Pastor Elwin Ahu
March 6, 2011 - W1110

How many of you could use more time? Actually, God has given us all the time that we need. There is what people call a Doomsday Clock which when given certain information will click down the hours, minutes and seconds of your life.  In other words, it will predict when you will die. The general age limit for men is 75 years and 80 years for women.  If you live more than your limit, consider that a bonus and not borrowed time.

Beethoven, on his death bed, raised his fist up to God and said, “I need more time.”   But we do have more time; we just don’t value the time we have, until it is almost too late. None of us know exactly when we are going to die but we can sort of estimate.

This is a reality check: If you want to find out how many days you have already lived, take the number 365 days to a year, and multiply it by your age.  The total is how many days you have already lived.  To figure out how many days you have left to live, take your life expectant age, being it 75 or 80.  Subtract that number by your current age and multiply that number by 365 days and the total is the amount of days you have left. I only have about a third of my life left. But you never really know …

There was a doctor who asked his patient whether he wanted the good news or bad news first. The patient said he wanted the good news first so the doctor said that he had looked at all the test results and the patient had only twenty four hours to live. The patient was shocked and asked how could that possibly be the good news! The doctor replied that the bad news was that he was supposed to have told him yesterday!  So you see, we really don’t know how much time we really have.

Let’s read what Paul tells the people in Ephesians: "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." (Eph. 5:15-17 NIV) Paul is writing this to us, because we are not careful.  We live our lives to get up in the morning and think it is only going to be another day.  Paul is saying if we have this time, we need to be very careful and intentional in how we live our life because it is God’s will that we make the most of every opportunity.  It is not just another day or event.  Don’t be foolish or neglect this time. Too often, we live under the mantra called “Manyana”. We say if we don’t do it today, we will do it tomorrow. But we should remember …

1. Real time in our world is LIMITED.

That is why the Bible says, "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered-how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to You; at best, each of us is but a breath." (Ps. 39:4-5 NLT)

People enroll themselves in Time Management Classes.  Or we enter into the mode of Saving Time. We don’t even want to take the time to go to a mall and find parking.  Instead, we sit at our computers and shop.  We have microwave dinners rather than take the time to cook.  Even fast food is not fast enough so we go through the drive through lane. On the mainland there is a funeral parlor that lets you drive by to view the deceased so that you can save time. We think that we are saving this time to do other things.  Are we actually saving time?

The experts of 1967 predicted that in the year 2000 because of what technology will do for Americans - we will spend only 22 hours a week at work.  Also predicted was that technology would allow us to work only 27 weeks out of a year.  The biggest problem that they predicted in 1967 was what to do with all the leisure time you would have left.  Has your life become more leisurely?  Remember the big old dinosaur cell phones?  You couldn’t stick it in your pocket.  The same cell phone got smaller and smaller.  You can now send emails, text messages, check the internet, go on the network that has advance from 2 G’s and going up to 4 G’s.  Things have gotten easier and easier.  But do we really have more leisure time?

Actually, it has made us involved in more activities. In fact what is happening is …

*More Things = More Choices = More Overload = LESS TIME.

  The Bible says that the Lord is not asking you to manage or save your time. We all have the same amount of time. He is asking you to …

*REDEEM your time.

That is why he is asking us to make the most of every opportunity.

 I want you to listen to one of my favorite classic songs called , “Cat’s in the Cradle”.  It is about a father who missed the opportunity of a life time. He spent his time working and not with his son. In the end the father realized that his son had grown up just like him because when the father was old, the son had no time for him.

The Lord is saying that you need to grab on to these opportunities before you miss them for a life time.  That is why the Bible reminds you about "...making the most of your time, because the days are evil." (Eph. 5:16)

So how do you make that determination of what opportunities you need to jump into?

2.  Add MARGINS to life.

This is the space around the pages that makes a book easier to read.  Sometimes we could feel that there is no room for me.  This is the time we should take a break; we need a margin in our lives. We should put margins in our daily schedules. We run our lives from one corner to the next, heading into traffic on the way.  We push our lives all the way to the edges. 

Listen to what the Lord has to say about margins: "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience." (Heb. 4:9-11 NIV)

The Lord says that the Israelites knew about the Sabbath day, but they were disobedient.  God rested from His works so His people should rest also. You need to make every effort to prepare to rest.  In the margins of life is where you will enjoy life, have laughter, enjoy your foods more, have good company and build your relationships. You have to build within there.

 One of the best ways to build margins is to …

3. Prioritize your life according to GOD’S WILL.   

Stop worrying about the things that we don’t need to worry about.   We have so many things that we try to stick in our schedule.  Research says that 40 percent of worries never happen.  30 percent are about decisions that you have already made in the past, 12 percent center on unfair criticism, 10 percent relate to health issues.  So basically, 92 percent of our worries we have no control over.  Therefore, only 8 percent of our worries are about things we can do something about so these are the ones that we need to prioritize in our life.

 Let’s read what Roman says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12:2)

We need to transform our minds. Paul says we need to model what is important.   Even if it is urgent or pressing you, it may not be important.  Telephones may ring, but it may not be important.  We now have caller ID and need to understand what is urgent and what is important.  Many things in our life seem urgent and we behave as if they are by attending to them immediately but a lot of them are not important. Paul is saying that if is important then make it urgent.

When Jesus visited Martha and Mary, Martha hurried about preparing the house for Jesus.  Mary on the other hand, attended personally to Jesus. Finally, Martha complained to Jesus that she was doing all the work.  "But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'" (Luke 10:41-42) Jesus was saying that God should be the priority and that we need to make important choices in our priorities.

There was a businessman who spent all his time working hard for years and became a big success. He told his wife that they had finally “arrived”. She replied, “Yeah, but at the wrong place.” He later reconsidered and decided to prioritize his life according to who would be crying at his funeral. That seems to be a good idea; however, I think another way is to prioritize your life according to who would be celebrating your life at your funeral.

 In other words, you should prioritize and invest your time in those you love, those that love you and Jesus.

Study Suggestion:

1. Why is it so important to make good use of our time?

2.   What happens when we get so involved in our technologys?

3.   What does God want us to do with our time?

4.   What should we add to our lives?

5.   What guide should we use to prioritize our lives?

6.   What happened to you when you did not prioritize your life correctly?