Good morning everyone. Happy New Year to you. I hope you've had a good week since Christmas. We're about to celebrate the coming of the new year and tomorrow night we gather for a party here at the church. I hope you'll be a part of that and pick up a free ticket to come. The question about it is available outside the doors. In the fantasy that Tolkien wrote called Lord of the Rings there is a rather loathsome, slimy creature whose name is Gollum. Do you know who I mean?
Gollum seeks to recover a ring from the hobbits. It was a ring that he had once actually possessed but lost. It was found sometime later by a hobbit and Gollum seeks to recover this ring that is called the Ring of Power. There is one particular scene that stands out in my mind when Gollum is looking at the ring. You can see the greed and the lust and the desire in his eyes to get this ring back and he calls the ring my precious, my precious. You remember that?
It kind of gives you goosebumps to think about it. This sad creature had sold himself to the evil within in order to recover that ring that he thought was so valuable and precious. You and I show what's precious to us too by what we're willing to exchange for it.
I think for example of Esau who was willing to exchange his birthright for a pot of stew or on the more positive side of the ledger, I think of Moses who chose mistreatment with the people of God over the pleasures of sin and who considered disgrace for the sake of Messiah more precious than the treasures of Egypt. Am I too loud? I sound too loud to me. Am I ringing? Can we bring the sound down a little bit please? Thank you. I want to ask you, what is precious to you?
We know what is precious to Jesus, His people. The Scriptures tell us that we were redeemed not with silver and gold and we think of those as precious don't we? But we have not been redeemed with silver and gold from the vain manner of life that we inherited from our forefathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Jesus exchanged His own life's blood that He might purchase us and redeem us for Himself.
Does that tell you something about how precious you are in His sight? Not only gold and silver are precious to human beings but we think of diamonds as precious. If you're going to buy a diamond for someone you love, that diamond is precious and you exchange a lot of money for that diamond, right? If you have a picture that's precious to you, you might run back into your house that is burning in order to recover it.
If you have a brother as is in the case of someone I know who is precious to you, you would be willing to give your kidney to your brother in order for him to have a hope of living longer. We know what is precious to us by what we're willing to exchange for it. Now the theme I want to talk about today is one that deals with arguably the most precious thing in your life. It's something that we all possess and we have equal amounts of it every day. Yet of course, it's time.
I want to read to you this morning a text from Psalm 39. I'm going to use the new living translation for this reading and I invite you just to listen and let these words soak into your heart. These are the words of David and David here is praying as he says, Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you.
Human existence is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. Now there's a great verse for Silicon Valley. All our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend. And so what does he say at the conclusion of these thoughts about life? And so Lord, where do I put my hope? Where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. A good prayer for all of us as we start the new year.
I invite you to pray with me right now as we begin to talk about the most precious thing in your life. Father we echo the words of David, words inspired by your spirit. We too sense how quickly life passes that it's very brief even at its longest. We find so little indeed nothing really that we can put our trust in in this world. Our trust is in you, the eternal God.
And as we come to your word this morning I pray that you will open our hearts to understand something more about time, to see how precious it is and how we might invest it for eternity. And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Time is most precious because that's what life is made of. Just a little minute, sixty seconds in it forced upon me, didn't ask it, didn't choose it, yet it's up to me to use it. Must give account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it.
The Bible has a great deal to say about time and why it is so precious. In the first place time is precious because opportunity is given with its passage. I invite you to turn in your Bible or just look at your note sheet if you will because I think I've written the text out for you. Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. We're going to pick up the reading in verse 15. Paul says, 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 will of the Lord is. Opportunity is given with the passage of time. That's one of the reasons it's precious. The opportunities that it presents to you and me, these young people are going to go to Ethiopia this week to serve Christ there for a period of time.
They are investing that time and seizing the opportunity to stretch themselves but also to be a blessing to others who are in great need. Four of the saddest words you will ever hear are the words, If only I had. If only I had. They are sad because they speak of missed opportunity. If only I had written that letter. If only I had told her that I loved her. If only I had gone to see him one more time. If only I had.
I'm sure we all have stories about this and one that is written in my life that I'll never forget is about a friend of mine whose name was Ron. I was a freshman in high school when Ron was a junior. That means he was an upperclassman. And even in a small rural high school like I went to, there was a class distinction, believe me.
