This is #5 in series UNDERSTANDING TIME.
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
Kyfingers@aol.com
I have been doing a series on UNDERSTANDING.
This has to do with understanding time.
I START THIS SERMON BY FLIPPING PENNIES RANDOMLY ALL OVER THE PLACE.
AFTER FLIPPING ABOUT 100 AWAY, I ASKED WHAT IF A PENNY REPRESENTED ONE WEEK?
I HAVE 52 PENNIES IN A ZIP-LOCK BAGGIE, THIS IS ONE YEAR.
I HAVE 5 ONE YEAR BAGGIES.
I HAVE 260 PENNIES IN A ZIP-LOCK BAGGIE, THIS REPRESENTS 5 YEARS.
I HAVE 2 FIVE YEAR BAGGIES.
I HAVE 520 PENNIES IN A BAG, THIS REPRESENTS 10 YEARS.
I HAVE TWO BAGS FOR TEN YEARS.
I HAVE 1040 PENNIES THAT REPRESENT 20 YEARS.
I HAVE TWO 20 YEAR BAGS.
I HAVE TWO PLASTIC DRAWERS FROM WALMART.
ON ONE DRAWER I HAVE MARKED PAST OR SPENT, ON THE OTHER I HAVE WRITTEN FUTURE.
Don;t pick out someone sesiitive about their age,
pick out someone in mid-fifties.
WITH THIS BAGS YOU CAN PUT THE AGE OF A PERSON,
FOR ME, I AM FIFTY, I WOULD BUT TWO 1040 BAGS, AND A 520 BAG
IN THE SPENT,
I WOULD PUT ONE 520, and FIVE 52 YEARS IN MY FUTURE BOX.
WHEN I PICK UP THE DRAWER OF MY SPENT YEARS, IT WILL OUT WEIGH MY FUTURE YEARS BY ALMOST THREE TIMES.
THERE IS A FALLACY TO THIS ILLUSTRATION, WE WILL NOT ALL HAVE 70 YEARS, AND WE ARE WATCHING FOR THE SECOND COMING.
TEXT:
Gal. 6:7 "Be not deceived for God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
Gal. 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal. 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, IF WE FAINT NOT.
Prov. 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Ecc.11:3 ..... In the place the tree falleth, there it shall be.
Are we living our life today realizing that we are but once passing through this way?
Today’s actions ... are tomorrow’s memories?
Recently I talked to someone that regretted today’s memories of yesterday, and they blamed others for speaking of their true memories.
I purposed in my heart ......
O, GOD HELP ME BUILD MEMORIES THAT WILL BRING SMILES AND LAUGHTER WHEN I AM GONE!
I should not be angry at others for the tears I caused myself and others,
for the word of God doth declare,
Gal. 6:7 "Be not deceived for God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
Gal. 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal. 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, IF WE FAINT NOT.
f we want strawberries, we must not sow corn.
Don’t forget that your words, your jokes, your actions, your reactions
will be the traits that become known for doing.
Prov. 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Ecc.11:3 ..... In the place the tree falleth, there it shall be.
Show me what makes you angry, and I can tell you something about you.
Show me what you spend your money on and I will be able to tell you something about you.
Show me what you spend your time doing, and I will tell you a great deal about you.
You are writing a book about your life in weekly chapters.
Are we wise stewards of our time?
Regret is terrible and tears can never wash away the pain of regret.
So, why even write, …because, we have today .....
We can change and make tomorrow’s regrets laughter and joy.
We cannot be angry today when our anger from yesterday is remembered. We can "BLOW SMOKE" to divert attention,
but building walls never creates better people.
Try bridges. We must admit, and do better.
I have an older brother, we were born in the same year. He is 10 months and 28 days older than me.
Today we are both 50.
We were so close that we fought like a dog and cat.
Momma would say to me ....."ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU WILL WISH TO SEE AND TALK TO YOUR BROTHER!"
I replied, " SURE, MOM, SURE!"
In 1968, Eddie was in Viet Nam, our first Christmas apart.
Later, he served three years in Germany.
Today, I haven’t seen my brother since August 26, mom’s funeral, and momma’s words echo in my ear. He is so far away.
I bow my head in shame of every time I hit and kicked my precious brother. See, in those growing up days, Eddie was not precious to me.
I thought I would have him for ever. Shame on me.
