Making The Most Of Your Time Series

[I have taken the main points of this sermon from Rick Warren’s sermon on MANAGING YOUR TIME - Growing Through Goal Setting, Part 3, June 2-3, 2006, and added some of my personal thoughts.)

NIV: Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

KJV: See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

NASV: Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Today I want to talk about what the Bible has to say about managing time.

• Since life is a gift from God, and life is time, then we need to take a good look at the way we use our time.

• If we are stewards of God and not owners, then we need to learn how to manage our life, or manage our time.

Suppose you have a bank account and every morning at 6 am the bank deposits $86,400 into your account. Like this idea?

• The one requirement is that you have to spend it all that day.

• You cannot leave it for the next day. At night, when you go to bed, any money left will be taken away.

• What would you do? You will spend every cent! You will find a way to use up everything. Why waste it?

That is exactly what God does with you every 24 hours.

• He gives you 86,400 sec. God says you can use this any way you want to use it.

• But at the end of the day any that’s unused or misused or didn’t use, you lose.

• It will be gone for good. You’re never going to get it back.

Someone computes that if you live to be 70 years old…

• You will spend 23 years sleeping, 17 years working.

• You will spend 11 years of your life watching television and playing. You’ll spend 6 years of your life travelling in a car, bus, train or plane.

• You’ll spend 6 years of your life eating (some of us a little bit more than that). You’ll spend 2 years of your life getting ready (except women – that will be 19 years!).

• If you are a Christian going to church, you will spend 1 year in church.

The Bible tells us that life comes from God. So life is a trust.

• It is more of a stewardship thing, rather than an ownership thing.

• God says I have entrusted certain things into your hands. I have given you time. I have given you money. I have given you abilities. I have given you relationships. I have given you intelligence. I have given you freedom of choice.

Everything you have in your life is a gift from God. God says I trust this to you.

• It’s entrusted to you during your years on planet earth.

• He is going to see how you use your time, how you use your money, how you use your intelligence.

• He is going to watch what we do with what we are given.

All that we have is this 70 or 80 years here on earth. That’s not a lot really.

• Then you’re going to die and that’s going to be the end of your body on earth.

• But you’re going into eternity and in eternity you will live for thousands and thousands and trillions of years.

The Lord says that your rewards are in heaven.

• We’re going to be rewarded in heaven, and they will be determined by how faithful you were with what you were given here on earth.

• In order words, are you faithful with the trust you have been given? Your time, your money, your abilities, your intelligence…

So today I want to talk about managing our time. I may go on to talk about managing your money the next time.

• The Bible says here in Eph 5 that it is a mark of wisdom if you can make the best use of time - Live not as unwise but as wise… do not be foolish…

• People who manage their time well are wise.

The problem is not with time. It’s not a lack of time. The problem is with our choices.

• The problem is not that you don’t have enough time. The problem is you don’t use it wisely. You make poor choices.