this is important because your dream might be helping people, writing a book, starting a ministry, learning an instrument,
04:20going back to school, creating something, mentoring somebody, repairing relationships.
04:27You can travel, volunteer.
04:30You can teach.
04:33Make memories with your family, but do something meaningful with the ability you've ignored for years.
04:42The point isn't that everybody should become an entrepreneur, and that's not what I'm saying.
04:48The point is that you shouldn't spend your entire life waiting for permission to become the person God is calling
04:56you to become.
04:58Jesus said in John 10, 10, 10, I am come that they might have life and that they might have
05:09it more abundantly.
05:11Now, that doesn't mean you'll have an easy life.
05:15Jesus certainly never promised that.
05:18It means your life is supposed to be more than simply surviving one obligation after another until the calendar finally
05:26gives you permission to rest.
05:29And here's something else we don't like thinking about.
05:35Unfortunately, none of us know how much time we have.
05:39James says our life is like a vapor.
05:42It appears for a little while and then disappears.
05:46Now, that's not supposed to scare you.
05:49It's supposed to wake you up.
05:52Today matters.
05:54This year matters.
05:56The ability God gave you matters.
05:59The ideas that you keep thinking about, my friend, they matter.
06:05The people you could help matter as well.
06:09The opportunities sitting in front of you matter.
06:12And your past does not get to decide whether you can begin.
06:17Maybe you've already wasted years.
06:20Okay.
06:21Well, you still have today.
06:24Maybe you made terrible decisions.
06:26Well, you still have today.
06:29Maybe somebody has hurt you.
06:32Well, you still have today.
06:35Maybe you failed at something before, but you still have today.
06:41Maybe you spent 30 years building somebody else's dream.
06:46Well, my friend, you still have today.
06:50Maybe you're starting later than you wanted.
06:54That's okay, because you still have today.
06:57Jesus was remarkably good at meeting people in the middle of their stories.
07:03He didn't require them to go backward and create a perfect history before they could move forward.
07:10Think about it.
07:12Peter.
07:13Peter had failures.
07:16Matthew had a past.
07:19Paul had a past that could have disqualified him in the eyes of almost everybody around him.
07:26Yet God wasn't finished with them.
07:30And if you're still here, your story isn't finished either.
07:36Don't compare your beginning to somebody else's middle.
07:40Don't look at somebody who has been building for 15 years and decide there's no point in starting because you
07:48are far behind.
07:49You're not responsible for their journey.
07:53You're responsible for what God has placed in your hands.
07:57Remember the servants in Jesus' parable.
08:01They weren't given the same amount.
08:04The master didn't expect the servant with two talents to produce exactly what the servant with five produced.
08:12He expected faithfulness with what each had been given.
08:17That's incredibly freeing, isn't it?
08:20Because you don't have to become somebody else.
08:23You don't need somebody else's money.
08:26You don't need somebody else's platform.
08:29You don't need somebody else's education or their connections.
08:34Start with what is already in your hands.
08:39One hour.
08:40One idea.
08:42One skill.
08:43One conversation.
08:45One page.
08:47One phone call.
08:48One application.
08:49One video.
08:50One prayer.
08:51One step.
08:52And that is how dreams begin.
08:55I guarantee you that you can do it.
08:58Not someday.
09:00But today.
09:02And maybe you've been waiting for a sign.
09:05Maybe you've been saying, when life settles down, I'll do it.
09:10When I have more money, I'll start.
09:13When the kids are older, I'll start.
09:16When I'm more confident, I'll start.
09:19When I know exactly what I'm doing, I will start.
09:23When I'm retired, I'll finally start living.
09:28But I want you to be careful.
09:30Because someday can quietly become 20 years.
09:34Now, there will always be another reason to wait.
09:39Faith doesn't mean you know exactly how everything will work out.
09:44Faith means you're willing to take the next responsible step,
09:49even though you can't see the entire staircase.
09:53I want you to think again about Peter stepping out of the boat.
09:57He didn't receive a detailed explanation of everything that was about to happen.
10:02When Jesus said one word, come, and Peter moved.
10:08And maybe that's the lesson you need today.
10:12Move.
10:14Not recklessly.
10:15Not irresponsibly.
10:17Not because somebody on the internet told you to blow up your life.
10:22Move because you know there is something meaningful you've been postponing.
10:28Take one step toward it today.
10:31You don't need to finish your entire dream today.
10:35You need to stop postponing it today.
10:38Because one day...
10:41Well, one day you're going to look backward at your life.
10:45And I don't think you're going to wish you had spent more time being afraid.
10:49You're going to remember the people you loved.
10:52The people you helped.
10:54The moments you were present.
10:58The risk worth taking.
11:00The things you created.
11:01The times you trusted God when you couldn't see what came next.
11:07So, whatever your age is, hear me.
11:1120 isn't too early.
11:1440 isn't too late.
11:1750 isn't too late.
11:2060 isn't too late.
11:2470 isn't too late either.
11:26Your past doesn't disqualify today.
11:30Your mistakes don't own tomorrow.
11:34And you don't need to wait for retirement to begin becoming who God created you to be.
11:41Jesus taught us not to bury what we've been given.
11:45So, dig it back up.
11:48That dream.
11:50That idea.
11:51That gift.
11:53That calling in your heart.
11:56That thing you've been telling yourself you'll get around to eventually.
12:00Bring it back into the light.
12:04Pray about it.
12:06Be wise about it.
12:08And then do something with it.
12:10Because there has never been a better day to start living the life God has entrusted to you than the
12:17day you actually have.
12:19And that day is today.
12:25My name is Douglas Vandergraaf.
12:27And I believe in Jesus Christ.
12:30God bless every single one of you.
12:34Every single one.
12:36And everyone you love.
12:38Bye-bye.
12:41Bye-bye.
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