Visit us at: 30 Good Minutes.org

         

"Redeeming the Time"
I appreciate the scripture that was read, the fifth chapter of Ephesians that says, “We are to be redeeming the time,” but I want to add to that. A verse of scripture taken from the book of Psalms. Psalm 118:24 which says this, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

How would you like to live 365 days and not have one bad one? Impossible? Not really. I want to give you five facts, and if you will take these five facts and apply them to tomorrow or to any day, I will promise you it will be a wonderful day. I want to show you how you can take every God-given day and make it a God-governed day, and then by God's grace it will be a God-gladdened day.

I want to talk to you therefore about how to redeem the time. “This is the day which the Lord hath made.” Now there are five things I want to say about this day that the Lord hath made.

The very first thing I want to say is this: this day is a provided day. God made it. Now time is God's great gift to you. And time is God's great gift to me. And like every gift, the value of it is determined by what we do with it. We are stewards over this day that God has given us. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Well, he has more time than I have.” Or, “She has more time than I have.” That's not true. We all have the same amount of time. It doesn't matter who we are there are 24 hours in a day, 1,440 minutes in a day, 86,400 seconds in a day. We all have the same amount of time. The difference in people is not that one has more time than the other person, the difference is how we spend that time.

I was reading in a news magazine the other day where a man had a watch made for himself. Are you ready for this? It cost seven million dollars! How can you make a seven million dollar watch? How many rubies, diamonds, and emeralds; what kind of works; how much gold; how can you make a seven million dollar watch? But that's what the news article said. And as I read it, I had to smile and think to myself: the fellow that wears that watch doesn't have any more time than the fellow who wears a Timex. It doesn't make a bit of difference. Whether you nave a seven million dollar watch or whether you wear a Timex, we all have the same amount of time.

So what I want to tell you is this: that this day is a provided day. It is God's gift to you, and you are a steward of this day. See every day as a precious gift from God. You see, God doesn't have to take your life for you to stop existing. All God has to do is to stop giving it.

The second thing I want you to see about today: not only is today a provided day, but today is a present day. Remember what the Psalmist said, "This is the day which the Lord hath made,” not “was the day,” not “will be the day.”

This is the day which the Lord hath made. There are two days that can steal the joy out of today. One is yesterday. And the other is tomorrow. Now many of us need to unhook ourselves from the past.

I like what the Apostle Paul had to say in the third chapter of Philippians. He said, “I am forgetting those things which are behind.” Paul refused to live in the past. There were a lot of things in Paul's life that he unhooked himself from. For example, past guilt. He spoke of himself as, “the chiefest of sinners,” but he refused to be haunted by the ghost of guilt. And past glory. He was a man who achieved much—the greatest apostle. But he forgot it because that was yesterday. Past grief. He had suffered, but he refused to sit around and lick his wounds. Past grudges. He had been mistreated, but he left those things in the grave of God's forgetfulness. I want to ask you to do the same thing. Don't pull around the load of yesterday. Forget those things which are behind.

Ah, but there's another day that can take the joy out of today, and that's tomorrow. Let me tell you how tomorrow takes the joy out of today. So many of us don't enjoy today because we are waiting for tomorrow. William Marston, who was a psychologist, surveyed 3,000 people, and he found out that of those 3,000 people, 94% of them were enduring today to get to tomorrow. They were waiting for tomorrow. Women, they plan twenty years to get married and have children, and after they have those children, they look back twenty years and say, “Oh how wonderful it was,” but the whole twenty years they had them they complained, griped, and groused about those children. We fail to live today in the glory of today because we are anticipating tomorrow and thinking about all the wonderful things that are going to happen tomorrow.

Let me tell you another way tomorrow can eat the joy out of today. Not only are we waiting for tomorrow, but we spend so much time worrying about tomorrow. Do you know what our Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount? Our Lord said this, “Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Now think about that. God has sort of an ecology of the soul. What God has done is he has seen to it that every one of us has a certain amount of trouble. Did you know that God sends you trouble? The guest choir sang, “Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world,” but, friend, it won't be real soon. I promise you that. At least, it won't be until God takes you out to glory because God wants you to have a certain amount of trouble. Why? To cause you to depend upon him. But then when God allows you to have these troubles, God then gives you strength to meet those troubles and you live every day a victorious day. That's what the Lord Jesus meant when he said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” God gives you strength to meet today's needs.

