Believe 18 - Offering My Time
Ephesians 5:15-17
February 22, 2015
One of my strange quirks is playing with numbers. I was doing that this week as I was thinking about TIME. Do you know what this number represents?
86,400 Good, you know that’s how many seconds are in a day. Now, let’s see how good you really are. What does this number represent . . .
1,761,177,600
That’s how many seconds I was alive when I hit my 56th birthday in November. That sounds like a big number, but when you boil it down, it’s only 56 years of living. But how much living do we really do? How well do we use our time?
Well, statistics show this about the average person. We spend . . .
11.5 years at work
2.5 years washing clothes
6 months waiting in lines
20 weeks on hold
11 years in front of the TV
4.3 years eating
5 years on the internet
5.3 years doing housework
26 years sleeping
136 days women spend getting ready
46 days men spend getting ready
OK, that’s the good / bad news. But in all seriousness, the question is what do we really do with our time? And how can we bring glory to God by offering our time back to Him.
In Psalm 39:4, David wrote ~ 4 Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.
Moses wrote ~ 10 Our days may come to 70 years, or 80, if our strength endures . . . for they quickly pass, and we fly away. – Psalm 90:10
Isn’t that a true statement, our years quickly pass and life may seem fleeting. I realize that for some of you younger folk, 70 or 80 years sounds like a long, long time. In fact, I can remember when I thought anyone over 50 was old. Now, they are just middle aged. It is all rather relative, isn’t it?
For teenagers dating and talking together in the car, an hour or two seems to fly by, like a blink of an eye. But for mom and dad worrying about what’s going on out in that car, an hour or two seems like an eternity.
Let’s look at what the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus. In Ephesians 5:15-17, he wrote this . . .
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:15-17
So, what is Paul telling us about our time. Here’s the sermon in a sentence: Since our time on earth is limited, let’s make the most of the time we have left, bringing honor and glory to Christ.
Let me explain a little . . .
Paul said, 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
He is saying BE CAREFUL! Have you ever heard those words from your parents? Have you ever said them to someone else? I say it every time Joshua gets in the car and drives. I say it to Debbie, I even say it to friends when I know they are driving while we are talking.
I remember when Joshua and Zachary were little and behind our house the city was digging and putting in new pipes and there was a mountain of dirt in our back yard, and they had their trucks and tractors out there and they were digging and climbing and exploring and it was a blast for them, but a little nerve wracking for parents, because we couldn’t always see them. But we always told them BE CAREFUL. We say that when our loved one is climbing onto the roof. BE CAREFUL. In other words, watch your step. Think about your every move. Plan it before you execute it.
We all need to be careful. Now Paul is telling us a little more than just be careful when playing or doing something that could get you hurt. Paul is telling us, be careful in how you conduct yourself. When Paul refers to our walk, it’s the same when Christians talk about their walk with God. It’s about how they are living their lives. Is your life bringing glory and honor to God, or are you an embarrassment to God? You may be the only one who can give an accurate diagnosis. Because that takes into consideration what you do behind closed doors when nobody can see you, accept God!
So, we need to conduct ourselves in a manner which brings glory and honor to God. If we do that, we are doing right. We are careful about how we conduct our lives, the unwise person is considered foolish because they are rejecting God's leading. They refuse to follow God’s will in their lives. Maybe they know it and refuse to follow it, or they just don’t care and do their own thing, because that gives them more pleasure, so they think.
The wise person is the person who does the opposite. They follow the plan God has set out for them. They search for it, they seek it and try to follow it so they can bring honor and glory to God in all they do.
In the next verse, Paul tells us the wise person is ~ 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
We need to make the best use of our time. UGH! I don’t like that one! Honestly, I like to make the best use of my time in the way I want to spend it. How’s that for confession. And if we were really honest, most of us could say that. A great story comes from the life of Mary and Martha,
In Luke 10, Jesus went to the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. They were having a dinner party, and Martha was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner all by herself, while her sister Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, taking in every word.
Now, Martha became really angry at Mary because Mary was not in the kitchen helping prepare the meal. So, Martha went to Jesus, expecting to hear some sympathy. She said, 40 "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
Jesus answered, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:40 42
Now was Martha committing a sin by fixing a meal in the kitchen? Of course not! But here’s the problem. She was so preoccupied with what she was doing, and becoming more and more distracted and anxious, that she didn’t realize God was in her living room.
