It's My Time?
Ephesians 5:15-17
September 16, 2018
We would like to believe that my time is simply that . . . my time. We believe we control our time. And if that is true, then why are so many people feeling
OVERWHELMED, OVERSCHEDULED, and EXHAUSTED.
It seems too many people are overwhelmed, ouverscheduled and that leads to our feeling exhausted. And when we feel that way, that becomes our reality and our sense of wholeness, emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically suffers. Ultimately, we cannot be the person God called us to be, because when we are that overwhelmed, our spirit, our walk with Christ takes a hit.
So, today and for the next few weeks we’re going to look at what it means to practice good stewardship. That’s a word we really don’t understand. In the Christian world, when we hear the pastor is preaching on stewardship, we think they’re going to talk about money! But, that’s really not what the word means. The word steward really means “someone who manages something.” They could be an office manager, or overseeing a house, or they could be responsible for procuring supplies. That’s what the word means.
Those men and women who are called Flight Attendants were once called stewardesses because their job was not just to serve others, but actually to manage the people and all that occurred on the flight.
To practice good stewardship means - we are good at managing our lives. If we can’t manage our own lives, it becomes pretty evident to the rest of the world and the power of our witness, our testimony to the world is diminished. It also leads to a fractured walk with Christ.
He is the One who is nourishing our spirit, that’s so evident in John 15, when Jesus tells us ~
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. – John 15:4-5
Consider what Jesus is telling us, and please understand this distinction is so important. Jesus is telling you this is a relationship. It’s not a one way relationship. It’s not a master and servant relationship. And this is so vital. When Jesus said, “Abide in me and I in you” He’s wanting us to realize that this is a relationship. It’s about you and I abiding in Christ. Literally, it means we are to stay or remain in Him. We don’t come and go as it suits or feelings for the day. We stay and remain in Christ. And in turn, Jesus tells us He will remain in you.
And the purpose of this is to give us strength and power. He gives us mercy and grace. He supplies us with encouragement and comfort. Because we remain in Christ and He in us, we can bear fruit. For apart from Christ, we cannot bear spiritual fruit. We may do some good things and accomplish some great things, but without Christ, we lose the spiritual power and significance.
So, that’s the basis of everything we do as Christ followers. If we’re not in Christ, if we’re not abiding in Him, we’re going to be in trouble . . . and frankly, I believe that is the biggest problem in our lives for constantly feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Yes, we will have those times in our lives when we will be stressed more than others because of circumstances. But that should NOT be our normal way of living.
When you live your life filled with God’s presence - - when you are full of God - - you will be filled with His energy, grace and strength. You will make your best decisions, pray your best prayers, love your family the best, and be a better witness to the world.
But, the complaint we hear is - - “I’m so stressed and overwhelmed. I’m constantly on the go and I’m exhausted.”
Sometimes, it seems like it’s a badge of honor that we can be like the energizer bunny. We seem to brag about our overbusy schedules. Today, we’re talking about redeeming our time. So, here’s the question ~
What would your schedule look like if God were in charge of it?
Have you ever thought about that before? I try to write down what I do each day. Not to the extent of every second, but in general, what did I do that day. If you did that, what would it look like? How many productive hours would you have and how many unproductive hours would there be? How many hours would you have spent in prayer or Bible reading?
If you’ve ever looked at Jesus’ schedule, He was pretty relaxed about everything He did. He didn’t seem to be in a rush. He took His time and everything seemed to be calculated.
Winston Churchill often worked from his bed. He would wake up at 7:30 a.m., eat breakfast, read newspapers and dictate to his secretary until 11:00 am, from his bed.
Leonardo Di Vinci would take two-hour naps whenever he got tired. That way he wouldn’t waste time being tired.
Steve Jobs woke up whenever he needed to - and would look in the mirror and ask himself ~ “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” That’s a great question.
Not that we have to follow their schedules, or any other famous person, because some are pretty bizarre. But the ultimate question is this ~ Is your current schedule working for you?
How do most of us put our schedules together? Well, we don’t! We usually run from one thing to the next and hope we have not missed something in the process of running around. Not that we have to be tied to a calendar, but once we start to schedule the right things in our schedule we will find we have more freedom and find greater satisfaction and hopefully connection to Christ.
Usually, we just don’t want to forget picking up the kids after school. So, as we get started let me give you a couple of thoughts, and then we’ll continue this next week.
The Apostle Paul tells us this in Ephesians ~
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. – Ephesians 5:15-16
The phrase making the best use of the time is a loaded statement. I know I don’t always make the best use of my time. Sometimes it takes me a little bit of time to get warmed up for sermon writing. When I’m reviewing my sermon on a Saturday night during the football season, I know college football will be on TV. It’s hard for me to not have one eye on the TV and one eye on my message. I’m easily distracted that way. I will put on headphones and listen to music to keep me focused, but I know I can still check ESPN on the computer to see how my teams are doing.
In fact on Friday, I received an email with this as the title ~
7 Signs Church Leaders Are Just Busy, Not Effective
It includes things like -
Winging your schedule.
