I want to begin this morning by asking you a question: do you know what you are supposed to be doing?
The question is simple enough—it’s a yes or no answer. But the implications of that answer range far beyond that.
Ask a little child what he or she wants to be when they grow up, and they’ll give you a bunch of ideas—a football play, a policeman, a model, a doctor. They know at an early age what they want to be doing. Yet, when they grow up, they become unsure—am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing?
It reminds me of a seminary student who was called on to fill a pulpit. And this student, he really wanted some honest critiquing, because he wasn’t sure he had the right stuff to be a pastor. So, before he began his sermon, he asked the congregation—“I want you to be honest with me and tell me what you thought of my sermon today.”
Well, he preached his sermon, and then went to the back to meet and greet everyone as they left. He asked the first person who came up to him, “Well, sir, what did you think.”
The man replied, “It stunk!” The seminary student, wanting serious advice, asked him, “In what way? Can you be specific?” The man answered him, “Well, there were three things wrong with it. First, you read it. Second, you read it poorly. Third, it wasn’t worth reading in the first place!”
There’s a man who got some hard advice as to what he should, or shouldn’t be doing. Do you know what you are supposed to be doing?
That question has stuck with me the past six months, as I have been very busy with classes at Baptist Bible Seminary, very busy at home with a newborn son and a wife who needs my help, and very busy with the church. Did I know what I was supposed to be doing? Often times, my life has felt like a juggling act, unsure of how to keep all of those balls floating in the air without hitting the ground.
Have you ever felt that way? The pressures of life surrounding you, everything closing in, and you don’t know how to formulate a plan of attack? Everyone and everything clamoring for your attention, and nothing gets done?
This morning, we are going to look at a passage that will help us with what needs to get done. Before we get there, let me share with you my theme verses for the year—they are found in the book of Jude, verses 20-23, and I’ve put them in your notes.
20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Focus in on verse 21—Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Today, we are beginning a two-part series on What to Do While Waiting. You know, God hasn’t just left you here on this earth to mope. God hasn’t left you on earth to catch every episode of Friends, or Star Trek. God hasn’t left you on earth to accumulate the most possessions you can store in an attic or basement.
I put this in your bulletin: God uses His people to accomplish His purpose in His time. I believe that with all my heart. And if you are here this morning, you are here for a reason. He wants to remind you of that fact, that he is using you to accomplish His purpose. The Bible tells us that he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son (Romans 8:29). God has a purpose and a plan for you while you are here on this earth.
The problem is, we get so wrapped up in the cares and concerns of this world, that we cannot find or focus on what it is he has for us. Some of you may not even care to find out what he has for you. Yet the Bible tells us, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1).” Sometimes we focus on the sin that so easily entangles, yet we forget that we are to throw off everything that hinders. Paul would write, “4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:4).” He would also write, “ “Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive (1 Corinthians 10:23).”
Now, does this mean no Monday Night Football? Does this mean no more vegging out in front of television? Does this mean that I can’t enjoy the things in this world like vacations, fast food, Disneyland?
No, it doesn’t. I’m not calling you to be a religious nutcase, and believe it or not, Jesus Christ doesn’t call us to be religious nutcases, either. He calls us to “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).”
How do you find peace in a world that knows little of it? How can you discern what is profitable, and what is not profitable? How can you determine the difference between down-time and lazy time? We are going to look in a passage in Ephesians 5, and see three things that we can do to help us determine these differences.
Ephesians 5:15-17. Please read with me silently as I read it aloud. 15Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Now, before we look at these verses in detail, look back at verse 8. Look at what it says, “8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
Paul is writing to the Ephesians church to remind them that they were once unsaved, and lived in what he called darkness. They lived in darkness because they did not know Christ, who John would write is the light of the world. However, because they knew Christ, because they were saved, they are now light. That’s what verse 8 says, but the resultant action should be to live like it.
That’s probably one of the biggest problems with many churches and many Christians today. They are like those that Paul would condemn in his letter to Timothy: “5having a form of godliness but denying its power.” What a shame. To claim the name of Christ but not his likeness. To claim the eternal life he gives but not his abundant life. Many people are confused about what Christ gives us. They think that Jesus Christ is just a great life insurance plan—good only when you die. What they don’t realize is that it is also a life enhancement plan—good immediately upon salvation. Paul is exhorting the church, live what you believe.
Verse 10 is a call to find out what pleases the Lord, and that includes having nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness. Verse 13 tells us that light exposes things, and that leads to the quote in verse 14—“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” It is most likely a quote from an early church hymn, but the call is to the church—WAKE UP! You’ve slumbered too long; it’s time to get up and get moving. And verses 15-17 tells us how we can do so.
15Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Here’s the main point for you this morning: PRIORITIZE YOUR LIFE.
