THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

by Pastor Paul Naumann

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." 

— Ephesians 5:15-21

In the name of Jesus Christ, Who has delivered us from the slavery of sin in order to make us servants of righteousness, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

I have vivid memories of the day I reached a certain milestone in my life — my thirtieth birthday. When a person gets to the "Big Three Zero", he can expect a little kidding from his friends and relatives about being "over the hill," etc. As my birthday approached, I knew I was especially going to catch it from my brothers and sisters, and I was right. Typical of the day was the card I got from one of my sisters; on the cover it said, "If you're feeling depressed about being thirty, remember..." — and on the inside it read, "Today is the first day of what's left of your life!"

Well, she got her little dig in, and I got a laugh out of it. But you know, there's a grain of truth in what that card said: our time on this earth is not unlimited. Each of us has only a certain number of years, months, days and minutes left to us in our lives. We don't know what that total is, but God does. The commodity of time that each of us has is limited, and it is precious. The question our Lord asks us in our text for today is — what are we going to do with that time? Our theme this morning is...

"THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE"

I. It can easily be squandered. II. It has been purchased by Christ. III. Redeem it in His service!

In this part of His letter to the Ephesians, Paul begins by saying, "See then that you walk circumspectly..." The word, in the Greek, means "accurately." What does the apostle mean by telling us to walk accurately? If you ever get a chance to watch an experienced long-distance runner, you'll notice that he runs accurately. He doesn't just plop his feet down anywhere — he carefully places each step. He doesn't clench his fists and swing his arms in huge arcs - that would be wasting energy. He holds his arms low and close to his body, swinging them very little, if at all. The runner knows that he has only so much energy to use during his race. He knows that if he squanders that energy on useless movements, he'll never finish the race in first place.

Paul's message to you this morning concerns something much more important — your walk in life as a Christian, and how you use your time. "Walk accurately," he says. You only have a certain amount of time to spend in your life, so don't waste it! Don't squander a single minute of that precious commodity of time.

...But it can so easily be squandered. So many people, as the Apostle notes, act "as fools," and not "as wise." They squander the precious time of their lives foolishly. And perhaps the greatest foolishness of all is the illusion that time is unlimited. Young people are the worst about this — they seem to assume that day will follow day, and year will follow year, and that time will never run out for them. It's not true. "After all," James asks, "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." — James 4:14. Like a mist lying over a low spot in a meadow, our life is here for a moment, and then gone. Can we afford to squander a second of it?

Paul says, "Walk accurately, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." The days we're living in are certainly evil. People all around us are using up the precious time of their lives in the most ungodly ways. People putting every second they have into their careers, into making more money, buying a bigger car, a better house. Folks who dedicate days and weeks and months to the pursuit of pleasure and entertainment — when one activity no longer gives them a thrill, they turn to another. We've become a nation full of compulsive people - compulsive workers, compulsive eaters, compulsive drinkers, gamblers, drug abusers... Millions of people compulsively driven to waste their lives getting things that, in the end, just aren't worth the time! Jesus tells us, Don't waste your time! "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." — Matt 6:19-21.

You and I need this stern reminder, too. Remember, Paul's talking to us — to Christians — when he says, "Do not be unwise... Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation." It's all too easy for us, too, to be be tempted by the pleasures of the world, to get so involved in worldly activities that we lose sight of what's really important and get our priorities mixed up. How many times, for instance, haven't I heard people say, "You know, Pastor, I'd like to get to church regularly, but..." (fill in the blank): "I'm too tired from working all week," "I need my sleep," "I need to do things around the house." Or, "Pastor, I know I should read the Bible more often, but I'm so busy with other things..." Misplaced priorities, I'd say!

"Do not be unwise," Paul says, "but understand what the will of the Lord is." What is the will of the Lord? That you and your family be saved! That you and your family be kept strong in the true faith through the power of His Word. That's the Lord's number one priority, and it should be ours, too. The Lord's will is that you use the time of your life, not to serve sin, not to serve yourself, but to serve Him!

