Deal Or No Deal: The Choice Is Yours - It's Not My Time, It's His!

Deal or No Deal: The Choice Is Yours!

It’s Not My Time, It’s His!

Last week, we began a new sermon series entitled Deal or No Deal? The Choice is Yours! And I said that for the next few weeks, I wanted to talk about making the choice to obey God and not waver from His ideal for your life in the following areas of your life: Your Time * Your Treasure * Your Temple * Your Testimony * Your Talents

Our theme verse for this series is a verse that summarizes this so clearly and profoundly:

I Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

There is another verse that captures the same theme:

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

This series is all about making a CHOICE on how to use this life of yours. And my prayer is that you make the choice to follow God’s Way – every time – and never consider an offer or temptation to compromise…which leads me to what you see on stage this morning! Deal or No Deal, the choice is yours!

And I want to talk about making the BEST CHOICE…not just an “ok” choice or a “good” choice. Jesus Himself shared this same desire when he was talking to Martha – who was doing a very honorable thing…she was cooking dinner for the Lord! But she go so burdened by the details of ministry, she forgot to take the time to pause and simply spend time with God. So, Jesus reminded her of the fact that it was indeed the BEST choice to spend time with me: Luke 10:42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

Notice three things about spending time with God:

1. “But one thing is needed” (or “necessary”)

2. “Mary has chosen that good part” (or “best” choice)

3. “Which will not be taken away from her” (ie. it will make a lasting impact)

Last week, we looked at the example of Christ – who went through a season of temptation where Satan attempted to make multiple offers for Jesus to settle for less & to quit the game and not endure to the end…and made the BEST choice!

Matthew 4 provided us with an example of how Satan played a spiritual game of “Deal or No Deal” with Jesus and tempted Him NOT to go to the cross…but to every offer, Jesus said “No Deal” to each of Satan’s offers. Jesus had stuck with HIS CHOICE – which was the Father’s choice – “I will go to the cross.” He made a choice…and He stuck to His choice! Well, today, I want to talk about OUR lives and the choices we make…and how we must chose God’s Way in five areas of our lives.

Today, we our theme is: “It’s Not My Time…It’s His!” Today, we make our one singular choice to Follow God’s Way…with our “Time.” Being good stewards of the time that God gives us!

When you hear the words, “Give God your time,” I bet your mind goes to the all-familiar – “Well, I guess I have to go to church more or get more involved in church-sponsored activities more!” But, there is so much more to giving God your time than accumulating more hours inside of a brick & mortar building.

So, today, I want to five areas as to what it means to “Give God Your Time.” These explanations are often overlooked and ignored when discussing the topic of giving your time to God, but let’s go to the scriptures to reveal them.

1. TIME WITH GOD!

How much time? All the time. Every moment of your existence. “As you Go,” you should commune with God and spend time with Him. In other words, you should have a “God-consciousness” every moment of your life. At the beginning of your day. As you live out your day. At the end of your day.

Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer of the mid-1500’s, is attributed to responding the following way one day he was informed of his schedule of events and responsibilities on a particular day: ‘I have so much to do today that I should spend the first three hours in prayer.”

He had to accomplish so much that day that he knew he couldn’t possibly be successful unless he bathed it in prayer! Isn’t that the opposite of how we view a busy day? We often respond like, “Sorry, God, I don’t have time for you today. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

Remember this principle: The more we do in a day, the more we must spend time with the one who will sustain us through that day!