I will tell you a painful story about me.
When I was starting the fourth grade,
we moved from Dad’s pastorate in Indiana to accept a new pastorate in Ohio. Scott’s grocery store was down the road 20 telephone poles from our house.
Mom would send us to the store to buy groceries. Eddie would always carry the paper bag the first 10 telephone poles, then my responsibility was the last 10 poles.
About 9 1/2 poles, I would run as fast as possible and never look back.
I laughed the whole way.
I could hear him yell, "Come back!", as I turned into the church yard.
(Must know my Dad is a pastor.)
Eddie would finally go back and get the bag and carry my food home.
(If you know Eddie, he never got mad, he got even. Later, he would "pay me in full.")
Why would I tell this painful story, I cannot go back to Bethel (OHIO) and change this ugly story that is not funny to me today?
I tell this story to young people, and in tears I recall my mom’s words ...."SOMEDAY YOU WILL WANT TO SEE HIM!"
Was Mom a prophet? Or was this the sad voice of her memory’s regret?
If this was your last day, what would you do?
If you realized you are building tomorrow’s memories today what would you do?
Will you please consider this today?
I have one friend that bought 3 caskets in one day.
My heart still breaks for this friend.
Could you hug someone?
I could tell you some sad heartaches of someone refusing a hug ...
then standing at a coffin trying their best to get the corpses to hear.
The funeral director and I had to carry that person to the limousine?
Could you do a little better?
Could you listen to my regrets about time and think about yours?
I read a tombstone in Danville, Ky. 20 years ago .....
WAS IN GOOD HEALTH WHEN STRUCK BY A TREE,
THREE DAYS LATER DEATH.
AS YOU ARE I ONCE WAS,
AS I AM YOU SOON WILL BE,
SO PREPARE TO MEET YOUR MAKER.
My records of 4 years in college can all be put on one page,
with space left over.
Have you ever notice on the tombstone
Dec. 19, 1951 ---- June30 2002
Think about that, all life being reduced to ----
In 1990 I was taking out the garbage, and noticed a lot of paper wadded up in my oldest son’s (age 14) garbage can. He had to write a poem for his freshman English class and in frustration he wrote and threw this away. I got this out of the can and read it, I wrote it in the front of my Bible and it has been printed in several works.
MAKES ME THINK
By Wade Martin Hughes, Jr.
Death is something that will eventually be,
Now or later for you and me.
I wonder "HOW?"
And I wonder "WHY?"
Accidentally? Or Naturally? for you and me?
Makes me think of HOW I WILL LIVE!
Life is not only take,
But also a time to give.
Without love and without friends,
Life would be so useless to all ends.
What happens after your last breathe?
I have so many questions about this subject death?
Is it with ease?
Or is it with great pain?
LIFE IS SO SHORT, BETTER DO WHAT YOU CAN.
Do something special to help your fellowman.
Death may come when you LEAST EXPECT!
So please treat all life
With a great deal of respect.
By Wade Martin Hughes, Jr.
Ponder HOW AM I SPENDING MY TIME?
What kind of memories am I building?
WHAT ARE THE THREE GIFTS OF GOD TO MAN?
God gives to each man....
time ....
talent....
and energy.....
what you spend these on will show what you love.
HE WHO KILLS TIME KILLS HIMSELF.
THE WRITER OF THIS IS UNKNOWN, i ADAPTED IT.
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account
each morning with $86, 400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today’s deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!
The clock is running.
Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have!
And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
And remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.... That is why it’s called the present!!
Friends are very rare jewels indeed, the flowers of life.
They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their heart to us.
CAN YOU SPEND YOUR TIME MORE WISELY???adapted
VERY FEW UNDERSTANDING AT BEST LIFE IS BUT TEMPORARY!
We treat each other like there will be many more days.
One of our greatest sins is to think we have plenty of time,
and miss the opportunity to encourage and love others.
Go kiss a tombstone and see how cold it is.
You only pass this way once, can’t you invest a little more.
I am going to asked you for Jesus sake to please forgive that person that has offended you. Release them, write it off to Jesus’ account.
Please forgive that Preacher? Please forgive that family member that has said mean things about someone you love.
Please forgive, your time is limited.
You might be surprised when you forgive you will set someone free, and that someone might be you.
His servant,
Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
Kyfingers@aol.com
