NOW IS THE HOUR
(Ephesians 5:15-17)
Compared to eternity, in one sense our lives are almost nothing. But they are everything, because in this short thing called life, I can insert myself into God’s eternal plan – passionately live for Him, use my time and talents to live for others and make an eternal difference.
At this point in time (August 2023) this year is two thirds over? And we could talk about what we did or did not do January through August, but rather than do that, let’s talk about what you are going to do September through December.
And while none of us can predict what will happen in these next three months, if by God’s grace we live and enjoy a reasonable amount of health these next three months, we can choose what will happen with us individually. We can choose:
• To spend more of our time serving others than focusing on self.
• To develop and use our talents to be a blessing to others.
• To be a daily encouragement to others.
• To get serious about our relationship with Christ.
• To live a life of purpose, look back on these three months and be proud of what did.
Or we can, like most in our world do, get up every morning and live for ourselves. Years ago, I saw an illustration of a huge monument containing only two letters – they were M and E, ME, with an individual on his knees, bowing down to that monument. That is our world. It is all about me. Not serving others. Not developing our talents to be a blessing to others. Not making it a daily priority to be an encouragement to others. Not about developing a relationship with our Creator or living a life of purpose, making a difference in the lives of others.
But that is the difference in one who follows Christ, and one who does not. One lives for self. One lives for others. Here is my question: What is going to happen to you, in you, and through you in the next three months? And if you say, “I don’t know.” Here is another question: Why don’t you know? Don’t you have any plans as to what you are going to do, as to what you are going to accomplish, as to what you are going to become? If I counted right, in 113 days 2023 will come to an end – what will be different about you – what difference will you have made – and if you do not know I am going to make a pretty bold statement – if you don’t know, probably very little will be different except you will be 113 days older – isn’t that exciting?
None of us can stop the passing of time. What we can do is choose what we become with the passing of that time. And as this year ends, each one of us will look back with joy or with regret, or with indifference, which is probably the saddest attitude of all. And you can decide right now, which it is going to be.
I want us to hear Paul’s advice in Ephesians 5:15-17:
“Be careful how that you live – not as unwise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
Paul makes three things very clear in three verses: (1) Your time on this earth is limited (2) You need to make the most of every opportunity, and (3) Your priorities must be determined. Let’s put those three thoughts in the context of the last three months of this year and see if we can be
challenged to be a little bit more of what God would have us to be.
Paul wants to make it clear that our time on this earth is limited
The old KJV says “see that you walk circumspectly”…that is not a word we use but it is a good word – it means cautiously, carefully, attentively, deliberately. Most modern translations simply translate it - “Be careful how you live”
As we tried to point out last week, life is short and the Bible makes that clear.
(Psalm 39:4) “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.”
(Psalm 90:10) “The length of our days is seventy years, or eighty if we have strength, they quickly pass and we fly away.”
(James 4:14) “What is your life, it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
We all understand that in one sense time is relative:
To a young person who wants summer to come, that school year seems to drag on forever.
If you really want to realize how relative time is: For two teens sitting in a car in your driveway, an hour can pass in the blink of an eye. For two parents whose child is in that car, that same hour seems like an eternity. It is relative.
Paul is saying to be careful how that you spend your time. The Psalmist on another occasion tells us to number our days that we might apply our hearts to wisdom.
A few years ago a new clock was developed that keeps track of how much time you have left to live. It calculated the average life span of 75 years for men, 80 for women. You simply programmed in your sex and age and from that point on it would tell you exactly how much time that you had left.
I shared that one time and the next week a friend came to me who had looked up the website and informed me that he had dies three years before.
Obviously, none of us died three years ago, and you don’t know that you have tomorrow. What you do know is that you have today. So, how are you going to use today? What are you going to do today?
You have heard the illustration of the clock who said to the clockmaker, “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep ticking day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.” To which the clock maker replied, “All you have to do; All that is required; is that you tick one tock at a time.”
That is the point Jesus made in Matthew 6:25-34 where He ended by saying – “Don’t even worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Whether the next three days, next three weeks, next three months, next three years, next three decades - you grow, you become, you do, you make a difference, one day at a time. So the key to the next three months begins with what you do today. How will you use what God has given you to make a difference today?
The second thing Paul does is to tell us “We need to make the most of every opportunity we have, because in his words - “the days are evil.”
