Choose Who You Cheat Series

It’s About Time

Choose Who You Cheat

Big idea: There is only a limited amount of time in a day, week, month, and year. Everytime you choose how you are going to spend your time you choose to cheat someone… it’s important to choose who you cheat carefully.

January 07, 2007

Redeem the time you have

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:14

Time management? Every moment is a gift from God that must be managed wisely

In his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Time management is a misleading concept. You can’t really manage time. You can’t delay it, speed it up, save it or lose it. No matter what you do time keeps moving forward at the same rate. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.” - Stephen Covey

The Bible uses another word. Instead of managing your time, it speaks of “redeeming” the time, which is an even better idea.

Paul says here that we are to be look accurately how we walk through life – we are to make the most of every opportunity.

Think of a football player that is picking his way through the field – carefully considering his way to the goal line.

If you don’t manage your time - someone else will manage it for you You can’t save time, or even waste time–you are going to spend it somewhere and invest it in someone. If you don’t control your schedule, someone will always be happy to do it for you. Some people complain they just don’t have enough time to spend with their family. You’ve got exactly the same amount of time as everyone else; you just aren’t managing your time wisely or managing yourself wisely.

Choose the Right Rocks carefully

Or consider the rocks in this jar…

I have here a jar with some rocks in it. Lot’s of pretty little rocks. Some are the size of a nickel. Some are the size of a man’s fist. Some are polished and pretty. Some are unpolished and raw. Some are attractive and some aren’t.

But here is the challenge – I have too many rocks to get them all into the jar. It’s full to over flowing and I still have some big rocks to get into the jar.

To get the big rocks in I have to empty the jar and start with them.

Rocks in a jar: big rocks; small rocks; to fill up the jar you have to put the big rocks in first.

The First Rock: Love God with heart, soul, and mind.

37 Jesus answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and most important command.

Matthew 22:37

Matt.6.33 - gives us our big, over-arching purpose of our lives. We are to love God with heart, soul, and mind. This is to be a dominating concern of our lives.

This is a hard one, sometimes, because we have so many other things going on and we can devolve into giving Him only the scraps and leftovers of our lives.

Let me be clear, that this does not refer to church activities, Para church activities, volunteer opportunities in the church, and the like.

This is referring solely to the relationship with God- to your developing that relationship. Pleasing God… and loving God… is the key.

Let’s look at a passage of scripture from Paul to the church in Corinth.

Corinth had a whole lot of problems… Chapter 1-3 there was division and pride over their preachers. Chapter 4 and 5 there was immoral behavior that was being condoned and unchallenged. In Chapter 5 and 6 the church was fighting with one another. And then in Chapter 7 Paul finally gets around to addressing the subject of their questions to him and guess what… their questions were about marriage.

People don’t change much do they? Marriage was an issue then – just as it is today.

So Paul teaches about marriage… the obligations of marriage, the blessings of marriage, the importance of solid marriages where there is no separation from one another. Then he teaches something that may come as some what of a surprise. Paul says that he wishes people wouldn’t get married at all! That he hoped people would be like he is – single.

I do believe there is a gift of singleness. Certainly it isn’t required and I’ve met a lot of single men and women who are wanting to be married so very much… They are lonely and they want to be married. If you talk to them about spiritual things and the gift of singleness they say… please lord, not me! Don’t give me that gift!