Trust is something the Psalmist dealt with in this Psalm. He showed us three places where people place their trust during the days he lived here on earth.
• Some trusted in the chariots
• Some trusted in the horses
• Some trusted in the Lord
We dealt with two important things that God expects us to do. They concern:
• Our Tithes
• Our Talents
GOD TRUSTS US WITH SO MUCH, BUT HOW LITTLE WE TRUST HIM.
It is amazing to stand under a starry sky and look at the millions of stars above and realize God has placed us as stewards over all His creation.
Illus: Imagine going into the Walmart corporation office and asking to see the CEO and you are taken to a luxurious office and an eight-year-old child is sitting behind the desk.
I feel that way when I look at all God has placed us mortals as stewards over. Some have done a very good job at what God has placed in their hands.
Illus: Martha Berry was a lady with a vision to help children. She began a school for poor children. She had no books, no building and no money. But she had a dream.
She went to Henry Ford to ask for a donation. Mr. Ford reached into his pocket gave Martha Berry a dime. Most people would have been insulted, here he is a multi-millionaire and all he could give was a dime.
But Martha took that dime and bought a packet of seeds and planted a garden, raised a crop, sold it and bought more seeds.
After three or four harvests, she had enough money to purchase an old building for the children. She returned to Mr. Ford and said, “Look what your dime has done.” The man was so impressed that he donated a million dollars to her school.
God has given some people so much in this life, but many have never discovered how to take the talents God gave them, and develop them and trust Him to accomplish anything with their life.
Illus: "A newspaper fired Walt Disney because he had "no good ideas" (McGinnins, p. 34).
Listen to the rest of the story about Mr. Disney. "It is reported that Walt Disney was not only a remarkable man but also a remarkably happy man. Somewhere recently there was a story about his early years. When he started out in Kansas City, he couldn’t sell his cartoons. Some hinted that he had no talent. Disney had a dream, so he set out to conquer his foes. He found a minister who paid him a small amount to draw advertising pictures for his church. Disney had no place to stay, so that the church let him sleep in the mouse-infested garage. One of those mice, which Disney nicknamed Mickey, became famous - as the world knows. How satisfying life must have been for Disney when he remembered the hard struggle from lean years spent in a church garage". (Ernest A. Fitzgerald. Keeping Pace: Inspirations In The Air. Greensboro: Pace Communications Inc. 1988, p. 18).
We are to trust the Lord with OUR TITHES and OUR TALENTS, but also-
III. WE ARE TO TRUST THE LORD WITH OUR TIME
WHAT IS TIME? TIME IS LIFE!
If I give you ten minutes of my time I have given you the most valuable gift I can give you. I have given you ten minutes of my life. BECAUSE MY LIFE IS MY TIME!
In this life, we only have so many seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. We can not afford to waste any of life.
The most valuable gift that we can give the Lord Jesus is TIME, because when we do this we are giving Him OUR LIFE!
One of the greatest wastes in the world today is the waste of LIFE. It seems that many folks do not know a thing about that.
Illus: They remind me of a man that did not know anything about skydiving and goes skydiving for the first time. He excitedly jumps out of an airplane with a parachute strapped to his back.
• After a bit, he pulls the ripcord
• Nothing happens
• He tries again
• Still nothing
• He starts to panic, but remembers his back-up chute. He pulls that cord
• Nothing happens
• He frantically begins pulling both cords, but to no avail. Suddenly, he looks down and he can't believe his eyes. Another man is in the air with him, but this guy is going up while he is coming down!
• Just as the other guy passes by, the skydiver -- by this time scared out of his wits - yells, "Hey, do you know anything about skydiving?"
• The other guy yells back, "No! Do you know anything about gas stoves?"
Most folks do not seem to know a thing about LIFE!
WHY IS THAT? There are many reasons, but one of the chief reasons is because we have the advertising world that tells us:
• If you want to have real “Gusto” in life, you must drink a certain kind of beer.
• If you want to really live and impress your neighbors, you must drive a certain kind of car.
• If you want to enjoy life, you have to smoke a certain brand of cigarettes.
Let me share what the Bible says we can do to trust the Lord with the most treasured gift we have - OUR LIFE!
Look at Rom. 12:1-2, we read, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Once we become “conformed” to this world:
• We forget right is right
• We forget wrong is wrong
God knows how difficult it is for us to live in this world as Christians. God knows that we are bombarded by the things of the world.
But God says not to let the world put you into their mold and shape your thinking. PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE UNTO THE LORD and DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THE WORLD.
God has a claim on your Life! Notice, the Word of God says this is our REASONABLE SERVICE.
In Jeremiah 1:5, God revealed to Jeremiah WHY HE HAD A CLAIM ON HIS LIFE. In verse 5, God gives Jeremiah several reasons why he had a "claim" on his life.
(1) YOU ARE A "PRAYED FOR" CHILD
God said that before you were formed in your mother’s womb, He knew you.