Now what happens when we reach over into tomorrow and borrow trouble from tomorrow? We begin to worry. That's the interest we pay on borrowed trouble. And we reach into tomorrow and we bring tomorrow's troubles into today. But God has not given me strength for tomorrow's problems. God has only given me strength for today's problems for he said in the book of Deuteronomy, “As thy days are, so shall thy strength be.” God didn't give me strength for tomorrow. And so if I use today's strength on tomorrow's problems, then I meet tomorrow out of breath because I've expended my strength trying to handle today's problems and tomorrow's problems with only today's strength.

Friend, listen to me. Worry doesn't take the sorrow out of tomorrow. Worry takes the strength out of today. And you might be like that little lady who said, “Don't tell me worry doesn't do any good. Most of the things I worry about, never happen.”

I want to tell you, dear friends, that God refuses to want his people to worry because God gives us strength for today. Now, it's a shame that so many of us are reaching out and pulling tomorrow's clouds over today's sunshine. Just live today. Why worry about tomorrow? What good does it do?

I heard about a man who was a constant worrier. Everything went bad for him. The man had a bad job. He wasn't making money. He drove a rattle-trap automobile around. His children were failing in school. Everything was going bad. And one day he straightened up. He changed dramatically. He dressed up. He smiled. He stood straight and tall. A friend said, “I've never seen such a dramatic change. What changed you? What made the difference? Why don't you worry anymore?”

He said, “Well, I learned something remarkable. I learned about a firm that has some professional worriers. And what you do is you pay these people and then you tell one of them about your problems, and then you go off and do your business, and they will stay there and worry for you. You don't have to worry any more. You just tell them and pay them.”

His friend said, “That's marvelous! How much does it cost?”

He said, “It costs one thousand dollars a week.”

The friend said, “How are you going to pay for that?”

He said, “That's his worry.”

Let me tell you something, friends: wouldn't it be wonderful if there were someone who could worry for us? Somebody who could carry our burdens? Bless your heart, there is. That's what I've been trying to tell you. We are to cast our burdens upon the Lord for he's the one who cares for us and don't let tomorrow take the joy out of today. “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is but a promissory note. Today is the only cash you have. Spend it wisely.

The third thing I want to say about today is that today is a precious day. Because the Bible says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made...” Right? I like what Ethel Waters had to say, “God don't make no junk.” That's right! “This is the day which the Lord hath made...” Don't waste time.

Do you know what it means to waste time? Wasting time is suicide by degrees for time is the stuff that life is made out of. Don't kill time. Spend time. Invest time. Squeeze every ounce of juice out of today that you can.

Do you know the secret of living? Do you? It is spending time wisely. The 90th Psalm says, “Lord, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Let me tell you how to spend time wisely. Let me tell you how to take a day and to redeem that day. Number one: you have to spend enough time with God alone every morning to get a clear sense of direction, to find out what it is that God wants you to do. You're not wasting time when you wait on God. Do you have a quiet time? Is there a time when you get alone and say, “Speak Lord and give me direction.” It's not God's will for you to be floundering around.

One of the greatest truths I have ever learned is this there is enough time in every day to do gracefully everything God wants you to do. Did you hear that? There is enough time in every day to do gracefully everything God wants you to do. And don't you insult God by saying, “I don't have enough time.”

After you know what it is that God wants you to do, then you need to set priorities. And you see, setting priorities is so important because so many times our choice in life is not between good and bad. Life would be a cinch if it were that. Life is a choice between good and best. For example, I don't have time to read good books. I haven't read the best books so how can I read good books until I read those best books? So you see, friend, we really have to make some choices, to prioritize some things. You see, it's not working harder, it's working more effectively. Doing what God wants us to do, prioritizing the things that God gives us to do.

Jesus said, “I have finished the work thou gavest me to do.” Why? Because his life was prioritized. Most of us read at the rate of several hundred words a minute. How would you like to be able to read at the rate of fifty thousand words a minute? You say, “It can't be done.” It can. Not exactly, but let me tell you how to do something like it. Find a fifty thousand word book that doesn't meet your needs or that is not worth reading and don't read it! Then look at the time you saved. What we need to do is to prioritize our time.

Now look: Number one: spend enough time with God. Number two: prioritize your time. Number three: do what you do in the power of the Holy Spirit

In the fifth chapter of Ephesians we are told we are to be redeeming the time and “be filled with the Spirit.” That's the difference in burning the oil or burning the wick. When we are filled with the oil of God's Holy Spirit, then we do what we do in the power of the Spirit of God.

