Be Wise Series

Because Jesus Is Returning . . .

"Be Wise - Matthew 24:43-51"

We have been studying through Matthew 24,25 - with this overall theme . . . Because Jesus is returning and we don’t know when, how should we be living?

I remember reading a story a few years ago about a man who was visiting South Africa. He was walking through the streets of a village when he stumbled upon some children playing marbles. He thought their marbles were very interesting looking and asked if he could look at one. A closer examination revealed that the marbles were actually rough diamonds! How tragic. These children were playing marbles with diamonds. They did not know that they had in their possession. They had no idea the wealth they held in their playful hands.

How tragic, we think, but we do the same thing as Christians. We have the incredible message of God’s saving grace in our lives, and at our disposal, but so often we trivialize it. So often we play marbles with diamonds when it comes to our Christian lives. We often do not act logically with the knowledge we have of Jesus’ saving grace and His promised return. We know that God is real. We know that Jesus is the promised Savior. We know that He died for our sins and rose again. We know that He is coming back. But too often we don’t act like we really believe all that. Why? I think it is because we are so nearsighted. We live for today because today is here. We forget about eternity, because it seems so far away. Jesus is delaying, and we think we have plenty of time to get around to being ready for that.

- Read Matthew 24:42-51

I. Be Wise

This world is not your home. It is just a short stay on the way to eternity. But what you do with this short stay is critical. It determines where you will spend eternity. You have the knowledge of Jesus and God’s grace. Will you be wise with it? Will you act logically with it?

God never intended for the Christian life to be a side dish or a hobby while we go through life taking care of "real priorities." God’s plan through Christ was that we live singlemindedly under His Lordship. He intended for our relationship and commitment to Christ to affect all of our pursuits - at home, school, work, play.

Most people live life so superficially, whether Christians or not. Most people do not spend a lot of time thinking about how they live. They don’t stop to think about whether or not what they do makes sense in light of what they claim to believe. But I do respect someone who has the courage to live out their beliefs, even if I’m sure their beliefs are wrong. Let me give you an example.

Kurt Cobain died about 8 years ago. I remember the day I picked up the newspaper and read about it. He was the founder and lead singer of the rock group "Nirvana." His death was a suicide. He took a shotgun, pointed it to his head, and killed himself. The newspaper was filled with the words of fans and commentators in disbelief saying "Why? It makes no sense." "He had it all . . . a great career, a huge following, plenty of money, a wife and a 19 month old daughter . . . Why?" To most people it made no sense. But I remember sitting at my desk thinking. "Yes it does. It makes sense. Kurt Cobain was living out his beliefs to their logical extreme." You see, Kurt Cobain was a self professed humanist and nihilist. In other words, he believed their was no God and that there was no meaning or purpose to life. His music (poetry) could not be more clear on this matter.

Kurt Cobain’s music was grunge rock. He pioneered this type of music. The alternative rock style of today has evolved from grunge rock. Kurt had a disdain for anything mainstream or acceptable to society. He was a child of divorce. At the age of eight he began to be shifted from home to home, sometimes even being homeless. He was very vocal about his bitterness from that experience. He developed his belief that life was basically rotten and meaningless.

His music often spoke of his anger and disillusionment. One of his most famous songs was called "Nevermind." Its recurring line was "Oh well, whatever, nevermind." Another song he wrote never got released. It was too objectionable to the label company, but Kurt liked it. It was called, "I Hate Myself, And I Want To Die." In another song called "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a well known line says, "I feel stupid and contagious, here we are, now entertain us." The video of that song was voted best video of the decade of the 90’s.