That’s the same mistake we make pretty much everyday. We get so caught up in the here and now that we fail to deal with the eternal, the things that will last forever. We become so stressed about all the things which really don’t matter, and we stress over them causing us to become anxious and lose focus on God.
Richard Swenson, a medical doctor, wrote a book in which he discusses one of the major diseases of our time – anxiety and stress. He calls it "overload," and says –
1. We’re overloaded with commitments. We’ve committed ourselves to go here and there, to take part in this activity and that social function. As a result we can’t keep up with what we are supposed to do and we find ourselves burned out.
2. We’re overloaded with possessions. Our closets are full, yet we keep buying. We’ve gone into debt to pay for all of these things that we "must have." And now we’re so afraid someone will take them away.
3. Thirdly, we have an overload in the area of work. We get up early, fight traffic, experience intolerable working conditions because we have to if we’re going to pay for all those possessions we’ve accumulated.
• We are overwhelmed with information because of Google.
• We are overwhelmed with relationships because of Facebook. Find the good and bad out there.
• We are overwhelmed with interruptions because of our phones. We are constantly on our phones, checking every few minutes for an update on Facebook, twitter, instagram, or playing a game, or just pulling out our phone, because that’s what we do.
• We are overwhelmed with videos because of YouTube.
• We are overwhelmed with music because of iTunes.
• We are overwhelmed with TV because of Netflix.
The world is overwhelming us and sadly, we are not being wise. We are being the foolish people who buy into the foolishness. So, we get overwhelmed and overloaded.
Paul leads us to a conclusion when he then tells us 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
His conclusion is — as a result of what I’ve just told you, do not be foolish. A foolish person is someone who willfully ignores the consequences of their actions, knowing what the end results will be. It’s someone who is senseless and lacking proper perspective.
We know some folks like that, don’t we? People who know what they are doing but ignore the consequences and choose to do what they want.
A fool is not just someone who is a couple bricks short of a full load, or one whose elevator does not go to the top floor. In Proverbs, the fool is the one who doesn’t follow God’s ways. He’s the one who knows the right thing to do but instead does the opposite, or does nothing.
Instead, we should understand the will of the Lord. The key is to seek to know what the Lord’s will is in our lives. Now, that’s not always easy.
We have so many decisions to make on a daily basis, plus those major decisions to make on top of that. Decisions for young people about school and dating and parents and peer pressure; then add to that decisions about what to do after high school, college, the military, careers. It can be overwhelming.
For adults it’s a struggle as well about living on a daily basis. What to do, how to do things, how to care for one another. Pay bills, live life, work, provide for the family - spiritually, emotionally and financially. That list can go on and on.
The point is we need to understand and learn what the will of the Lord is. I read something that was kind of funny, yet so true. “God doesn’t steer parked cars.” If you want the Almighty to guide you, then start moving on those things you already know He wants you to do.
How do we know what God wants for us? Again, it’s not hard to know, but it’s not easy to do. Why? We become overloaded and overwhelmed.
PRAY
READ THE BIBLE
WORSHIP
BIBLICAL COMMUNITY
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
FOCUS on GOD
SURRENDER to GOD
These are all things we have talked about in this series.
Offering my time comes as a result of the relationship I have with Jesus. The shallower my relationship is with Jesus, the more I expect others to do for me and the less I do for them. The greater my relationship with Jesus is, the less I expect others to do for me, and the more I want to do with others.
You see, look at this GRAPH. It’s pretty basic, but this is the bottom line.
It comes down to a matter of who we are going to serve, ourselves or God. Will we bring glory to God or ourselves. We have 86,400 seconds in one day. How will we use that time.
Paul reminds us in our memory verse from Colossians 3:17 ~
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord. Give Him the honor and praise. If you are a teacher, do it for the Lord, if you are an accountant, do it for the Lord, if you are a student, do it for the Lord. Whatever you do, your time is a gift from God and is to be given back to God . . . doing all things in His name, for His glory and honor.
Serve one another. Love one another. Encourage one another. Celebrate life together. Cry together! Be one body, doing all things in Christ and through Christ.