Fourthly: recognize procrastination as a sin. I'm sorry to have to say that, but that's what it is, and I want you to know I'm speaking to me when I say that too. Recognize procrastination as a sin. The Bible says, “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

What I need to do is to cultivate in my life the attitude of instant obedience. Whatever he says unto you, do it. What a wonderful motto for our lives. This day is a precious day and I want to get the most out of it.

One other thing I want to say about today: today is a passing day. The Bible says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made,” but this day is swiftly passing along into the tomb of time and soon it will be done.

There are several things you can do with time but you can't save time; you can't borrow time; you can't loan time; you can't leave time. The only thing you can do with time is you can use it or lose it. Time can't be stopped. You can't call time out in the game of life. Time can't be stored. You can't put it in the bank. Time can't be stretched. You can't add a cup of water to it. Time can't be loaned. I can't give you any of mine and you can't give me any of yours.

When as a child, I laughed and wept
     Time crept.
When as a youth, I dreamed and talked
     Time walked.
When I became a full-grown man
     Time ran.
When older still; I daily grew
     Time flew.
Soon, I shall find in traveling on
     Time's gone.

Are you going to do something for God? Is there something God has been laying on your heart? Friend, do it. The Bible says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” This is the day. It is a passing day.

A woman wrote Ann Landers. She said to Ann Landers, “I'm thirty-six years old. My friends have been telling me I need to go to college and get a degree. I was thinking if I did that, I would be forty years old when I got out of college.”

Ann wrote her back and said, “Honey, how old would you be four years from now if you didn't go to college?”

What are you going to do? Friend, what is it that God is laying on your heart to do? Do it.

Robert Moffatt, that pioneer missionary said, “We shall have all eternity in which to celebrate our victories but only a few brief hours before the sun sets in which to gain them.”

This day, this day is a passing day. Why don't you write your mother? Why don't you give that gift of love? Why don't you witness for the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you become a Bible student? Do it, my friend, do it.

Now there is one other thing I want to say about today. Not only is today a passing day, but today is a providential day. That's the last fact I want you to learn.

Today is a providential day. Why do you say that, Mr. Rogers? Why? Because the Bible says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made.” That is, God's providence is in today. God overrules today. Nothing is going to come to me but that it comes through him first. I want you to know the sovereign God is in charge of the affairs of this world, and not a blade of grass moves without his permission.

Do you know what the secret of joy is? Listen to what the psalmist said, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Do you know what the secret of joy is? It is to see the providence of God in everything and to thank him therefor. Let me give you some scriptures. I Thessalonians 5:18: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” II Philippians 4:6-7: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 5:20: “Giving thanks always for all things...”

Dear friend, why, how can we do that? I'll tell you why and I'll tell you how. “For all things work together for good for those who love God.”

Did you know that you can choose to be happy and you can choose to be unhappy? Did you know that? There are some people who just enjoy being miserable. Maybe there ought to be somewhere where we could just lock them all up and let them worry one another. They just seem to want to be unhappy. Did you know that you can resolutely say, “This is the day which the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

A man said to a beggar, “Good day, my friend.”

The beggar answered, “I thank God I never have a bad day.”

And the man said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “Well, when it's fine, I thank God. When it rains, I thank God. When I have plenty, I thank God. When I'm hungry, I thank God. Whatever pleases God, pleases me. Why should I say I'm unhappy when I am not?”

The man looked at him and said, “Who are you?”

He said, “I'm a king.”

The man said, “Where's your kingdom?”

The beggar replied, “In my heart.”

In our hearts. We thank him for sun, do we thank him for rain? We thank him for joy, do we thank him for pain? We thank him for gains, do we thank him for losses? We thank him for blessings, do we thank him for crosses?

In everything, in everything, give thanks. “For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Now, let me just tell you what I've been trying to say. Friend, do you want to make this a good day? Live in the eternal now. Today is the only day you have. Stop saying, “If I had time.” You do have time. Unhook yourself from yesterday.

Quit waiting for tomorrow. And live today for the glory of God. For if you will let every God-given day be a God-governed day, it will be a God-gladdened day, and you will be able to say, “This is the day, this is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

May I say a closing word to those of you who may not know Jesus Christ personally? The Bible also says, “Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.” Invite him into your heart. He loves you so much. God bless us all as we redeem the time.

Home | Schedule |This Week | Sermons| Topics | Short Video | About | Print | Links | Contact Us | Donation