Making The Most Of My Life: Six Ways We Waste Our Day
Part 1 of 6: Idle Living
Psalm 102:11 "My life is passing swiftly as the evening shadows."
Time line of inventions
1837 - Telegraph invented
1876 - Telephone invented
1885 - 1st invented combustion automobile
1893 - 1st "movie"
1903 - Airplane invented
1924 - 1st liquid fueled rocket
1926 - Sound added to movies
1932 - 1st parking meter
1936 - Helicopter invented
1945 - Atomic bomb developed
1951 - Hydrogen bomb developed
1975 - VCR developed
1977 - First home computer
Life is changing dramatically. People are moving faster, going farther, and accomplishing more than ever before. And yet as rapidly as life is changing; as quick as the pace has become, there is one thing that remains the same. TIME. Time is that one constant in which we all live. You can’t store it up, use it up, borrow it, or spend it. You can’t share it, steal it, alter it, or manipulate it.
No matter what changes, no matter how much changes, TIME remains the same. Since the dawn of Creation a day has been a day, a year has been a year. Twenty-four hours 2000, 4000, 6000, or even 8000 years ago is the same as twenty-four hours today.
And yet, as much as we realize, still, we never seem to have enough time. Consider the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Calvin says to Hobbes, "God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I will never die."
How many times have we felt like Calvin? So busy, so pressed for time that it seems life itself is encompassing us, crushing us under its weight!
This week marks the beginning of a new six part series: "Making The Most Of My Life: Six Ways We Waste Our Day" In this series we will explore six areas of life in which our time is squandered, our lives robbed, and our God-given purpose neglected. This morning we look at the area of Idle Living.
Maybe you’ve heard the joke of the pilot who announced over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we’re making excellent time. The bad news is that our navigational systems are malfunctioning and we have no idea where we’re going."
[Http://www.northheartland.org/1996/090196m.htm. Making Time For What Really Matters.]
Too often we waste our lives with Idle Living. We’re making good time, but we don’t know where we’re going. Listen to these two passages of scripture:
Psalm 39:4-6 "Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely every man stands as a mere breath!" (RSV)
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." (NIV)
There are two facts we need to take note of:
1. Life Is Short
They say when you’ve done something long enough and you’ve had enough experience you become an expert. Some of you this morning are experts on living, and you know more than I how true this is.
We’ve all seen the commercial that says, "Life’s short, play hard" The Psalmist says "Let me know how fleeting my life is!" Carpe Diem-Seize the Day.
2. Life Can Be Wasted
Avis Lynch-wants to grab people and shake them up asking, "Why are you messing up your life?!" The writer says, "everything is meaningless" "nothing was gained"
Dr. James Dobson of Focus On The Family once related to an experience he had concerning a colleagues death. Dr. Dobson wrote, "One of my colleagues [passed away] during my last year at Children’s Hospital, having served on our university medical faculty for more than 25 years. During his tenure as a professor, he had earned the respect and admiration of both professionals and patients...
At the staff meeting following his death, a five-minute eulogy was read by a member of his department. Then the chairman invited the entire staff to stand, as was our custom in situations of this nature, for one minute of silence. I have no idea what the other members of the staff contemplated during that 60-second pause, but I can tell you what was going through my mind.
I was thinking, ‘Lord, is this what it all comes down to? We sweat and worry and labor to achieve a place in life, to impress our [peers] with our competence...Then finally, even for the brightest among us, all these experiences fade into history, and our lives are summarized with a five-minute eulogy and 60 seconds of silence.
[Dobson, James. Straight Talk To Men And Their Wives. Http://www.northheartland.org/ 1996/090196m.htm. Making Time For What Really Matters.]
Nobody wants to live a meaningless life. Everybody wants to be of value.
In his book First Things First Steven Covey says there are two tools we need to get the most out of life. The first, is the watch. The second, is the compass.
1. The Watch-measures our day
Psalm 90:12 "Teach us to number our days."
There is no guarantee of tomorrow. Make the most of the moment
Ephesians 5:15-17 "Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count. Don’t be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do." (CEV)
2. The Compass-gives direction; directs our steps
It is the measure by which we determine what really matters.
There is the story of the old farmer and his wife who went to the country fair? The farmer was fascinated by the plane rides they were offering, but he didn’t like the $30 ticket price. "I’ll make you a deal," the pilot said. "If you and your wife can ride without making a single sound, I won’t charge you anything. Otherwise you owe me $30."
The farmer agreed, so he and his wife got into the back seat of the biplane and off they went into the wild blue yonder. The pilot, wanting to make his thirty bucks, tried every stunt he could think of - rolls, dives, flips, you name it - to get the couple to scream, but not a word came from them. Their lips were sealed.
As they were landing, the pilot called out in defeat, "I can’t believe it. You didn’t make a single sound!" "Well, it wasn’t easy," the farmer yelled back. "I almost did say something when my wife fell out."
[Http://www.northheartland.org/1996/090196m.htm. Making Time For What Really Matters.]
Much like this farmer too many of us never realize what’s really important. We wander through life wasting this precious gift of God. I would like to give you three simple ways to get the most out of your time.
1. Prioritize
Determine what really matters most.
Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus said, "Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (RSV)
My Purpose: Corporate (church/body of Christ)
Individual
2. Organize
Ephesians 5:15-16 "Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as ones who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time." (Philips)
Organize my schedule according to my life’s purpose
The 80-20 Rule, also called the Pareto principle.
Alberto Pareto was an Italian economist in the 15th century who ascertained that in 80 percent of our time only 20 percent of our work is accomplished. The 80-20 rule says in a list of ten items of things you’ve got to do, two of them are going to produce the most benefit. You need to discover what those two are.
If you had a To Do list of ten or 100 things to do, 20 out of a hundred will give you 80% of the results. While the other 80% will only give you 20% of the results. The key thing in time management is to figure out what’s the most important thing.
[Warren, Rick. Time Management for Ministry: Finding Time For Ministry.]
3. Minimize
Proverb 17:24 "A fools goals are at the ends of the earth!" (Living)
If it doesn’t work towards my life’s purpose, then I’m wasting my time.
Wasted time = Wasted life