• If we don’t proactively DIRECT our lives, we slip into unhealthy patterns and rhythms, living from crisis to crisis.
  • Time is our most valuable resource
  • Followers of Jesus are called to use their time better

What does the Bible have to say about time?

Job 14:1-5 “How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear. Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature and demand an accounting from me? Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one! You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.”

The younger you are, the less you agree with the shortness of life.

• Time is like sand, it’s constantly moving and you never get any of it back.
• James 4:14, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”

God demands that we give account of what we do with our lives

• Only God knows how many days you get, how many months we have left
• No one, no matter what, can stretch that any farther than what God already knows it is.
• Hebrews 9:27, “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,”

There are two sisters in the New Testament that give a powerful example to me of how to use my time.

Luke 10:38-42, “As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

• Even though dinner was important, it’s not what Jesus had asked her to do or even wanted.
• It needed to be done, but not right then
• There are important things and there are urgent things
• Wise people know the difference

Mary was focused on the IMPORTANT things while Martha was distracted by the URGENT things

The more time I spend on the important/non-urgent things, the more likely I am to focus on the things that matter.

The last time we see these three together, Martha had learned this lesson:

John 12:1-3, “Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.”

What do we see Martha doing? Is she preparing the meal? No

• Her and Mary are now doing the exact same thing – serving Jesus, just in different ways

The greatest threat to your spiritual development, outside of unconfessed sin, is being unintentional with your life, your time.

• Mary and Martha were both able to worship Jesus fully, to live as God intended, because they used their time more intentionally. They were prepared to worship God.

Is it possible that you haven’t grown in your faith because you haven’t carved out time to read scripture, meditate in worship, or sit in silence waiting for God to speak to your heart.

Your relationship with God, your family, and you discovering your purpose and God’s plan ALL DEPEND on the priority of time you give these things.

Your kids will move out and be estranged and you’ll wish…

Your marriage will begin dissolving and you’ll wish…

Your heart will grow cold until it’s hard and you’ll wish…

OR you can decide right now, what’s most important BEFORE it becomes most urgent. And you’ll make time for it today.

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