At noontime, freshmen were left to wander around the steps of the school while the upperclassmen, because they were old enough and who had cars, could go sit in their car and listen to the radio. And so Ron, this junior befriended me. And on numerous occasions he invited me to come to his car and to sit with him and to listen to the radio. Now I know in the age of iPods and cell phones, that sounds pretty boring doesn't it? But believe me back then it was a pretty big deal.
Summer came, the end of our school year, and I didn't see Ron the whole summer long. The night before school was to begin that fall. I was in church. And as I came to my seat, I can still remember the scene, I was sitting down and one of our schoolmates came over to me and said, did you hear about Ron? I said no, what happened? He drowned today. He went swimming in the pond north of town where he lived. And he jumped into the water and he dove into the water.
And when he did, he didn't realize how shallow the pond was at that point. And his head got into the mud and he choked to death on the mud. I remember those four words came to my mind because Ron was not a believer. He didn't know Jesus and I did. And I have said to myself many times in the year since, if only I had taken the time to say a word to Ron about my faith. Time is precious my friend because opportunity is bound up in time.
Years ago the advertising firm of J. Walter Thompson in Chicago placed an ad in the newspaper and it simply said, you have 24 hours to live. And then in small print below that it said, today that is. And then it went on to deliver its message. The point is that we all have exactly 24 hours a day to live. How can we use it more wisely in 2008? One way is by taking advantage of the opportunities that God gives us.
Let me suggest some other ways that you might be able to take good advantage of your time. These are simple time management kinds of ideas that many of you have heard in seminars. But I wonder how many of us take time to implement what we hear. First of all, think about your day, the night before, and set realistic goals for your most important responsibilities. You can use your time more wisely by considering the day ahead on the night before. What do you need to accomplish?
What are the most important things that you need to do and set some goals? Then number two, prioritize your goals. Once you have them listed, two, three, five of them, whatever they are, the things you have to get done the next day, what's the most important thing to do? What's the second most important thing to do? Number three, eliminate time wasters. The things in your life that kill time. By the way, killing time is the same as murdering it, right?
When you have lost an hour, there's nothing you can do to get it back. It's gone. Number four, use a daily and weekly and monthly calendar for close and long-range goals. In other words, pace yourself, set yourself some goals that are out there a ways. And let me encourage you to plan your time in such a way that others don't eat it up. It's possible for us to set goals for ourselves and the things that we want to get done and need to get done.
And then when others call and say, well, can you do this or do you have time for that? We can look at our calendar and honestly say, no, I have something else planned. Did you know that it's okay to say no to some things? Number five, use time for its purpose. In other words, work when it's work time, play when it's play time, rest when it's rest time, use time for the purpose. And if you put these kinds of principles into practice, you will make better use of your time in 2008.
What all of us need to do is to learn to tell the difference between the urgent and the important. If you let urgent matters consume your time, you will never make progress on anything that's important. The fact is that we all have to deal with both urgent and important matters. Dwight Eisenhower, President of the United States, made the statement that the urgent problems are seldom the important ones.
Since we have to deal with both urgent and important issues in life, we need to be able to tell the difference and put them in the correct order. Want to encourage you to get ahold of a book if you've not seen it before. It's called Freedom from the Tyranny of the Urgent. It's written by Charles Hummel and published by Intervarsity Press. It will help you as you think through how to tell the difference between the urgent and the important and to do the things that really count.
The point that I want to quickly make is this, that most of the opportunities make most rather of the opportunities that you have in your life. Paul says, make the most of them, the days are evil. Time passes quickly. And so take the time to give some word of thanks, to write an expression of love, to do a deed of kindness, to forgive a wrong, to restore a relationship, to share your story, to tell someone about Jesus, to speak encouragement to a little child. Do the things that are important.
Don't put them off. Each human being has exactly 168 hours per week to deal with. This cannot invent new minutes. Even the very super rich cannot buy more time. Queen Elizabeth I of England, when she died in, I think it was 1630, who was at that time the richest and most powerful woman in the world, whispered these final words on her deathbed, all my possessions for a moment of time. But she couldn't buy it. Time is precious because opportunity is given in its passage.
But secondly, time is precious because example is left in its message. Example is left in its message. Philippians chapter 1, Paul says, for to me to live as Christ and to die is what? Gain. If I am to go on living in the body, that will mean fruitful labor for me. But what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body convinced of this.
