Wake up Now and Redeem the Time!

If Jesus Christ, by some miraculous means, sent word to His church that He was returning to the earth one year from today, what would the next year of your life look like? If on August 2, 2015, Jesus Christ stood on the Mount of Olives along with His faithful saints, what would be the focus of your life over this next year?

Would this next year look different from the past year of your life? We think back on the last 12 months of our life, and if we were moving forward under this new perspective, would things change? Would things look different than they did this past year?

Would you find yourself becoming more focused in prayer? Would you maybe spend double or triple the time on your knees in prayer before God than you did this last year? Would you engage in more Bible study, more fasting, more meditation, more of those things that we do to draw into a close and personal relationship with our Father? What would your spiritual life look like, brethren, over the next year? If you knew that Jesus Christ was returning one year from today, would you more actively sacrifice for one another? Would you more actively serve one another and serve in the congregation? Would you love one another more fully?

Would there be more unity and fewer offenses and fewer divisions in the body of Jesus Christ if we knew He was coming back one year from today? We were out on our patio last week.

Darla and I were discussing this as I was thinking about what I would like to speak on today. Tabitha spoke up and said, I think if Jesus Christ was returning one year from today, I think there would be fewer divorces in the Church of God. You're probably right. I thought that was pretty good insight. Coming from a 12-year-old. Again, if you knew for certain that our Savior was returning one year from today, don't you think there would be an intensity in your spiritual focus?

Don't you think, brethren, that we would be wide awake, alert, on guard, ready for action, ready for service with Jesus Christ? Well, probably all of us would say, yes, we would be. I think you would be.

I think I would be as well. Well, brethren, as we know, the Scripture does not reveal the exact time of Christ's return, nor are the prophetic events staged to take place in the manner in which I have described. However, the Scripture does show us that we must be, in fact, living our spiritual lives today as if the return of Jesus Christ was right around the corner. The title of my message this afternoon is, Wake Up Now, Redeem the Time.

Wake up now and redeem the time. It's instruction that we receive directly from the Word of God. My message today comes to you in the form of a warning, as well as an admonition, but it's not a warning and admonition that originated with me. It originates from the very Word of God.

So let's delve into the Scripture this afternoon, see what the message is. We can glean from it. I'd like to begin by turning to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5 describes the level of alertness that you and I should have in our spiritual lives as we prepare ourselves for the return of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5, we're going to begin in verse 1. The Apostle Paul writing, 2 But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.

3 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 4 For when they say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

5 This is describing the condition of the world at the end of this age. 6 It is saying that when the day of the Lord comes upon them, it will be a surprise. 7 They'll be going about their daily lives, buying and selling, marrying, giving in marriage, such as was in the day of Noah, such as was in the day of Lot. 9 Life will be going on as usual. They will think things are pretty good. 10 Yet Christ says it will come on them in surprise.

11 The time for those individuals to turn their life around, to forsake their evil ways, to turn to God, will be up. 12 And just like labor pains comes upon a pregnant woman when it is her time to deliver, so will the day of the Lord come upon this earth. 13 And once it has begun, it will continue to increase in intensity, and it will not stop until all things are fulfilled. 14 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. 15 This thief, as we know, has its greatest advantage when it catches people by surprise. We heard about that in sermonette today. The All-Wines had a thief that showed up at their house. Again, if you're on guard, if you know that individual is coming, you'll be watching. But it says here that a thief comes and it's a surprise and the people are caught off guard. That will be the condition of the world at the end of the age. But as God's people, we do have an understanding. We have an understanding what God is doing both in this world and in our personal lives today. Therefore, we should not be caught unexpectedly. As long as we're remembering God's words, as long as we're internalizing this scripture into our life, we will be spiritually prepared. We will begin to wake up as that day approaches. Let me repeat verse 4 again. It says, But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. He says, You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. He says, Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. And therein lies the key. See, the vast majority of this world is asleep spiritually. It's in spiritual darkness. God says, We're to wake up and not be as the rest of the world. Verse 7 says, For those who sleep sleep at night, those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us, who are of the day, that's you and I, be sober. Putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. It says, For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. He says, Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. Brother, the message here from the Apostle Paul is, don't slumber. Don't sleep in darkness like the rest of the world. Again, this is describing a spiritual darkness. It's describing a world that is devoid of the light of God's truth, the light of God's message, not because it's not there, but because they refuse to hear it. Those who dwell in darkness will be taken by surprise at the return of Jesus Christ. But if you and I are awake, if we're watching ourselves, watching our spiritual condition, if we're alert, then we won't be taken by surprise, and we will, in that sense, be prepared as a bride adorned for her husband at His return. Again, the message is, we must wake up now and redeem this time we've been given. Romans 13 reiterates that message.

