WINSDAY WISDOM Session 203
William Borden was a young man who believed that Jesus lived inside of him to lead him to others Jesus intended to love through him. He inspired his generation and subsequent ones to passionately love first and most.
As the heir of the Chicago based Borden Milk Company and the family fortune from silver mining in Colorado, he was already a millionaire when he graduated from high school.
For his high school graduation present, his parents gave sixteen-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As he traveled, he felt a growing burden for the world’s hurting people. Finally, he wrote home to say, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field to help others know about Jesus Christ.”
More than one friend expressed surprise that Borden was “throwing himself away.” Shortly after he renounced his fortune in favor of missions, Bill wrote these words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.”
Even though young Borden was wealthy, he arrived on the campus of Yale University in 1905 trying to look like just one more freshman. Very quickly, however, Borden’s classmates noticed something unusual about him and it wasn’t his money.
One wrote: “He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ. His classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock.”
During his first semester at Yale, Borden started something that would transform campus life. He began meeting with two friends to study the Bible. That small group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus and changed many lives.
Borden wrote in his college journal, “Say ‘no’ to self and say ‘yes’ to Jesus every time.”
Borden loved others first and most. During his time at college, he cared about widows and orphans and cripples. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven and founded the Yale Hope Mission to house and rehabilitate them.
No Reserve.
While in college, Borden heard a missionary appeal for volunteers to reach the most unreachable people on the planet. It would necessitate a high price. “Of course, it will cost life. It is not an expedition of ease nor a picnic excursion to which we are called…” William Borden was hooked.
In one of his notebooks, he later wrote: “In every man’s heart there is a throne and a cross… If Christ is on the throne self is on the cross… If Jesus is on the throne, you will go where He wants you to go…”
Borden’s missionary call narrowed to China as he prepared to live among Muslims in Northern China. Once that goal was in sight, Borden never wavered. He also inspired his classmates to consider missionary service. “He was one of the strongest characters I have ever known, and he put backbone into the rest of us at college.”
Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down high paying job offers. When his father told him that he would never work in the company again if he chose mission work, he wrote two more words in the back of his Bible: “No retreats.”
Before he left, his father died and people asked him to come back to run the company and he said, “God’s got me for a higher cause. No retreat.”
No Retreat.
When he finished his post-graduate studies at Princeton, Borden sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead. He never made it to the mission field.
News of Borden’s death was cabled back to the USA. The story was carried by nearly every American newspaper. “A wave of sorrow went around the world. Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice.”
Was Borden’s untimely death a waste? Not in God’s plan. Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words “No reserves” and “No retreats,” he had written: “No regrets.”
No Regret.
He forsook all and followed Jesus, Kindly affectionate with brotherly love, Fervent in spirit serving the Lord, Giving to the needs of others,
In honor preferring others. Apart from faith in Christ,
There is no explanation for such a life.
— Epitaph of William Whiting Borden (1887-1913)
William Borden became a reflection of the life and love of Jesus. No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets.
What about my life and your life? What do we reflect? What is our passionate purpose for this God-given, God-graced earthly life?
Our purpose in life is about Direction, not Perfection.
Am I all in to follow Jesus with No Reserves?
Am I full speed ahead with Jesus living inside of me to lead me to others He intends to love through me with No Retreats?
Am I steadfast in Purpose to love God and love others with No Regrets?
Again, this life is about Direction, not Perfection. We will fight selfishness until this earthly race is finished. We will battle fear and worry with every step of faith. We will wish for do-overs for those moments we missed out or messed up in a relationship.
No Reserve, No Retreat, and No Regret relate to Purpose, not Perfection.
I have chosen to be all in, always looking forward and not backwards. I have no regrets about following Jesus. He has never, never, never, never, NEVER forsaken me. He is always Faithful and True.
As I look back on the road I’ve travelled,
I see so many times He carried me through;
And if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my life,
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
My heart rejoices when I read the promise
‘There is a place I am preparing for you.’
I know someday I’ll see my Lord face to face,
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
And in every situation, He has proved His love to me.
When I lack the understanding, He gives more grace to me.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true. –Stephen Curtis Chapman
Keep your eyes on Jesus and keep pressing on to the goal.
LOVE FIRST and LOVE MOST.
If you live your life for the value of knowing and showing the love of Jesus, your life will have no regrets. That is never a wasted life! You might not accomplish all the things that this world would have you do or have all the worldly pleasures, profits, and possessions but you will have no regrets.
I pray it may be said of you and me, “They loved first and loved most. Apart from Jesus, there is no explanation for such a life.”
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 