The Father of Jeremiah was the godly High Priest, Hilkiah. He was the man who found the Book of the Law that brought revival to the nation of Judah in the days of Josiah.
I am sure that Jeremiah was born as an answer to the prayers of godly parents, asking God to grant to them the privilege of raising a "preacher boy."
(2) YOU ARE A "MIRACLE" CHILD
Note the words, "I formed thee." God is the giver of life. All life within the womb of every mother is a miracle!
Regardless of the events that led up to a woman becoming pregnant, let us rejoice in the miracle of the life that God has placed within her!
The very fact that you exist is a miracle of God! God does not want you to be just a pew sitter in your local Church. He has a ministry for you to do. Have you considered God’s claim on your life?
DO YOU RECOGNIZE HIS AUTHORITY?
Illus: A teacher told of the time their new elementary school was raising the American flag for the first time.
To make the day special, they had invited a Marine Corps color guard to come out and perform the duty for them. The day before the ceremony, the Marine in charge of the unit called to confirm directions to the school. After doing so, he was asked by our secretary whether he was sending marines who like children.
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before the man replied, "Ma’am, if I tell them to like children, they will like children."
Marines understand authority. Marines understand who is in charge. They understand who the leader is that they are to follow.
In a slightly different context: the Bible teaches the same thing about “Lordship"
Illus: A similar term is used in the military. For example, when a private approaches an officer, he immediately snaps off a salute. If asked a question, he answers with a, “Yes sir” or “No sir.”
The Military is very strict about this. If you don’t respond to a commanding officer properly, they’re bound to shout, "drop and give me 50!"
When that type of recognition is given, it denotes acceptance of authority. The phrase immediately establishes who is giving the orders. It goes to heart of who is in charge.
Likewise, Jesus says to His disciples, in John 13:13, "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.”
We can never find what we are looking for in this life until we come to RECOGNIZE WHO HE IS and WHO WE ARE!
Christians that have been given this precious treasure that we call TIME, need to use it wisely. Time is running out with all of us.
Illus: A man goes to his doctor for a complete checkup. He hasn't been feeling well and wants to find out if he's ill. After the checkup, the doctor comes out with the results of the examination.
• "I'm afraid I have some bad news. You're dying and you don't have much time," the doctor says.
• "Oh no, that's terrible! How long have I got?" the man asks.
• " The doctor says about 10!”
• “10 what? Months? Weeks? What?!" he asks desperately.
• The doctor says, “9..8...7..."
Illus: Just before she lost her battle with cancer, Erma Bombeck wrote: IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER:
• I would have talked less and listened more.
• I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
• I would have eaten the popcorn in the ’good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
• I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
• I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
• I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
• I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried I about grass stains.
• I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
• I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
• I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.
• I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
• Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
• When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
• There would have been more "I love you’s".. more, "I’m sorrys"...but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back.
Why is it that it takes something like cancer to impress upon us how precious and wonderful life is?
Conclusion:
Illus: Years ago, a pastor, while traveling down a highway in eastern Kentucky, would pass by a beautiful brick church. The church always caught his attention because it seemed to be in the ideal location for growth.
However, the church was not a flourishing church. It was closed and the windows were broken out; there had not been services there for many years.
As he drove by this church he could not help but wonder what happened to that church. Why was it closed, and why were the windows broken out and the weeds growing all around?
On one trip as he passed by the church, he pondered this aloud. His oldest son, then 9 or 10, said, “I know Dad, I know why it is vacant.”
His dad said, “Well OK, tell me.?”
He replied, “Look, the grave yard behind the church is full. All their members died!”
The son was talking about the physical death, but probably there is an element of truth when it comes to spiritual death in that statement.
Illus: There is a story of a mountain climber, who desired to conquer a tall Mountain in Argentina. This man initiated his climb after years of preparation. He decided he would climb this mountain all by himself for he wanted all the glory to himself. He knew better, but against all advice he went up alone. He started climbing and soon it was getting later and later. He did not prepare for camping, but decided to keep on climbing higher and higher. Then it got dark. Night fell with a great heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility was zero. Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by clouds. He had no sense of direction. As he was climbing a ridge about 100 meters from the top, he slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness that passed. He kept falling. In those anguishing moments good and bad memories passed through his mind. He thought that certainly he would die. But then he felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Like any good mountain climber, he had safely staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist. In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice but to shout, "HELP ME, GOD! HELP ME!" All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven: "What do you want me to do?" "SAVE ME!" He replied. God answered, "Do you REALLY think that I can save you?" "Of course I do, You can do anything."
The voice said, "Then cut the rope that is holding you up." There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter to the rope.
The next morning the rescue team said that they found a frozen mountain climber hanging strongly to a rope ... TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND. (Source of story - unknown)
If we are going to be WHAT GOD WANTS US TO BE, we have to cut the ropes and trust Him.
Part 1 of 2
I. OUR TITHES
II. OUR TALENTS
Part 2 of 2
III. OUR TIME