Romans 13, verse 11, what we find as we go through Scripture is, this is a huge focus, not only in the life of the Apostle Paul, but in the message that He shared with the Church, that we need to constantly be spiritually alert, awake, ready for action. Romans 13, verse 11, Paul says, And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And so there's a real urgency to his statement here.

He's saying, wake up now. Verse 12, he says, He says, Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. And so to wake up out of sleep, brethren, means that we'll be doing something with our life. We'll be doing something that's more than what this world around us is doing.

It means that we'll be focused on putting off the ways of flesh, putting off the ways of this world and the spiritual darkness that surrounds us, and we're going to be replacing it with the light of Jesus Christ in us. We'll be replacing it with his nature, with his character, with his love and mercy. You know, that doesn't happen overnight. It's a lifelong process. To put on the character of Jesus Christ takes time. To put off the nature of our carnal, selfish ambitions takes time. And so to think that we're okay right up into the brink of the return of Jesus Christ, and suddenly we can wake up and get our life in order, is a big mistake.

We must wake up and redeem the time we have today. Walking in this world in a sleeping condition is something that is easy to do. Frankly, waking up is not as easy as you would think. We can say, oh, we need to wake up out of sleep, and we say, okay, I agree with that. But how does our life actually change? Because, you see, we live in this world.

We function largely in agreement with the ways in this world, at least in terms of how we conduct our day-in and day-out routine of life. And so the daily cycle of this world gives us the danger. That's the threat, because we're comfortable. I can get up, I can go to work, there's no obstacles, I can provide a living for myself and my family, there's food on the table, I live in a decent neighborhood, I feel like there's safety around us. And so, in many ways, there's comfort in this world.

And if we're not careful, we can begin to feel like things are okay. I'm alright. The world's alright. I have time. We can look around and say, again, our job is good, and the roof over our head. But if we're not careful, we can become complacent. We can begin to think that life's just going to continue on, as it always has been. We can begin to think that the return of Jesus Christ must be a great distance off, and I don't really need to necessarily rev my life up into high gear in terms of becoming awake and zeal to this calling.

But the truth, brethren, is we must wake up now. Someday, time will be up. You know, we walk around in our life and we say, well, things aren't too bad, and I know I need to get better with my relationship with God. And we say, well, someday, when I don't have to get up so early for work, I'll devote more time to prayer.

Someday, when life's so busy and I don't have to run the kids to soccer practice, or I don't have to go and engage in this activity and that activity, or go out with my friends and I'll have more time to spend on my knees, more time to spend in the Word of God. Someday, I'll have the ability to pursue a deeper relationship with my fellow brethren, and we say, someday, someday, I'll have the time. But again, the Word of God tells us that someday, time will be up.

You and I can never afford to put off until tomorrow the spiritual development that God expects us to grow in today. We can never afford to say, it's okay. Life's good. Things are flowing smoothly. I have more time. That's the message we see from the Word of God. About a month ago, Austin and I were out driving along the work route, and we were heading down East Sprague in the Spokane Valley, and I went to make a right-hand turn onto a side street, and sitting at that side street was an SUV ready to pull out on the Sprague.

And so he saw me put my blinker on and slow down to turn, and as I'm making that turn, he pulls out. But what he doesn't realize is that there's a car back off the back corner of my trailer and it's just a little bit of a fling. It was sort of in a blind spot from his perspective.

