A. MEASURING TIME TO FINISH WELL
1. What is involved in finishing well?
a. On time.
b. Excellence.
c. Cover all details.
d. Includes all people involved.
2. You are registered for the race of life, and you are running.
3. You have been given gifts:
a. Like money, spend it well.
b. Like stocks and bonds, invest it well.
c. Like your health, nourish it well.
d. Time, use it profitably and prayerfully.
WHAT IS TIME?
• Sequence of events in irreversible succession
• Measurements of events by a clock
• Mathematical tool to organize and perform events
• Continual flow of people and events, from past history to the future
4. God included times of technical definitions, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
a. Previously there was no time.
b. Created time in an instant and it continues.
B. WHAT DOSE TIME MEAN TO US?
1. Time is life. “What is your life? It is a vapor … appears … then vanishes” (James 4:14). Life is time.
2. When time is gone-spent, it never comes back. “People are like grass … springs up in the morning … evening it dies” (Psalm 90:5-6, ELT).
3. Human time moves to a conclusion. “Seventy years are given … some eighty … even the best years are filled with pain and trouble … fly away … death” (Psalm 90:10, ELT).
4. Humans are born in time and are captives of time, but not God. “A thousand years are but yesterday to you. They are like a single hour” (Psalm 90:4, TLB).
C. DON’T COUNT TIME – MAKE TIME COUNT
1. “Teach us to count our days, so we can wisely use time “(Psalm 90:12, ELT). Little boy counted time to recess slow. Old men, time gallops.
2. Time passes quickly, you never know when the finish comes. “Our time is carried away like a flood.” (Psalm 90:5).
3. David and Bathsheba’s baby boy died. “He is dead .. I cannot bring him back … I will go to be with him … he cannot return” (2 Samuel 12:23, ELT).
D. COUNT YOUR TIME – NO SECOND CHANCE
1. Count means to:
a. Identify.
b. Plan.
c. Know your goals.
d. Know your assets (strengths).
e. Know your weaknesses.
f. Know opposition.
g. Evaluate options.
h. Execute.
2. Never get back time spent, money spent, water drank.
E. INVESTING YOUR TIME IS FINISHING WELL
1. Time is opportunity. What would you do if only you had:
a. One visit.
b. One meeting.
c. One ceremony.
d. Last speech.
2. Two uses, i.e.,
a. Waiting time, plan, meditate, pray, rejuvenate.
b. Wasting time, doing nothing, think nothing.
3. Spent time like spent money, cannot be used again. “Life is not measured by the things you own” (Luke 12:15, ELT).
F. INVESTING YOUR TIME IS FINISHING WELL
1. Criminal on death row to be executed receives good news, “your uncle left you an inheritance of a million dollars.” Too late to use it.
2. Even pain and affliction teach us lessons. “Our light affliction are small and will only last on the earth, in Heaven everything will be different” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ELT).
3. If you don’t use time profitably:
a. Little done.
b. Lost opportunity “use it or lose it.”
c. Pay now or pay later.
d. You dishonor God who gave you time.
e. You lose control of your future.
4. You hold the deposit slip of time given you. You have the assets of time. Good stewards manage well.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
Dr. Towns’ email is eltowns@liberty.edu.
Video presentations of the PBC are available online at trbc.org/pbc
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