A New Way To Spend Time Series

INTRODUCTION

• VIDEO CLIP

• SLIDE #1

• Time. Time is something that one cannot buy or sell, it is something that we all have and we all must decide how to use the time we have.

• Not all of us have the same amount of time left, but if we make it through the day, we all have roughly 24 hours, and we must decide how we are going to use the time we have.

• SLIDE #2

• The American Time Use Survey collects information about the activities people do during the day and how much time they spend doing them. For example, on an average day in 2015, Americans age 15 and over slept about 8.8 hours, spent 5.2 hours doing leisure and sports activities, worked for 3.5 hours, and spent 1.8 hours doing household activities. The remaining 4.7 hours were spent in a variety of other activities, including eating and drinking, attending school, and shopping.

• Those over 55 spend their time a little differently according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

• SLIDE #3

• 9.2 hours sleeping for those over 75, well I guess you have earned it!

• In our series, Turning over a New Leaf, we have been examining the contrast between the old way of life, the life we lived outside of Christ, versus the life we are called to life in Christ!

• Today we are going to delve into the issue of the use of one’s time. If we are not careful, time will slip away and we will have lived aa life in Christ without accomplishing much for Him.

• Today I want to challenge each of us to seek a new way to spend the time we have, I want to challenge each of us not to waste the time we have on fruitless pursuits, or as we examined lasted week, spending our time in the pursuit of the fruitless works of darkness.

• Let us begin by turning to Ephesians 5:15-16, we will first examine verse 15!

• SLIDE #4

• Ephesians 5:15 (HCSB) Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—

• SLIDE #5

SERMON

I. A call to pay attention.

• When you look back to Ephesians 4:1, the whole context of what we have been dealing with what it means to walk a walk worthy of the calling that we have received from Jesus.

• So, all the issues we have examined point back to that subject.

• As we tie this to the direct context of last week, the word THEN in verse 15, or THEREFORE in some translations expands on the fact that Christians are to live in such a way that our lives shine the light of Jesus on the fruitless works of darkness.

• Verse 15 encourages us to PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION, which indicates something that is done accurately, precisely, or to give close attention.

• How days do we pay CAREFUL attention to how we are living or spending our time?

• Given the fact that our lives are supposed to shine the light of Jesus into a dark world, our lives are to be different, but for our lives to be different, we need to consider how we spend the time we have each day.

• We have a difficult, but rewarding calling to follow.

• We have the obligation to live as children of light according to 5:8, and to expose the fruitless works of darkness by the way we live.

• WE are called to live in such a way to please God according to 5:10, and in the process, we are to live in such a way that our conduct before those who are not yet in Christ will be drawn to Christ!

• To be able to pull of this kind of life, it takes one living intentionally, to live with precision, to pay careful attention to what we do and what we say.

• So, Paul calls us to pay attention to the way we spend our time and to the way we live. The encouragement is to walk not as unwise people, but as wise.

• WE are called to take the knowledge we have of Christ, and apply it to our lives every day and in every situation.

• In Colossians 4:5 Paul encourages us to be wise in the way we act toward those outside of Christ.

• Now, how can one walk as one who is wise versus as one who is unwise?

• By paying CAREFUL ATTENTION TO one’s life. To pay careful attention to how one spends the precious time they currently possess.

• In this verse as well as what we will examine over the next two weeks, Paul explains how one can live carefully. Today we see wise versus unwise, next week we will see foolish versus understanding the will of God and Jerry will take us down the path of being filled with the Holy Spirit.