Keep me in the monument!
There was a jingle that Folgers came up with in the 80’s that was quite catchy. “The best part of waking up in Folgers in your cup. For people I know that drink coffee, and for those of us who don’t, there might be some truth in that. I say for those who don’t because I know how cranky people can be till that get that first fix. I get up and I have a burst of energy, but I have been warned many times to let them get their first cup of coffee before I start with them.
I am not a coffee drinker and I consider myself a morning person very much. I never have set an alarm clock in my life. I have an internal one. But they said when I was young that I would get up and someone would try to talk to me I would say, “Don’t talka me”.
But I took a survey once and asked that question, “What is the best part of waking up?” I received answers like; “Going back to sleep shortly after”. “Hitting that snooze button”. One person said to get to eat breakfast. Some were more spiritual like; “Waking up knowing that God gave me the breath to have another day on this earth. “Getting to say good morning God”. “Knowing that I have the opportunity to tell others about Christ so that they can accept Christ”. One of my favorites was simply, “Waking up”. You see that no matter what your day consist of, getting up is better than the alternative of not waking up.
Time is valuable. For an example; the Doctor informs you that you have a terminal illness. One of the first questions that you want to know is, “How much time do I have? Time is life. I see youth that I have worked with sense their 6th grade graduating and leaving for college. I look back at my photos in my phone and see my grandbabies when they were just little and now they are 9 and 7. The older I get, the more I think where did time go?
You can run out of money but still have time. You can run out of gas, and you still have time. But if you run out of time you have nothing. You hear people talk to others all the time about managing your money, but you need to manage your time as well. You can make more money but you can’t make more time. You can make more friends but you can’t make more time.
God has given each of us an allotted amount of time. So what you do with the time HE has given you is important. We need to manage our time. It is important to God. Either we manage our time or our time will manage us. So how can we manage our time wisely? Our text today will be one simple verse. Psalm 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made. Let’s rejoice and be glad today!
You have today. There is no promise of a tomorrow. That is why we need to see each day is a blessing from God. So what are some ways that we can rejoice and be glad each day? First…
Each day as a GIFT from God!
Notice the only day that is mentioned in this verse is “this day”. He does not talk about yesterday or tomorrow, only this day. Every minute you have, every breath you take, is a gift from God.
Have you ever heard or maybe made the statement yourself, “I wish I had as much time as you do?” Now think about that. I understand what you are trying to say, but we all have 24 hours in a day. Not matter where you are located, you might be in a different time zone, but there is 24 hours in one day and you cannot add to it and you cannot take away from it. We all have the same amount of time.
And if you are like me and you think, “I don’t have the time to do everything that I need to do.” Guess what. Join the crowd. There was a study done by USA today and it showed that the average time needed to do everything we want to do would require 42 hour days; almost double what we have in a day. That means that it is practically impossible for us to get everything we want done in a days’ time. I know in my work, we are down to two sales people and my work load has more than doubled in the last year or so. I have learned just to do the best I can and what I don’t get done will be there tomorrow.
But there is good news. We all will die not having done everything we want to do. How often do you hear or maybe say, “I’ve always wanted to do that.” The good news is that while you may not have time to do everything that you want to do, you will have time to do everything that you NEED to do. And what you need to do is what God will have you to do and He will always provide the time to do it in.
I have looked back when I pastored and wonder how in the world I did it. I prepared 3 sermons a week. I was expected to attend all the meetings and the social functions. I would be at every work party. I was the one who not only cleaned the gutters of the church but did the snow removal as well. I prepared the bulletin every week. Did all the hospital visits. Was on call 24/7. I also raised a family with two boys who were both involved in sports. Many a time I would be at a practice with a bible and a notepad in my lap working on a sermon. Add all that to a full time job working over 40 hours a week. Do you know what I realized? I didn’t do it. God did it. I never once stood behind the pulpit and had to say that I am sorry, I didn’t have time to prepare a message for you today. God will never ask you to do something that he has not already made a way for you to do it.
Think about Jesus and what He accomplished in his short time on this earth. He was 33 years old when He was crucified, but 99% of his ministry was accomplished in three years. He had to convince the people that He was the promised Messiah. They He had to convert them from the Laws of the Old Testament, from works, to grace. Then He had to be arrested and beaten and die on a cross only to be raised on that 3rd day and remain here on earth for His final instructions.
Now the Bible doesn’t say this. But I am sure that there were things that Jesus would probably wanted to do that he never had a chance. Maybe He would have liked to have been married and raised a family. Maybe He would have like to be like me and wanted to spend more time fishing. But instead of fishing for fish, he was fishing for men. He may not have gotten to do everything that He wanted to do. But he did get to do everything that NEEDED to do. Listen to his words in John 17:4 On earth I have given you glory by finishing the work you gave me to do.
Finished the work you gave me to do. Maybe He didn’t get to finish everything that He wanted to do, but He did finish what He needed to do. Then we need to…
Dedicate each day to GLORY of God!
There are two verbs in our text that describes the present and past tense. This IS the day (present tense) the LORD HAS made, past tense. The only day you have to enjoy is today. You hear people talk about saving time. You cannot save time in a physical sense. We are only allotted a certain amount of time. You cannot add to it and you cannot take away from it.
