Seize The Moment Series

“Seize the Moment”

Ephesians 5:15-16

REVIEW

I. Our Wealth and Worth In Christ 1-3

II. Our Worthy Walk in Christ 4-6

A. Live in Unity 4:1-16

B. Live in Newness of life 4:17-24

C. Live in Love 4:17-24

D. Live in Purity 5:3-14

INTRODUCTION

In these economic times, everyone is about getting the most out of everything. We keep things longer. We make things last. We get every bit of use out of our possession that we can.

We have many sophisticated instruments to measure and tell time. Unfortunately, they are useless for measuring how efficiently we use time. Most anyone can tell me what time it is at any given moment of the day. Few pay much attention to how well we spend our time.

There is something more important than knowing what time it is – What’s more important is knowing how you are spending your time. Many times during the day we all check to see what time it is. But very seldom to we actually check to see how we are spending our time.

Let’s pretend that I pull you aside this morning and say I have some very good news for you.

And I tell you that an anonymous donor who loves you very much has decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your account each morning, starting Monday morning. For those of us who might be mathematically challenged, that’s $864 a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

There’s one stipulation... you must spend all that money that same day. No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use.” With a big smile, you thank me and thank God for being so very good to you. You have time to plan your spending strategy the rest of the day. You grab a pencil and start figuring; $864 times 7 equals over $6,000 a week... times 52. That’s almost $315,000 a year that you have available to you if you work hard to spend it all each day. Remember, whatever you don’t spend is forfeited. You could probably spend it, but it would take some planning wouldn’t it? I mean who would want to throw away any money left over at the end of the day? There would be a great sense of loss if it wasn’t used properly. What will I spend it on?

Personal things. Things that have eternal value. People, family, friends, needy.

Every morning someone who loves you very much deposits into your bank of time 86,400 seconds of time---which represent 1,440 minutes---which, of course, equal 24 hours each day.

Now you’ve got to remember the same stipulation applies, because God gives you this amount of time for you to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a twenty-six hour day. (Though some of us wish there were).

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can spend it only once.”

Are we careful about the way you we spend our allotment? Do we “spend” our time on frivolous activity or on things that count for eternity? The difference between great achievement and little achievement often boils down to how we use the time we have been allotted; and everyone receives exactly the same amount of time. Time is not a renewable resource and we will be held accountable for how we used it. It does not multiply or gain interest. You can’t borrow it. You can’t save it up. We must be careful what we do with it.

Opportunities to affect eternity present themselves all through our life. We can choose to engage or evade. We can decide to invest or ignore. That particular opportunity will never come again. There may be others, but that one is gone forever. Eternal rewards hinge on how we use the time we have been given here. Many are willing to give financial resources. Not as many statically invest time for kingdom purposes. Let’s look more closely at what God has to say about the wise use of time.

E. Live in Wisdom 5:15-6:9

Paul moved to a new category. The broad category is introduced in verse 15 and fleshed out on into chapter 6.

15So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, 16making the best use of (redeeming) the time because the days are evil.

The “so then” points us back to what Paul asserted just prior. He made a point of reminding them that they were once darkness and now they are light. This was just another reminder of the fact that they are to continually live different because they are different. He told them to look closely and carefully. Paul called them to “look”, see, perceive, be aware of, think about, watch out for. Not only to look with intensity but with clarity and care. He added the adverb. carefully, accurately, diligently, circumspectly (looking all around).