Do Something that Matters

One of my favorite movie lines was uttered by Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbor. His character, Capt. Rafe McCawley, travels to London before Hawaii was attaked so that he could fly with the British Royal Air Force. When he lands, his new commanding officer asks, “Why is it so many of you young Americans are so eager to die?” McCawley responds, “I’m not eager to die sir, I’m just eager to matter.”

That sums up my life. I’m eager to matter. I don’t care if I make much money. It doesn’t bother me if I’m never recognized by millions. I just want to matter… to God and to others. In order to matter, we need to do something that matters. We often sit passively waiting for something to occur that makes us matter when we really have more control here than we realize. We can do something that matters.

Here’s what I want to do…

• I want to preach a sermon that matters. I’m a Pastor, so I want to preach a sermon that leaves someone with hope and a changed life.
• I want to design something that matters – that catches someone’s attention and changes the course of their lives forever.
• I want to write something that matters – my blog, and a book… soon.
• I want to love the people who matter to me most – my wife, my daughter, my fellow servants.
• I want to smile at a discouraged cashier.
• I want to allow a depressed loved one to vent on my shoulder.
• I want to fly around the world to shake the hand of an embattled Russian missionary again.
• I want to pray. Prayer matters more than we imagine.
• I want to speak to a larger audience about something that makes an eternal difference.
• I want to give what I don’t really need anyway to gain what I can never lose.

What about you? What are you going to do that matters?