I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. Then in chapter 3, he continues and says, join with others in following my example, brothers. And take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Chapter 4, verse 9, he says, whatever you have learned and received and heard from me or seen in me, put into practice. What is Paul saying here? He's saying, I am here living my life out.
I am spending time in this world for the sake of you, Philippians. I am leaving a pattern. I'm leaving an example. Now live it out, follow it. That's the lesson for you and me too. Time is precious because we leave a message for others to follow. That's an important reality because your life has a message whether it's intentional or not. Someone is reading the example of your life whether you know it or not.
Or it is extremely important to leave a message that will help others and will bring the knowledge of God to their lives. I was speaking to a man one time about his need for Christ. He was out in our community. He knew a member of our church and he asked me. He said, does so and so go to your church? And I said, well, yes, he does. And he said to me, if he's a Christian, then I don't need it. And I wonder if anyone has ever said that about me.
Here's the marvelous thing about life, about God's grace. It's this, that if I don't like the message that my life has been giving, if it's not what I wish it were, then I can still change it. I can still change it. One evangelist said, no matter what a man's life may have been, his future is spotless. What example is the message of your life leaving to those coming behind you? I remember I was at a crucial point in my life at one time.
As I walked in my house, there was a bank just down the street from where we lived and there was a sign out in front that someone had put up that day on their billboard. And it said, today is the first day of the rest of your life. What a great statement. As we approach a new year and you look into the past in the rear view mirror, maybe you don't like what you've seen in 2007. Maybe there are things you wish had been different or you had done differently.
My friend, as you head to a new year, it's spotless. You can write it differently. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You can leave behind what has passed and enter a new day so that like Abel of old, when you have died, you may still speak. You remember that man of God, that son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his brother. He lived by faith, but he did not live long in this world. And yet the writer of Hebrews says, he still speaks even though he is dead. Why?
Because in that short lifespan, he left an example of pleasing God by faith. Life is precious. It's precious because there's an example that is left in its message. It's an example that is being left to your children and your grandchildren. It's precious. Third reason that life is precious is because destiny is fixed. Destiny is fixed in its stoppage. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus relates an account. He doesn't say this is a story, this is a parable.
The language he uses indicates that this was a real man who lived. There was a rich man, he said, who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire. But Abraham replied, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. My friend, these are sobering words from the mouth of Jesus. And anyone who reads them and thinks about them ought to have some fear in his heart because Jesus taught that there is an afterlife. And he taught that hell is one possibility and that hell is a real place where he says eternal destiny is fixed beyond all hope.
Notice what he says regarding hell in this brief story. He says it's the place of fire. Other people say, well, is that real fire? Well, ask the man who was there. He calls it fire. He says it's a place of torment. It is a place of consciousness. It is a place of separation. It is a place of regret. It is a place of hopelessness. The Bible teaches a great deal about hell and its reality. Time is precious, my friend, because destiny is fixed in its passage, in its stoppage, rather.
Once it is stopped, destiny is determined for eternity. The greatest poem of the Middle Ages was written in the 14th century by a man named Dante. The poem was later designated, and is so-called today, as the divine comedy. In Canto III of the First Division, a part of the divine comedy entitled Inferno, Dante and his guide, who happens to be the poet Virgil, pass through the door of hell. Of the lentil of the door, Dante says that he reads these words.
Through me, the way to the city of eternal woe. Through me, the way into eternal pain. Through me, the way among the lost below. Righteousness did my maker on high constrain. Me did divine authority up rear. Me, supreme wisdom and primal love, sustained. Before I was, no things created were. Save the eternal, and I, eternal abide. Relinquish all hope, ye who enter here. Hell is not a pleasant thought. Hell is something we'd rather not talk about or think about. But hell is a reality.
There are those who scoff about hell. Some time ago there was an old man who brought forward his strongest arguments against the Bible, and he declared to his family, I am 70 years old, and I've never seen such a place as hell. After all that's been said about it, this old grandson looked up at him and said, but granddaddy, have you been dead yet? Some troops were on an American troopship in World War II.
The chaplain was talking to them, and one of the men said, chaplain, do you believe in hell? The chaplain said, I do not. The soldier said, well then, will you please resign? For if there is no hell, we do not need you. And if there is a hell, we do not wish to be led astray. Wise words. One atheist cried out, I would rather lie on a stove and broil for a million years than go into the eternity before me with the eternal horrors that hang over my soul.
