INTRO.- Making the new year count. It’s time to take stock of our lives. How are you? And where are you going?
ILL.- Some might say, “Well, I’m overweight, tired, aging, can’t hear, can’t see well, but I’m doing pretty good for the shape I’m in.” Life is tough.
ILL.- Dr. Paul Faulkner in his good book, “Making Things Right When Things Go Wrong” wrote, “To make things right when things go wrong, make up your mind to die young, no matter how old you are. Whether you are twenty-three or eighty-three, choose to be youthfully alive as long as you can.”
That’s good advice and especially for the Christian. If anybody has the reason to live as lively as possible until death, it’s the Christian!
ILL.- Douglas MacArthur said, “Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubts, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.”
ILL.- According to Dr. Kenneth Cooper the strength of a person at age 60 has diminished only slightly from age 25. BUT I’D BEG TO DIFFER WITH HIM! I am 61 years old and my strength has certainly diminished as compared to age of 25.
Some physical strength may not diminish with age. For example, if you shake hands with Leon Burris you’ll know what I mean. But for most of us, physical strength DOES diminish with age.
ILL.- Dr. Faulkner tells about a lady named Bessie in Wellington, New Zealand who was 68 years old and worked as a church secretary. The church was getting ready for a door-to-door campaign.
She was working hard to get ready for it and on her four-mile walk home she fell and cracked both ankles. The doctor put both feet and ankles in casts. Bessie was not happy about the deal but wasn’t about to let it get her down.
She got some crutches and went back to work every day. The church was located on a hill, which didn’t make things easier. And even worse, there were about 25 steps to the first floor of the church. But none of that stopped Bessie.
About a week into their campaign Bessie asked the doctor to remove the casts. He said they weren’t ready to be removed. She said, “If you don’t take them off for me I’ll go home and chip them off with a hammer and chisel.” The doctor removed the casts. And Bessie went on working, hobbling around.
What spirit she had! And that’s something of the spirit we need to keep functioning in life and actually make progress in the future in spite of certain handicaps.
PROP.- Let’s consider what Paul has to say in this text because I think it applies to making our lives count in 2006.
It contains good advice for living.
1- Keep on loving
2- Wake from sleep
3- Dress for living
I. KEEP ON LOVING
ILL.- A young college co-ed came running in tears to her father. "Dad, you gave me some terrible financial advice!" "I did? What did I tell you?" said the dad. "You told me to put my money in that big bank, and now that big bank is in trouble."
"What are you talking about? That’s one of the largest banks in the state," he said. "There must be some mistake."
"I don’t think so," she sniffed. "They just returned one of my checks with a note saying, ’Insufficient Funds’."
You may not have experienced insufficient funds in your life, but you have experienced low funds because of food, clothing and shelter expenses. You get one bill paid and here comes another in the mail. They are like weeds that just keep coming back.
I got some bad news for you. We’re all debtors. We’re in debt. We’ll always be in debt. And that sounds like bad news! But may not be bad at all. Our greatest debt is not financial, it’s spiritual. I owe you and you owe me. We owe everyone the debt of love.
Rom. 13:8 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”
Loving people is still the right thing to do and the best thing to do. God wants us to love people until the day we die. Love does no wrong. It makes sense that if you love someone, you will do no harm to them. You won’t steal from them. You won’t talk bad to them or bad about them.
I Pet. 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” ABOVE ALL.
As much as we know that we’re supposed to love all people, it’s not always easy to do. People offend us. People irritate us. And some of them dislike us. They do things we don’t agree with, but still, we are to demonstrate love to all as best we can.
ILL.- Tony Campolo, in his book THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING LEFT TO LOVE, tells about seeing the play entitled Raisin in the Son. In the play, an African-American family inherits $10,000 from their father’s life insurance policy. The mother of the house sees a chance to escape the ghetto life of Harlem and move into a little house with flower boxes out in the countryside. The brilliant daughter of the family sees in the money the chance to live out her dream and go to medical school.
But the older brother has a plan that is difficult to ignore. He begs for the money so that he and his "friend" can go into business together. He tells the family that with the money he can make something of himself and make things good for the rest of them. He promises that if he can just have the money, he can give back to the family all the blessings that their hard lives have denied them.
Against her better judgment, the mother gives in to the pleas of her son. She has to admit that life’s chances have never been good for him and that he deserves the chance that this money might give him.
As you might suspect, the so-called "friend" skips town with the money. The desolate son has to return home and break the news to the family that their hopes for the future have been stolen and their dreams for a better life are gone.
His sister lashes into him with a barrage of ugly words. She calls him every despicable thing she can think of. HER CONTEMPT FOR HER BROTHER HAS NO LIMITS. When she takes a breath in the midst of her tirade, the mother interrupts her and says, "I THOUGHT I TAUGHT YOU TO LOVE HIM!" The daughter answered, "Love him? There’s nothing left to love."
And the mother responds, "THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING LEFT TO LOVE. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing. Have you cried for that boy today? I don’t mean for yourself and the family because we lost all that money. I mean for him, for what he’s been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most: when they done good and make things easy for everbody? Well then, you ain’t through learning, because that ain’t the time at all. IT’S WHEN HE’S AT HIS LOWEST and can’t believe in himself ’cause the world done whipped him so. When you start measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you take into account what hills and valleys he came through before he got to where he is."
THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING LEFT TO LOVE! To demonstrate love when someone is at their lowest point in life is genuine love. Loving people like this will help to make the new year count.
II. WAKE FROM SLEEP
Rom. 13:11 “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
Do this, understanding the present time. Get with the program. Do something now. Don’t put off what needs to be done.
ILL.- Elaine and I have a trash compacter and it takes a lot to fill it up. One day, however, Elaine said to me, “This thing is full and if you don’t……I’m gonna!” I thought if I waited long enough she would….but she didn’t!
We’re all good at procrastination. It just depends on the subject matter. Carrying out the trash. Cleaning our rooms. Picking up clothes, stuff, junk, etc. Paying a bill. Doing laundry. Cleaning house. Doing homework. We’re all guilty.
ILL.- Someone said, "Do you know what happens when you give a procrastinator a good idea? Nothing!"
Our greatest procrastination may deal with the spiritual side of life. Many people know they should become a Christian or be baptized or go to church or be involved in service, etc., but it’s so easy to put it off.
Most of us wait because we think we have plenty of time. Who said we had plenty of time? I think the devil tries to convince us that we have plenty of time.
Eph. 5:15-16 “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
The Lord does not want us to procrastinate when it comes to doing His will in life. Procrastination only makes things harder and sometimes worse. And sometimes too late!
There have been probably many people who knew they should confess Christ and be baptized, but they waited too long and death came knocking on their door.
Paul said, “Do this, understanding the present time.” Do what? “The hour has comes for you to wake up from your slumber….”
Most people like their sleep and plenty of it. And some people don’t like to be woke up but we all need to wake up. We all need to wake up and go to work!
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Maybe not exactly like that, but close. Early to bed and early to rise makes you get to work earlier and get your work done quicker.
ILL.- Someone said, “The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
ILL.- Another said, "Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible."
Paul said wake from your slumber because your salvation is near. The grand finale of salvation may be nearer than we realize, which could be death or the second coming of Christ.
Paul said, “Wake up! Put off the deeds of darkness.” IS THERE ANY DARKNESS IN YOUR LIFE OR SOUL?
ILL.- While working at Safeway in the early 1960’s I got acquainted with a number of the employees. One guy was a friendly sort, did his work well and I also found out that his father and his brother were both preachers in the Christian Church. And this young man was also going to Bible College. For what? I don’t know. The reason I say this is because he was somewhat rotten.
It seemed that all he talked about was his womanizing and drinking that dominated his life. THERE WAS DARKNESS IN HIS SOUL.
We all have a certain amount of darkness in our souls that we struggle with, fight with, etc. Paul says, “Now is the time to wake up and do something about it.”
What is there in your life that needs to be cleaned up or cleaned out? DON’T PRACRASTINATE. Wake up. Get the job done. Do something about it. Whatever it takes. Pray. Pray hard. Get help. Seek the Lord continually in order to make the new year count.
III. DRESS FOR LIVING
ILL.- The poor country preacher was really angry when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought.
"How could you do this!" he exclaimed. "I don’t know," she wailed, "I was standing in the store looking at the dress. Then I found myself trying it on. It was like the Devil was whispering to me, ’Gee, you look great in that dress. You should buy it.’"
"Well," the pastor persisted, "You know how to deal with him! Just tell him, "Get behind me, Satan!"
"I did," replied his wife, "but then he said ’It looks great from back here, too!’"
Dressing for the occasion could be expensive, depending on the occasion. Dressing for the occasion is important to most people whether it’s work, church, socializing, or whatever.
ILL.- I remember attending a Preaching and Teaching Convention many years ago and running into one of my old school buddies. He was all decked out in a fine suit. He showed me a book about dressing for success and said it had made a big difference in his life and ministry. I DOUBTED IT THEN AND DOUBT IT STILL. It’s not what’s on the outside that counts but what’s on the inside!
Rom. 13:14 “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
Brothers and sisters, dressing on the outside is one thing and getting dressed on the inside is another.
Most of us could use a better personality. Better yet, a better character. A better person.
ILL.- Finish this sentence, “If I could, I’d like to be like…..”
With whom do you associate the most? Can people tell whose spirit has rubbed off on you? People do rub off on one another.
Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Peter and John reminded people of Jesus. He had rubbed off on them and it was a very good thing!
Brothers and sisters, the same thing needs to happen to us. Jesus needs to rub off on us. We need to clothe ourselves with Christ or get dressed with the spirit of Christ!
ILL.- Elaine and I saw the movie “Cinderella Man” earlier this year. It’s one of the best movies we’ve seen in a long time. Russell Crowe plays the role of the boxer, James J. Braddock, who lived during the depression era.
By the early 1930s, this impoverished ex-prizefighter was seemingly as broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck as much of the rest of the American people who had hit rock bottom.
His career appeared to be finished, he was unable to pay the bills, the only thing that mattered to him--his family--was in danger, and he was even forced to go on Public Relief. But deep inside, Jim Braddock never gave up!
Driven by love and honor, he made an impossible dream come true. In a last-chance bid to help his family, Braddock returned to the ring. No one thought he had a shot. However Braddock kept winning. He rocketed through the ranks, until this underdog chose to do the unthinkable: take on the heavyweight champ of the world, the unstoppable Max Baer, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.
The movie is very inspirational and motivating. And Russell Crowe played his part well, so well, in fact, that he might win an Oscar for it.
I have read that some actors become so absorbed with the person they play that they have a difficult time coming back to reality. It’s almost like they are a different person.
Brothers and sisters, if an actor can do it for a worldly part in a movie, what can we do for Christ in life?
For us to become clothed with Christ we must study, meditate and absorb scripture. And as we do, His spirit who is at work in us will produce more of Christ in us! And more of Christ in us is what we need for making the new year count!
CONCLUSION--------------------------------------
ILL.- Someone said, “Dying men have said, ‘I am sorry I have been an atheist, an infidel, an agnostic, a skeptic, a sinner.” But no man ever said on his deathbed, ‘I am sorry I have lived a Christian life.” Make your life count in the new year. Love strongly. Leave evil behind. And put on Christ.