Now you can send your time, (the opposite of save) either foolishly or wisely, but you can’t save it. That is why time is so valuable. The clock never stops ticking. That is why we should never procrastinate by not doing what we should today and waiting till latter. This is a mistake that many make concerning their relationship with God. Good intentions don’t always end up with good results. Someone who plans someday to enter a personal relationship with Christ is just as lost as the person who have no desire to. The Bible tells us that TODAY is the day of salvation.
You can’t store it. (You can’t put time in a bottle) You can’t stretch it. That is why Paul gave the warning in Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
That phrase, “redeeming the time” is an accounting term. It means to cash in every moment you can to get the most of your time. Think of it this way. Imagine your banker calls you and tells you that an anonymous donor will give you 864,000 pennies a day into your account. That is $ 864.00 for those of you trying to do the math. The only stipulation is that you have to spend it all that day. You can’t save it. You can’t store it. Whatever you don’t spend is gone at the end of the day. How would you treat that? Would you be singing, “We’re in the money”? We would do our best to spend every penny we can. God gives each of us 864,000 seconds of the day in our life account. And we need to make sure that we spend it the best way we can.
At my work I have a things to do list. I write down what I need to do. Then I will prioritize it. There are many days that I don’t get to do what I plan to do because on unseen obstacles that occurs, so I then roll them over to the next day. We need to all have a “to do list”, and at the top of that list needs to be our relationship with God. Start your day off by asking God what He needs for you to do. Do you read your Bible every day? How is your church attendance? How much time do you spend praying? Matthew 6:33 But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.
When you do what you need to do, you will be surprised of how much time to do what you want to do. The last thing we need to do is…
Consider each day in the GOODNESS of God!
The last thing that I want you to think is that I want you to cram a bunch of stuff in your day. The last part of our text states, “Let’s rejoice and be glad today!” We all need to take time to do that because we are so busy in life.
My workload at my work has doubled in the last year. I wish my pay would do the same. But our text says we are to rejoice and be glad. We need to learn that weather you enjoy the day has nothing to do with your circumstances. “I will rejoice”. No matter what happens, no matter how bad your day may be, you ALLWAYS have something to rejoice about. Mac Davis used to sing a song called, Stop and smell the roses”.
Make yourself stop and think. I can always thank Him that I am alive. I can think Him for each breath I take. I can think Him for the provision; the roof over my head, the cloths on my back, the food on my table. We all have things we can rejoice in. And anytime that you think that you have it bad, you don’t have to look around very far to find someone else who is in worse shape than you are. I heard about a man who was upset that he had holes on his shoes and it was raining and his feet was getting wet only to look and see a man who was in a wheel chair who had no feet at all.
No matter what you are going through in your life. God has a purpose. It does not matter if you are 6 months old or 60 years old. All time is short. Instead of waking up when that alarm goes off and thinking, “It’s morning already?! I don’t feel like I’ve even been to sleep”. To thinking Good morning LORD!”
Let me close by giving you my top three reasons for the best part of waking up.
The best part of waking up is having Jesus in your heart. I begin my prayers by thanking God for sending His Son so that I can have a relationship with Him.
The best part of waking up is having a new start! No matter what your past is. No matter how many times you have messed up. God is always ready to restore that relationship. He is ready to give you a fresh start.
And the best part of waking up is sharing Christ! All time belongs to God. There was no such thing as time until God made it. This is the day the LORD has made. This is God’s day. We are told to redeem the time. We are all going to have to appear before a righteous God one day and give an answer for how we used our time. We are to be the light of the world. We are to lead others out of the darkness by entering into a relationship with Christ.
Jeremy Camp sings a song that goes with this sermon. Listen as I read the lyrics.
I've been thinking 'bout time
And where does it go
How can I stop my life from passing me by, I don't know
I've been thinking 'bout family and how it's going so fast
Will I wake up one morning just wishing that I could go back
I've been thinking 'bout lately, maybe
I can make a change and let you change me
So, with all of my heart this is my prayer
Singing oh Lord, keep me in the moment
Help me live with my eyes wide open
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
Singing oh Lord, show me what matters
Throw away what I'm chasing after
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
Keep me in the moment
Oh, keep me in the moment
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
When I wake up in the morning
Lord, search my heart
Don't let me stray, I just wanna stay where you are
All I got is one shot, one try
One go around in this beautiful life
Nothing is wasted when everything's placed in your hands
Singing oh Lord, keep me in the moment
Help me live with my eyes wide open
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
Singing oh Lord, show me what matters
Throw away what I'm chasing after
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
Keep me in the moment
Oh, keep me in the moment (Keep me in the moment)
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
I've been thinking about heaven
And the promise you hold
So, it's all eyes on you
Until the day you call me home
Singing oh Lord, keep me in the moment
Help me live with my eyes wide open
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
(I don't wanna miss, I don't wanna miss)
Singing oh Lord, show me what matters
Throw away what I'm chasing after
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
Keep me in the moment
Oh, keep me in the moment
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
Keep me in the moment (Keep me in the moment)
Oh, keep me in the moment (Keep me in the moment)
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (What you have for me)
