Bible Baptist Church Associate Pastor Nick Digman on Sunday urged several dozen members of the Jefferson City High School Class of 2014 to surrender their lives to God and lead a life of service to others.
Digman spoke at baccalaureate service at the Miller Performing Arts Center, saying many people equivocate success to wealth. But he defined the four S's in "successes" differently: salvation, surrender, service and savor.
Salvation is the first key to success, he said, quoting Matthew chapter 16, verse 26 of the Bible: "What has a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul."
The second "s," he said, is "surrender." He told graduates that, to be successful, they need to surrender their lives to God and to others.
"If you want to be a success in business or whatever it is that you plan to do after you graduate from high school and go on to college ... you're going to have to learn to surrender," he said. "You're going to have to a lot of times have surrender your time to your employer. You're going to have to surrender yourselves in a lot of different ways. And surrendering often times is a difficult thing to do."
Service, is the third "s," Digman said. "God defines greatness in a person who is willing to serve. He said, "He that is greatest among you ... shall be your servant."
To be successful, you have to be willing to serve, he said. "There shouldn't be a job you're not willing to do. Because if there's not a job you're not willing to do, then you'll be able to be a success because every job out there is available to you."
The fourth "s" is "savor."
"I want to challenge you to savor because I believe that part of being successful is to remember where you came from," he said.
He said savoring high school memories, the graduates can see where they were and the progress they've made. "And that's what's going to get you through college," he said.
He urged college-bound graduates to commit to making memories over the next four years that they won't regret.
"I've met a lot of people who went to college, and went back to college in their 30s who said, "I made a lot of mistakes in college the first time around.'"
He applauded the class, saying: "Congratulations, Class of 2014. We look forward and expect great things from you."