I have given my immortality for gold, and its weight sinks me into an endless, hopeless, helpless hell. Time is precious, my friend. You are still living. You have the opportunity yet to fix your destiny other than hell by receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
While you still breathe, while you are able to utter with your voice, while you are able to think with your mind and call out to God, you may still call upon Him for salvation, and He will come to you, for whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And there is great reason to call upon Him for that gift. Time is precious because destiny is fixed with its stoppage. But finally, time is precious because reward is determined in its usage.
Second Corinthians chapter 5, Paul says, Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
So we make it our goal to please Him, who the Lord, whether we are at home in the body or away from it, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due Him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Paul is writing here to believers, to those whose destiny has by the grace of God been changed from hell to heaven, who have the assurance that one day when we leave this world and we're absent from our bodies, we're going to go and be at home with the Lord. Paul says to us who have that hope that we are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and their received reward for what we have done in our bodies. For every follower of Jesus Christ, life is a privileged stewardship.
It is a trust for which we are accountable to God. It is not a matter of salvation. It's a matter of reward here that we earn by the use of our time. Someone says, well, isn't that a terrible motive for serving Christ that you're going to get rewarded for it? I challenge that. No, it is not a terrible motive. In fact, it is a motive that God Himself gives us here. He says there is a time coming when we're going to stand and be rewarded. Before we are to labor that we may be rewarded well.
William James, the author says, the greatest use of life is to spend it on something that outlasts it. Reward is eternal. It will outlast the brief days that you and I have in this world. Reward is not determined by how you measure up to others, but rather how well you use the gifts and the opportunities that God gives to you for who you are in your lifetime. Time is precious because your reward in heaven is determined by the way that you use it.
The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to say just when the hands will stop at late or early hour. Now is the time, the only time we own to do God's precious will. Do not wait until tomorrow, for the clock may then be still. Someone has said each moment is the meeting place of two eternities. Think about that. Each moment is the meeting place of two eternities. What you are doing now with this moment and the next and the next will affect your eternity to come.
And so as we enter 2008, time needs to be precious to us. It's the very stuff that life is made of, and life is such a wonderful gift from God. But maybe as we come to 2008 that there is a turning point that you need to arrive at. Or there is a commitment that you need to make so that your life will be better lived in the next year.
So that you will take greater advantage of the opportunities that God brings into your life so that your life will shape a message that will leave an example that you'll be proud of so that your eternal reward will be greater. Or so that you will be assured of heaven in the time to come. Bill and Gloria Gaither have such a marvelous gift of writing. Years ago they wrote a poem about time that captures to me so well what I'm trying to say to you this morning.
Hold tight to the sounds of the music of living. Happy songs from the laughter of children at play. Take my hand as we run through the sweet fragrant meadows making memories of what was today. You hear that tiny voice? It's not, it's my not so tiny daughter who's still calling for me to stop and listen what she has to say. And my little son running there down the hillside may never be quite like today.
We have this moment to hold in our hands and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand. Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today. We have this moment to hold in our hands. And yet it slips through our fingers like sand. Only a tiny minute, but eternity is in it. And the decisions that some of us make at this moment as we stand in the threshold of a whole new year, yet untouched, yet spotless, could make a difference for all eternity.
What is God calling you to do? What is the response that you need to make to the Lord this morning so that you show by what you exchange for it that your life is precious? You have no choice but to exchange it for something. You must give up your time for some use, for some purpose. Will you let it be God's purpose? The very best use of time is to lay it before God. For the more that we try to hang on to it, the more it slips through our fingers.
But if we will lay it out before God in an act of surrender to Him and present our life, our time to Him to direct and to use, to form, to bless as it pleases Him, then we keep it forever. Let's pray. Whether in this tender moment, I pray that you will help each of us to understand how quickly life is passing. And to pray as Moses did of old, that you would teach us to number our days so that we may have a heart of wisdom.
Of all, I pray that we will lay our lives into your hands, not seek to direct them or use them for ourselves, and to allow you to have your way with us, to realize that life is a stewardship to live it that way. I pray, Father, that in 2008 we'll exchange life for what counts, for what matters for all of eternity. Help us in this closing moment of the message to come to that point of decision and commitment before you. It's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen.