Welcome to August! Another month rolls by under our feet and it won’t be long before summer is in our rear view mirror. Last night at the combined worship service our church shared with a sister church, a brother approached me and introduced himself. "You probably don’t remember me,” he said, “ but I was at a men’s meeting when you spoke at Tucker Swamp church years ago.” It took some mental jarring but as he explained, I did remember. He reminded me that the very day I spoke I had gone scuba diving with a friend and we had watched another diver drown when a piece of his equipment failed. (He was diving alone which was definitely a no-no.) I changed my talk that evening and spoke on the brevity of life; life is but a vapor. The brother last night said, “I’ve never forgotten that talk; it made an impact on my life.”
So this morning let me just remind us all to treasure our days, to use them wisely. They are passing by so quickly; James says that our lives are “but a vapor,” a puff of smoke. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encourages them to "make the most of their time” and I’d like us to hear that challenge. What does that mean, ‘make the most of my time?’ In context Paul goes on to say “understand what the will of the Lord is” so obviously making the most of our time means using it the way God wants us to. I’d like to suggest three investments of your time that God wills.
1. Invest it in your personal relationship with God. 'Chair time;’ that's my favorite way of referring to it. Each day use part of your time to read your Bible and talk with God. Read another book too if you can, like a Christian biography that will inspire you. We say we follow Jesus so let’s follow Him; every morning that’s exactly what Jesus did. He spent some time with God.
2. Invest time in your family. If you are married, give time to your spouse to talk, to cuddle, and to serve. Communicate. Encourage and build each other up with your words. Carve out time for that. If you have kids, give time to them. Play with them. Read to them. Do sports with them. Just be with them. Dedicate time for them too.
3. Invest time in God’s Kingdom work. As a young boy Jesus told his parents, “Don’t you know that I had to be about my Father’s business?’ Do you know what God’s business is? It’s people! It’s serving and redeeming and transforming people. We too need to give time to serve our King and further His Kingdom by investing in people. That means giving time to be a part of God’s family. It means giving time to help reach people who don’t know our Father. It means giving time just serving others like Jesus did. Christian leaders are often informing us that Christ-followers today are valuing the church, and by that I mean God’s people, less and less. We no longer prioritize our gatherings or ministry. We are willing to use less and less of our time to love, serve and invest in others. I want to encourage us to be different. I urge you to push back against that trend and instead of less, use more of your time to serve, love, reach and equip others.
Life is fleeting, passing by so very quickly. Use it wisely. Invest it as the Lord desires you to.
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