He didn't see it. So he pulls out directly in front of this vehicle, and there's a collision. I mean, I'm making the turn. Five feet outside my open window, these cars collide. There's the screeching of tires and what sounded like gunshots as the airbags deployed. The SUV goes spinning around across two or three lanes of traffic, and the Buick that had been heading up Sprague then goes across about five, six other lanes of traffic and off the other side of the road. When we pull over, I get out, I go check the occupants of the SUV.

They appear to be doing pretty good. I go across the street to where the Buick is nosed over to the ditch, and there's an elderly gentleman behind the wheel, probably about his mid-80s, and he's in a bit of pain from his leg and hip area, and he's struggling to try to get out of the car. And so I remain with him. I keep him calm, just keep visiting with him, keep him in the car until the paramedics show up. They eventually took him away on a gurney, took him to the hospital to be examined.

About two weeks ago now, I received a phone call from the insurance company of the SUV that had pulled out in the traffic, and they were wanting to know, what did I see? What was my perspective on the accident? And during the course of the conversation, they told me that the elderly gentleman in the Buick died. He spent about two weeks in the hospital, and he died. And what they were trying to determine was, what was the liability on their part in terms of how injured was he from the accident, and maybe how much of this was pre-existing medical conditions. But the point was, he died. And that's how fleeting life is.

That's how quickly these things can happen. I mean, as soon as that accident happened, bang, I turned to Austin and I said, that's how quickly it happens. I mean, just instant. Blindsided without a clue. Brother in life is fleeting. It's temporary. That's how quickly you or I could run out of time if God allowed it. Again, the lesson is, we must wake up now, redeemed time. When I was a student at Ambassador College back in the 90s, I lived in Booth City.

Some of you have been out to Booth City, and a two-man booth was basically, I think it was about an 8x10 storage shed, basically, with an air conditioner and a couple closets at one end. You had a bunk bed to one side and two desks on the other, and just enough room to kind of squeeze your way in between. And yet, for a young man out on his own, for his first place, it was all right. Nowadays, we'll sit in a parking lot, and I'll be looking over at a newspaper collection bin or a clothing collection bin, and Darla will say, you're thinking you could live in that, aren't you?

I said, what can I say? That was like my first house. At some point, you say, I could live in one of those again, but Booth City was very small. I had a friend that, on a sophomore year, was assigned a new roommate, and this roommate worked in the kitchen. In the kitchen, you needed to be up early if you were staff to be in there, because breakfast had to be ready to go at 7 o'clock when students came rolling in the door, and so he had to be at work somewhere around 5.30. So this new roommate would set his alarm for 4.30 in the morning, because he wanted to get up and do prayer and Bible study and shower and had all these good intentions before he went to work.

So he set the alarm for 4.30. My friend, he didn't have to get up until about 7. But he said, all right, set your alarm as long as you get up when that alarm goes off. Well, the problem was, the alarm would go off at 4.30. The guy would reach over and hit snooze. Ten minutes later, it would go off.

He'd hit snooze. Ten minutes later, he'd hit snooze. And this would go on and on. And after a couple weeks of complaining about this, my friend finally said, look, I've had it. He said, don't do this again, because I stay up late and study. I'm trying to sleep in as I can.

I don't mind your alarm being set, but if it's going to go off, you get up. Don't keep hitting the snooze button. It's your last warning. Well, next morning, the alarm went off. 4.30 in the morning, the guy reaches over and hits the snooze button. Ten minutes later, it goes off again. My friend got out of bed, picked up his baseball bat. He stepped up to the plate and knocked the clock out of the park. That clock was on permanent snooze from that point forward. Now, I'm not condoning his actions.

I'm not celebrating what he did there. But, brethren, is our life sometimes like that sleeper? Do we hear the alarm going off? Do we know from the Scripture the alarm is ringing? We need to get up. We need to wake up. We need to get engaged. And yet, we look at the clock and we say, Christ is not returning yet. We still have time. We hit the snooze button. Alarm goes off a little later. Something jogs our attention, but we still have time.

Hit the snooze button. Are we like that sleeper that hit the snooze button all the way up to the end? The warning is we must not be. We must wake up now. You and I, brethren, can never afford to hit the snooze button on our relationship with God. One day the time will come when there is no more time. Let's go to Ephesians 5, verse 14.