Just an opinion, but considering the time in which we live, we have more opportunity to grow, to become, to be of service than at any other time in history.
• If you want to improve your knowledge, you are a couple of clicks away.
• If you want to improve your skillset, you are a couple of clicks away.
• While in generations past people worked long hours until they either died or health prevented them from working just to survive, most of us have good jobs and in retirement we often have multiple streams of income.
• Most can make a living working eight hour days and we get the weekends off, and we do get to retire, often at pretty young ages, and we choose what we do with that time – serve others or serve ourselves.
• On and on that list goes – we are so blessed compared to other cultures and generations past.
So, the question becomes – how do we use these opportunities we have been given? How do you structure your day so that you are becoming more of who you have been called to be and making a difference in the lives of others?
There is a story in I Kings 20 of a man who is put in charge of a prisoner and warned of the consequences if the prisoner escaped. Verse 40 – “While the man was busy here and there, the prisoner escaped.” The consequence – his life.
Have we gotten so busy with life – with the urgent, the mundane, the temporal – that we have neglected the important? Here are the two prisoners we need to be attending to – what we become and who we serve.
Do you remember the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10). Martha was not rebuked because she was doing something bad, but because she had misplaced priorities. She was preoccupied with cleaning and cooking while God Himself was in the room. It is so easy to make that mistake. So caught up in the here and the now, we neglect those things that will last forever.
Richard Swenson, a medical doctor wrote a great book entitled MARGIN: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, where he focuses on the anxiety and stress of our day. He writes about our overcommitted lifestyles. Our obsession with possessions. Our long work hours. Our information overload. Our….well the list just keeps going.
So many demands and good things that must be done…so easy to ignore what God says is most important – our own spiritual growth and our service to others.
I love the Easy-to-Read translation of these verses –
Be careful how you live. Live like people who are wise. Do not live like a fool.
Many bad things are happening these days. So, whenever you have a chance to do something good, do as much as you can.
Again, do not live like a fool, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
The question is simple: What does the Lord want from you? Answer: To grow into the image of His Son and serve His creation. Is that going to be a priority these next three months?
That is the third thing Paul points out. He says, “Here is how you do it. You must understand priorities.”
That is exactly what Paul is speaking to when he says:
“do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is”
If I were to ask you what the most important thing in life is, practically every one of you would get the answer right, and in a few words it would be to know God and serve His creation. That is why we are here.
Question: Is that your top two priorities? Is that what you spend your days doing?
We are here because we want God to be a part of our lives. The fact is, God is not interested in being a part of our lives. He wants to be our lives. He wants His priorities to be our priorities.
Three quick questions:
• Are you committed to growing in your relationship with God?
Do you spend regular, consistent time in prayer and Bible study, seeking to know Him, to have a relationship with Him?
• Is being like Jesus your number one priority in life?
How much time do you spend thinking about it, praying about it, looking to Scripture to learn more of who and what you are to be?
• One more question: Would you consider making these a priority for the next 113 days?
Gary Freeman tells about a girl who went to college and hated it. But she told herself that “If I can just get out of college and get married and have a family, I know that I will finally be able to enjoy life.” So, she stuck with it. She finally graduated and she got married, soon thereafter had children, and discovered as all new parents do, children are a lot of work and responsibility. So she told herself that “If I can just get these children raised, that I will be able to relax and enjoy life.”
About the time the kids started college and the money ran short, so she went back to work. She thought “If I can just get these kids out of college and get the bills paid, then I can quit work and
enjoy life.” Finally, the last child graduated, and the bills were paid, and she decided it was time to quit, except her boss told her that if she only worked eight more years, she would have a pension the rest of her life. So, she worked another eight years and retired.
She and her husband bought a small retirement cottage, sat down in the swing on the front porch, leafed through the family album, and dreamed about the good old days.
For too many, life is what happens while you are making plans to do something else. And I hope you find the time in your life to do that something else. But, do not forget the two most important things – your own spiritual growth and others.
I pray that God will give you enough happiness to keep you sweet – enough trials to keep you strong – enough sorrow to keep you human – enough success to keep you eager – enough friends to give you comfort – enough wealth to meet your needs – enough enthusiasm to make you look forward to tomorrow – and enough determination to make each day better than the day before.
I want to add two things to that – I pray that God will give you enough of Him, to make you Christ like and cause you to make others a priority in your life.