Now, some people are understandably annoyed by a statement like that. We tend to think of the time of our life as something very personal, like my own body — something that belongs to me alone, and nobody else. But the truth is that our time is not our own. It does belong to Someone else. The time of our life has been purchased by Christ!

In I Corinthians, Paul tells us that neither our bodies nor our time belong to us. He says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price..." — I Cor 6:19-20. Your Savior Jesus paid the price to purchase your body, your soul, your time...your whole being. He paid cash on the barrel-head for you; "not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death." It was a steep price for Jesus to pay. It meant that He had to leave His heavenly throne and take on the humble form of a human being like us. He had to endure the jealousy and hatred of evil men. Think of it — the very Son of God had to let Himself to be whipped and tortured, slapped and spit upon, nailed to a cross and left to die like a criminal...all to pay the price of our sin.

But He did it. He paid the price. Jesus carried out His love for us to the final drop of His own lifeblood. And the result: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!" — Rom 8:1. We are free and clear! Hell, with all it's horrors, is far behind us now. Ahead is a bright future, days of peace knowing that we are no longer God's enemies, but His own dear children through Christ. Are we still sinners? Yes, we still have the sinful flesh sticking to us; but we know that Jesus' love and forgiveness covers that sinfulness like a blanket. Each time we fall, and come to our Savior in repentance, He grants us His pardon. His perfect righteousness has us covered, no matter what. And when the Day of Judgment comes, we'll be standing on our Savior's right hand, ready to take up residence in the mansions of heaven.

I've always thought it a terrible thing, what the Roman Catholic Church teaches about heaven. They teach that it's a sin for a Christian to say that he's certain of going to heaven. But think about it logically! Christ has purchased us with His blood — how could anyone keep us out of heaven? The Holy Ghost Himself has given us our faith in Jesus. What sin have we committed that Jesus hasn't paid for? Paul asks the same question, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen." — Rom 8:33-34. Our life has been bought back from sin by Christ. Our eternal life is as certain as the fact that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow!

Our lives and our time have been purchased by Christ. We're His now, thanks be to God! How does our Master want us redeemed Christians to use the time we have left in our lives? Our text has many suggestions: "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." In short, Paul says that instead of squandering it, we should make good use of our time. We should redeem it in His service!

How many of you are "coupon-clippers?" Every Sunday newspaper you pick up is filled with coupons for discounts off grocery items and merchandise. The little slips of paper are worthless in themselves. But when you "redeem" them, say, for a quarter off a loaf of bread, or fifty cents off a box of cereal, they can end up being pretty valuable. The same is true about your time. If you choose not to use it, or to use it the wrong way, it's worthless. But if you redeem the time — use it to serve your Savior, it can be immensely valuable to you and the people around you.

So redeem the time! Cash in those days and hours and minutes! First of all, our text says, "Be filled with the Spirit." If the power of the Holy Spirit has been weak or lacking in your life, get back to your Bible and dig in for a half-hour or hour each day. If you feel the core of your family life weakening, the power of the Holy Spirit is the glue that will bind it together with a strength you may not have thought possible. Get a program of family Bible devotions going — it's not so tough. If you need good material, your pastor can suggest several good books.

"Speaking to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", — we're doing that right now in this worship service. What better use could you make of your time than to gather with like-minded believers and sing the praises of your God? If Sunday morning worship isn't at the absolute top of your family's priority list, then put it there, and keep it there!

"Give thanks always for all things to God." Take time out of your busy schedule to offer your thanks for all the things God has given you each day. It won't be time wasted. "Submit to one another in the fear of God." Imitate the humility of Christ, and for His sake, look for ways you can serve your fellow Christians, help rather than be helped, do for others as your Savior has done for you. These are all ways you can cash in on the precious time that you have left to spend — ways you can redeem the time that Christ purchased by serving Him! May God grant us the grace so to serve Him, with...THE TIME OF OUR LIVES. AMEN.