Ephesians 5, verse 14. Again, the word is the Apostle Paul. He says, Therefore, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. To be spiritually asleep, in that sense, is to be spiritually dead. He says, Wake up. Verse 15, he says, 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.

There's so much, brethren, that's packed into this passage. I simply wanted to read through it so we could get the flow, but I'd like to go back and break it apart just a little bit and pull the lesson out of it. If we go back to verse 15, Paul said, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. To walk circumspectly means that you're watchful. It means you're cautious. It means you're prudent. Walking circumspectly essentially means to have an understanding of the circumstances that are surrounding you and the potential effect that they can have on your life. So this verse is telling us to be careful how we walk and to walk in wisdom. Proverbs 22, verse 3 says that a prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. So to walk circumspectly as the wise means that we're going to have an awareness of our surroundings. We're going to have an awareness of the world that we live in. An awareness of the spiritual darkness of this age. And it says we will take action then accordingly. The passage goes on to tell us that our surroundings are the days of evil. Again, it says spiritual darkness. And that's the condition, brethren, that has to dictate the action that you and I take in our life today. If you go on to verse 16, it says that we must be redeeming the time because the days are evil. To redeem something means to buy it back. It means to rescue it from loss. We all understand how the word redeem applies in terms of our relationship with Jesus Christ. But how does it apply in regards to time? How do you buy back time? Can you buy back time? Well, the answer is no. You can't buy back actually the time that has already passed. But you can reallocate the time you have going forward. You can rescue it from loss so that the time that you're spending is spent on more profitable ventures, as opposed to the things that are dissipation, such as this world is tied up in. Again, we can redeem from loss the time that we have going forward. Now, what's interesting about this verse and what largely gets lost in the translation is the urgency that's being conveyed by the word time. So I want to get technical with you for just a couple of minutes. I won't get complicated, but we'll get technical. The Greek word here that's translated time is karyos. And it's spelled K-A-I-R-O-S. Karyos. And it's translated time, and it means a fitting season, an opportunity, the opportune time.

Now, this word refers to a specific period of time during which something can be accomplished, but you can't necessarily go back and do it once again, once the time has passed. It's a different focus than the Greek word kronos, which is also translated time in Scripture. Kronos is spelled C-H-R-O-N-O-S. And kronos refers to the movement of time, the passage of time, the sort of day in, day out. The passage of time in the 24-hour cycle. Kronos is where we get the word chronology. It's very important to understand, brethren, the distinction between these two words that are translated time and Scripture in order to get the full effect of what it is that the Apostle Paul is saying. So let me give you a brief, side-by-side comparison of kronos and karyos. First kronos, you don't need to turn there, Luke 20, verse 9. It says, Christ began to tell the people this parable. A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vine dressers, and went into a far country for a long time. That's kronos. That's the passage of time, the marking of time. Let me give you an example of karyos, Romans 5, verse 6. It says, for when we were still without strength, and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. The words, due time, are karyos. My margin also says it can be translated, at the right time. And so there was a specific time that was the right time. That was the opportune season for Jesus Christ's ministry on this earth. It was the opportune time for him to come, live his life, and die as a sacrifice for all of mankind. Another example of karyos is Mark 1, verse 15. It says, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Again, the word time is karyos, and we're saying that it was the fitting season that was upon them for Christ's ministry. The karyos was fulfilled for Christ to walk in their midst. But that did not mean that the kronos stopped. Are you with me? The karyos was fulfilled. The kronos carried on. So let's go back to Ephesians 5, verse 16. Again, we'll evaluate Paul's words. He says we need to be redeeming the time because the days are evil. Karyos. Paul's saying that we need to rescue from loss the opportune time that God's given us to draw near to Him, because once that season passes, it will not come again. This is the opportune time.

Now, brethren, the flaw with this as humans is we tend to look around and again we say it's okay. It's okay. I have more kronos. I have more kronos. I have more kronos. We look at the clock. I have more kronos. And we keep hitting that snooze button. The reality is there will come a day when... let me start that over. There will come a kronos when there is no more karyos.