Verse 15 is a call—a call for wise living, to walk circumspectly as the KJV puts it. Have you ever walked across an icy parking lot?
I was here Friday night, and I was walking from the back parking lot up to the mail box out front. And there were a couple of patches of ice on there, because it was so cold. I was able to maneuver it going up the driveway, but going back down, I hit a patch of ice for about two seconds I was dancing in place. Have you ever done that (illustrate dancing on ice)? It was not fun.
Matthew is almost 1 year old (he turns 1 this Thursday). He’s walking all over the place. But he has no care or concern about cords or other things in his way. And so, he may be walking around with a cord around his foot, and he’ll keep walking, and then he’ll trip. Boom!
You know, that’s how we have to approach life. We can get caught up in some foolish traps. And we need to be careful in our walking, in the way we live life.
Listen to Proverbs 2, as the writer exhorts us: “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.”
God wants us to live wisely. To make the right choices in our lives. He doesn’t want us to do things willy nilly all the time, but to walk carefully, and to live wisely.
16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
The KJV puts it redeeming the time. Purchase time, make the most of every opportunity, either way you look at it, there is a call to prioritize your life. And all too often, we don’t bother to do it.
Listen to this parable found in Matthew 25: “"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6"At midnight the cry rang out: ’Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ’Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9" ’No,’ they replied, ’there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11"Later the others also came. ’Sir! Sir!’ they said. ’Open the door for us!’
12"But he replied, ’I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Here, these women waiting for their grooms to come did not make the most of the opportunities given to them, but rather they waited. When the time came, it was too late.
DO you think that successful people in the business world wait for opportunity to knock?
Opportunity seldom knocks twice, so Levi Strauss opened the door after that first knock. Like many other men, Strauss went to California in hopes of making his fortune there. He did make a fortune, but not the way he had planned. He set out with a load of heavy canvas fabric, from which he planned to sell sections for tents and wagon covers. Upon arrival, the first miner who saw his product said, "You should have brought pants." The seasoned miner further explained how there weren’t any pants strong enough to endure the arduous conditions of mining. Levi Strauss immediately made the miner a pair of work pants, and struck gold. Opportunities only become opportunities when we embrace them as such.
How do you make the most of your time? Let me give you some advice. Take some time off, about 2 hours or so, sit down by yourself (if you can), and dedicate it to think time. And here’s what you need to do. You have to value what is important in your life—your family, your job, your spouse, your church. The things that you are obligated to in your life. List everything down, all of your responsibilities. Put them down so that you can measure what is most important, what is second most important, and so on and so forth. I would suggest that you put several things toward the top. God, should be near the top. Family should be near the top. Financial obligations should be toward the top.
Once you’ve written it down, and numbered them for importance, go through the time that you have. The wonderful thing is, you know exactly how much time you have—24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And what you do is decidedly and pointed choose what you are going to do to meet those needs. If you know of opportunities that match your priorities, write them down and block out that time.
For example, if you decide that going to church is important, than you will prioritize Sunday Mornings at 10:15 as being unavailable for all else save emergencies. But did you know that we have Sunday School as well as an evening service? And how you spend your time shows what has the priority in your life.
And here’s what it comes down to—if you are completely honest, you’ll be able to figure out if you have time to watch that movie or that football game. You’ll know whether or not you should dedicate that time for yourself or for your family. Make the most of the time you have been given.
But that’s what you would do. You need to plan and prioritize your time, because the days are evil. Time is running out and so are the opportunities to do good things. Prioritize your time.
17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
If you are willing to do this, you will know how you ought to spend your time.
Maybe you’re thinking this morning that it’s ridiculous. Pastor, I don’t even know why you mentioned all this stuff. Do you really believe it?
Absolutely. It’s how I decided that I had to cut back my classes this semester. It’s how I’m going to be living my life from now own. I have set aside family time, seminary time, church time, and I try to guard those as much as possible. I do this understanding that there will be opportunities that arise. If I’ve planned my time accordingly, I’ll be able to make the most of those opportunities.
Maybe this morning you’re struggling with trying to find time for family, for the things that are important to you. Maybe you’re here hoping to find a magical step for the time to do what you want. There isn’t a magical step, or a magical word. It takes word, and it takes prioritizing. And it takes sticking to it.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this. This section in scripture is referring to living wisely according to the Bible. Many people have learned this lesson in the business world and have become successful in man’s eyes. But God says that’s living in the dark. He tells us this so that we can live in the light, to live wisely in His eyes, not our own.
The Bible warns us, 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26
We’ve looked this morning at the importance of prioritizing your life, so you know what you can and cannot do, what you should and should not do. It’s my desire that you learn to please God in your life with the time that he has given you.
I mentioned it earlier—God has given us the exact same amount of time to each of us. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Are you using that time to live in the light?
