Beat The Clock

Beat the CLOCK

Psalm 118:24

There is an old game show, called beat the clock. In this game show, contestants were given a selected amount of tasks to accomplish in a certain amount of time, thus beating the clock.

In sports you try to beat the clock. You’ve probably heard the saying as the clock ticks down, and the team is making a comeback, “The clock is our worst enemy.”

Any good coach or any good player will try to beat the clock. They will try to make that last second field goal or that last second basket.

Then it seems like in our life is always trying to beat the clock. You have the rush to catch your flight. One time I was so late, they had to shut down one of propellers on the plane where I was greeted with boo’s on boarding the plane for making the flight late.

You have the rush to make it to the practice or the game or what ever other activity your kids are in. Sometimes you may even rush to get to church on time. You yell, “Hurry up, we’re going to be late again for church.” That can really put you in a mood of worship.

Then you have the mad dash for the parking meter. It would seem that is what our life, or at least mine, is about, beating the clock.

Time is valuable. For an example; the Doctor informs you of your terminal illness. The first quest you want to know is…”How much time do I have?”

Time is life. You see your kids driving and going to proms and college and you ask, “Where did time go?” or where did my life go.

You can run out of money but still have time. You can run out of electricity, and still have time. But if you run out of time you have nothing. Besides managing our money we need to manage our time. You can make more money but you can’t make more time. You can make more friends, but you cannot make more time.

Job 14:5 Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You.

God has given each one of us an allotted amount of time. So what you do with your time He has given you is important, because time management is important to God. We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.

And God wants you to use your time wisely and that will be our topic this morning in one little verse in the Bible. In that verse we find three ways to beat the clock.

Read Psalm 118:24

The first thing we need to do is…

We must appreciate each day as a gift from God

Notice the only day that is mentioned in this verse is this day. He does not talk about yesterday or tomorrow, only this day. Every minute that you have, every breath you take, is a gift from God.

Have you ever heard the statement, “I wish I had as much time as you do.” Now think about how silly that sounds. We all have the same amount of time.

And if you are here this morning and you think, “I don’t have the time to do everything that I want to do.” Guess what, join the crowd. There was a study done by USA today that showed that the average time needed to do everything we want to do would require 42 hour days. Almost double what we have in a day. That means it is practically impossible for us to get everything we want done in a days time.

But there is good news. We all will die not having done everything we want to do. How often to you hear, “I’ve always wanted to do that”. But the good news is that you will have time to do everything you NEED to do. And what you need to do is what God would have you to do and God will provide that time.

Think about what Jesus was able to accomplish in his short period of time on this earth. Now Jesus was 33 years old when He was crucified, but 99.9% of His ministry was accomplished in three years. He had to convince the people that He was the promised Messiah. Then He had to convert them from the Laws of the Old Testament, from works to grace. Then He had to be killed by hanging on the cross. Buried, only to rise again and then remain here on earth for His final instructions.

Now the Bible doesn’t say this, but I am sure that there were things that Jesus probably would have wanted to do and never had the chance. Maybe He would have liked to have been married and raise a child. Maybe He would have been like me and wanted to spend more time fishing, but instead He was fishing for men. He didn’t get to do everything He wanted to do, but He did get to do everything He NEEDED to do. Listen to the words of Jesus found in…