There will come a kronos when there is no more karyos. There will come a time when there is no more opportunity and time is up. That's what Paul is saying. That's why the Scripture tells us to walk circumspectly, to walk with the understanding of the season that we're in so that we will wake up now and redeem the time we've been given now. 2 Corinthians 6. Continue the thought. 2 Corinthians 6. Beginning in verse 1. Paul says, We then, as workers together with him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. He's saying you need to be actively doing something with the knowledge and the mercy, the understanding that you've received from God. Don't take the calling of God and the blessing he's extended to you and ignore it. Don't put it off. Don't undervalue it so much that it simply goes to waste in your life. Verse 2 says that, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Paul says, Behold now is the acceptable time. Behold now is the day of salvation. He says it's the acceptable time. It's the karyos. It's the opportune season. It's the time that you and I have been given. Rather than the time for us to respond to God's calling is now. Out of the billions of people that have lived on this earth down through the centuries of time, you and I are one of the few that have been called by God into a personal relationship with Him. It's a rare opportunity, and I think sometimes we forget just how rare it is. It's not a mistake. It's not time or chance. God has chosen you and me to be firstfruits in His family for all eternity. He's given us His Holy Spirit today so that we can do the things today that we need to do to build the Holy Righteous Character. We are looking for in each and every one of us. This is our day of salvation. Rather than this is our acceptable time.

If we allow ourselves to wander through life, sort of daydreaming, hitting the snooze button, I have more time, I'm daydreaming of the age to come, but it's a long ways off. If we allow ourselves to have that mindset, then we will sleep right through the karyos. The time and the season will be lost, and you and I will not have the opportunity to go back and do it again. One day there will be a kronos when there is no more karyos.

Let's turn to 1 Peter 4.

1 Peter 4 Brethren, we really need to ask ourselves, how are we doing? How actively are we light awake, working, functioning, being about our Father's business, and being about instilling in our lives the character and nature that He would have us to develop? Salvation is an exciting concept, and yet it's a sobering concept at the same time. This is our day of salvation, and not only does that mean that we've been saved, that we are being saved, but it also means that you and I are under judgment now for the way in which we live this life.

1 Peter 4, verse 16 Peter says, if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. He says, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved, will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him, and doing good as to a faithful Creator.

Peter said, the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. I don't know about you, but to me that Scripture is very sobering. The Scripture must be a wake-up call. For you and me, this life is a proving ground. It's an evaluation process. God's watching us to see if we will indeed be faithful to his calling, if we will indeed be faithful to put on the nature and character and stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ.

This evaluation process ultimately leads to a decision. Will we or will we not receive eternal life as a member of the family of God? This is not the time of judgment for this world around us. Not the judgment unto eternal life. This is the time of our judgment. This is our karyos. This is our time. We must wake up and redeem it. Brethren, what will our focus be in this life? How will we use the time that God has given us? What sort of things are we going to evaluate and then make our priority as we move forward? Let's remind ourselves of what it was we agreed to do at baptism.

What it was we agreed to make the priority. Let's look at a Scripture in Luke chapter 14. We go through this with everyone as they're coming up to baptism because it's an important part of the process and the committal process. Luke chapter 14 beginning in verse 25. This is sort of right on the leading edge of then going into the Scriptures regarding counting the cost. Luke 14 verse 25. It says, Now great multitudes went with Jesus, and he turned and he said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and yes, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

The word hate here is a comparative word, and it means to love less by comparison. So what Christ is saying is that there's nothing in this life that you can put ahead of him, ahead of your calling, ahead of your relationship with your father and your elder brother. There's nothing that can come between us and him in terms of our commitment level and our focus in terms of priority.

Because if anything comes ahead of God, if anything comes ahead of Jesus Christ, then eventually you and I will be willing to compromise for whatever it is that we hold most dear. So Christ says, if you're going to be my disciple, you must put all these things in the lower perspective compared to the calling and the relationship that I'm bringing to you.

It's a covenant relationship, brethren. Now, fortunately, what happens is life tends to get busy, doesn't it? And we tend to have these lofty goals for what our priorities should be, but life gets busy, there's obligations, there's activities, there's various things going on, and so we can start to flex the things that will allow themselves to be flexed in our life. We know that God must be at the top. Family must be next. And then everything else in life just sort of falls in order by certain levels of priority below that. And those lower priorities at times will jump up and down in position, given whatever is going on, whatever the circumstances are in our life at that time.