Not resting
Losing focus
Looking at email
Trying to multi task
That could describe a lot of us.
We don’t always make the best use of our time. It’s not that we can’t take breaks and relax and watch a game or listen to music or read a book. It’s being focused on the task at hand. And that’s not always easy. That’s why most Fridays I do not stay at church when writing a sermon. I want to get away and get focused on what I’m supposed to be doing so that there are no distractions.
When Paul said make the best use of the time - - - that phrase in Greek literally means this. And I’m going to say this in a long winded way so that you understand what Paul means. He’s really saying ~
Take full advantage of, make the most of the present opportunity. The meaning seems to imply that we make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good.
So, are we taking full advantage, and making the most of our time, because we recognize that our time is a sacred gift from God?
Every day we receive another 86,400 seconds. Every night, whatever we have not used is gone, lost forever. We cannot make up that time. We get no second chances with our time. We can’t work harder to get that time back. So, it’s important to understand time is precious.
Some people say time is money, but that’s not really true. If you lose money, you can always make it some other way. Time is not a renewable resource. Whatever time we lost is gone forever. In many respects, time is infinitely more valuable than money will ever be.
So in order to manage our time more wisely. Here’s a few thoughts. Especially as we make the best use of the time God has given us.
Firstly, we should prioritize what is most important. If we were to be really, really serious about what comes first in our lives, it should be God. That should always be the starting point.
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said ~
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. – Matthew 6:33
This is a reminder we are to seek God’s kingdom before our own kingdom. But what’s cool in all of this is what Jesus said at the end. In essence - if we seek His kingdom first, then all these things will be added to you. So, what are those things? They’re not material things.
I believe Jesus is talking about what He’s already said earlier in the Sermon on the Mount. We will have less struggle with anger, lust, we will keep our words, we will have better relationships, we will be more grace filled, we will have a closer relationship with the Lord, we will give more to God and others, we won’t worry about the tomorrow’s of the world, we will be less anxious.
That’s not a bad promise from God. It doesn’t mean life will be perfect, just that we will be better able to handle the struggles of life. But, and that’s a huge . . . we have to seek God’s kingdom first.
As we prioritize, we seek God’s kingdom, but in that process we seek to know the Lord’s will. That only comes through prayer, Bible study, connection with other believers. It doesn’t just happen. Revelations from God don’t just happen for those who really are not connected to God. Mostly because they are already antagonistic towards God.
Now, there are other things in our lives which are also priorities. We might want to say, ‘well, my job and family and social life are important. In fact, if my spouse isn’t number 1 then that’s not right.’
But, if we can place God first, then everything we do will flow from our relationship with God. We will treat our spouses better. Our kids, our friends, parents, siblings, our work effort, should all be better because god is first and everything in life flows from God into us. Remember that first scripture verse we had this morning. The fact that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and we can’t do anything without Christ, apart from Him we can do nothing, but with Him, we will bear much fruit!
Lastly, as we think about our time, we make sure God is our priority. Then we need to look at and even analyze our time. What are we doing with our time. How are we spending it.
For some people, it’s literally writing down everything they do and how long it took. Doing that for a few days, then looking at what they really accomplished. Looking at how they really used their time.
Sometimes we don’t realize that the things we should be doing, we are not doing. Sometimes we are too busy with work to spend time with our family. Sometimes we are too focused on our career than on God. Sometimes we put our priorities in the wrong spot, but we fail to analyze the time we spend.
If it’s not writing down how you spend your day, then ask someone you trust if they see you spending time on things that are not bearing fruit.
And again . . . there’s nothing wrong with a nap. There’s nothing wrong with watching TV or reading or exercising or playing music. We need that rest in order to recover so we can bear fruit.
Remember, Jesus took His time. He was not in a hurry. Even to help His good friend Lazarus who was dying. Jesus took His time, because He knew how the story would end. Now, I’m not saying take your time helping someone. But it’s finding a healthy rhythm as we seek to use our time to make the most of every opportunity God presents us with.
There was a story about a little boy who asked his dad, “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” The dad was surprised by the question, and said, “That’s not your concern, go ahead and play.”
But the boy persisted, “Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour.”
The father, finally gave up and said, “$20 an hour.” The boy then asked his dad, “Daddy, could I borrow $10?” The father was angry at the request and yelled at the boy and told him to go to sleep.
After awhile the father was feeling guilty and thought his son wanted to buy something. So, the father went into his son’s room and asked ~ “Are you asleep?”
The boy sleepily said, “No, why?”
The father said, “Here’s the money you asked for earlier.”
The boy smiled and said, “Thanks, Daddy!” He then pulled out money from under his pillow and said, “Now I have enough!! Now I have $20! Daddy, can I buy an hour of your time?”
In those final moments of life, I don’t think anybody is going to wonder why they didn’t spend more time at the office working. How will you use your time? As you move about this week, consider how Christ is calling you to serve Him, whether at home, work, school, volunteering. Wherever you go, how can you serve Christ, and make a difference in the world?
