'tis The Season To Live, But For What?

INTRO.- ILL.- One man said: "Ever since we got married, my wife has tried to change me. She got me to stop drinking, smoking and running around until all hours of the night. She taught me how to dress well, enjoy the fine arts, gourmet cooking, classical music, even how to invest in the stock market."

"Sounds like you may be bitter because she changed you so drastically," remarked his friend. "I’m not bitter. Now that I’m so improved, she just isn’t good enough for me."

Have you changed lately? Have you improved yourself any way in the past year or so? Are you growing up or maybe, just outward? Are you growing inwardly and upwardly?

ILL.- Britney Spears is making a comeback. But to what? Will she be a better Britney or something else? Some people change but not for the better.

She recently starred in her own "Circus" on Dec. 2nd, performing songs from her new album of that name under a big top in New York City, unveiling plans for a 2009 tour and celebrating her 27th birthday.

Spears performed new songs under the Big Apple Circus tent in Manhattan for ABC breakfast show "Good Morning America" and announced plans for a 26-city North American tour, starting in New Orleans on March 3, and two concerts in London in June.

The pop star is attempting a comeback from a high-profile meltdown, which included stints in rehab and psychiatric hospital units, an ugly divorce, losing custody of her two sons and shaving her head, among other things.

When she blew, she really blew it. However, one man said, "Old Britney I think is back. She seems more real, more put together. She has the right people behind her now." Well, I guess time will tell.

If she’d been listening to her parents in the first place she might not have gone so far off the deep end, BUT SHE WOULDN’T LISTEN. She was famous and making big money so she wouldn’t listen to anybody, except those who steered her in the wrong direction. BAD COMPANY CORRUPTS. (I Cor. 15:33)

Even grown kids don’t often listen to their parents because they think they know better. After all, they’re grown. They’re making a living so they know what’s what. REALLY?

Honestly, I think all of us need help, no matter what age we reach. We all make mistakes. We all blow it spiritually and often, go our own way instead of doing the Lord’s will.

I say, this is the season to live, but for what?

PROP.- Tis the season to live, but for what?

1- Tis the season to live for sin - not

2- Tis the season to live for self - not

I. TIS THE SEASON TO LIVE FOR SIN - NOT

ILL.- A football player goes into the church and asks his preacher, "Would it be a sin for me to play the game on Sundays?"

The preacher replied, "Well, I’ve been watching your games, and I think it would be a sin for you to play on any day."

It would be a sin for me to play football any time, any day, because it would be a big waste of my time, the Lord’s time and the team I played for.

ILL.- One time a preacher used Romans 3:22-23 as his text, which read, "There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." An educated man approached the preacher and asked him, "Did you mean there is no difference between a moral man and an immoral man?"

The preacher said, "I did not mean that there is no room for comparison between them. One is a moral sinner and the other is an immoral sinner. One is a superior sinner and the other is an inferior sinner, but both are sinners and lost before God."

Brothers and sisters, I don’t care what kind of sinner a person is, good sinner or bad sinner, moral sinner or immoral, they are still sinners. And sometimes people may classify themselves as being a good sinner, consequently, they don’t think they need to stop doing anything or be forgiven for anything.

Sin is still sin, regardless of how you classify it. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

ILL.- One time a prominent novelist who was a skeptic visited a revival meeting out of curiosity. When the invitation call was given a member of the revival team approached him and asked, "Are you saved?" He said, "No." "Do you want God to forgive you of your sins?" He replied, "No, I like my sins."

I think this is probably true for most people. Sin can be, in some cases, very pleasurable and consequently, people don’t want to give up their sins. We’re living in that time. Most people want to live in their sin and wallow in it like a sow in the mud.