Take Time to Live
James 4:14 (NKJV) 14…For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Many today spend their lives seeking personal gain. They fail to achieve the things that are the most rewarding. They need to:
1. Take Time To Listen
Isa 55:3 (NKJV) 3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live…
Listen to others. Everyone needs a listening ear at times. Listening encourages, solves problems, brings comfort and healing to the brokenhearted and bereaved.
Listen to God. We receive help from His care when we hear and heed His council; we receive His care and comfort when we take time to listen.
Psa 91:15 (NKJV) 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
Rom 10:17 (NKJV) 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2. Take Time To Learn
Psa 119:105 (NKJV) 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path.
Learn from God. By reading and meditating on God’s Word through prayer and faith, we receive wisdom from above.
Psa 119:133 (NKJV) 133 Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
Learn from people. We can learn so much from the knowledge and experiences of others. Good books, papers, and newscast are learning sources.
3. Take Time To Laugh
Prov 17:22 (NKJV) 22 A merry heart £does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Many Christians do not take time to laugh. Their lives are dreary drab.
The life of the believer should be marked by the joy of the Lord.
Neh 8:10 (NKJV) … the joy of the LORD is your strength.
We should learn laugh at our ourselves., enjoy others, and rejoice in the Lord. Counting our blessings and praising God for them enables us to be joyful Christians.
Psa 126:2 (NKJV) 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations “The LORD has done great things for them.”
4. Take Time To Lift
Mark 9:27 (NKJV) 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Jesus forgave sin, gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, raised the dead. He took time to lift.
Many are too busy today with personal pursuits and pleasures to lift the less fortunate. As Jesus took time for others, so must we.
5. Take time To Love
1 John 4:16 (NKJV) 16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
To take time to love is to take time for God, since God is love. Everyone needs to share in the love of God.
John 13:35 (NKJV) 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We take time by sharing God’s love --- with a smile, a kind word, a helping hand, sharing Christ.
1 John 4:21 (NKJV) 21And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Conclusion
Take time to listen, learn, laugh, lift and love. True discipleship requires these five elements to be actively working in or lives daily.
As Jesus poured Himself into His disciples, we must pour ourselves in those in our circle of influence.