But God must remain steadfast at the top. Now, if we're not careful, we can find ourselves, when things get busy, when things are hectic, we find ourselves trying to flex God, trying to maybe adjust the time that we have to spend with Him so that we can go and spend it somewhere else. Family is the same way as well, and I'll have to admit that oftentimes when I have a deadline, when I'm busy, when things are going on that I need to take care of, I'll flex the family.

I'm not proud of that. I'm just saying that's the way it works. I'll flex certain of my obligations, the time that I have with the family, but you see, the family is understanding, and they're willing to be flexed to a point. I often take that point and I'll just stretch it a little farther. That's something I need to work on.

But if we're not careful, you see, we can do the same thing with God. We can begin to stretch that relationship, not give it as much attention as we should, because life's busy. We have other things going on. We each have 24 hours in the day, and yet it seems like there's not enough day to live all the life that we want to live. It seems like we can never pack everything we want into that 24 hours. And so I tend to evaluate my life sort of like juggling. You have all these balls that you're trying to keep in the air, and you don't really have a firm grip on any of them, but you're just trying not to drop the ball.

And eventually someone comes along and tosses in another ball, and instead of taking and putting one down, you just juggle a little faster. I mean, is anybody else's life like that? Tabitha? I doubt it. It's getting there. I think all our life is like that to some degree. We're juggling these balls. We have these obligations. We're not wanting to drop anything or let anything go.

But the problem is we can begin to juggle our relationship with God. The problem is we can turn God into one of those balls. So we just, you know, we got it going in the air, but we really don't have a firm grip. We really don't have a hold on that ball. Brethren, we need to take all the balls that we're juggling in our life, put them in the bucket, set them in the corner, and give God our undivided focus and attention.

To try to keep God in the mix in the same way that we keep every other priority in the mix just doesn't cut it with God. He wants that relationship. He wants that time. And it's a relationship that we have to have a firm handle on as we walk through this life. We tend to say things like, but my friends are going out to the ball game tonight. I've got tickets to the play. We want to go to Silverwood.

We want to have fun. We want to do all these activities. And so, again, we just keep the balls juggling. But, brethren, there are times in our life when we simply need to let go of the things that are important to us in order to do the things that are important to God. This world will always give us something to do. There will always be a social event, an activity, a deadline, a responsibility, a good opportunity that comes along. We're always going to be able to pack it into that 24-hour period and say, there's just no more time. Physical things are great, but they're temporary. Our focus needs to be on the spiritual, which is eternal.

So how do we balance our time? How do we wake up from all the things that this world is constantly throwing at us on a regular basis? And how do we prioritize God in our life above all else? Well, I would say the first thing that we should do is ask God to help us prioritize our time. Go to God in prayer and ask for His help. Let's look at a Psalm of Moses back in Psalm chapter 90. It gives us some instruction in this regard. Psalm chapter 90, beginning in verse 8.

Psalm of Moses. Actually, heading in my Bible says it's a prayer of Moses. Psalm 90, verse 8. He says, You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your accountenance. All of our days have passed away in your wrath. We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years, and by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away.

Now, that's a depressing analogy of the human life cycle, if I ever saw one. But it's true. It's true. This is the vanity and the temporary nature of our life. It's describing the struggle that we go through on each and every day, and yet what is it really worth? Verse 11. Who knows the power of your anger? For as the fear of you, so is your wrath. He says, So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Moses is asking God to help us understand the time that we have, to understand the brevity of life and how quickly it passes.

How this life is like a vapor. He's asking him to help us use each day wisely, use it to its fullest potential. Brother, I believe you and I should pray that prayer on a regular basis. Ask God to help you use each day to its fullest. Use each day to invest in the spiritual things that will last for eternity, as opposed to the things of this flesh which are passing away. Dave Ramsey is a radio personality who gives financial advice.

Probably many of you have listened to him. He has a Christian perspective and a moral basis in that way, and so I think his advice is very good. And so I often listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio, and he advises people with limited finances to quit throwing their money away on things that depreciate wildly in value. If you're barely squeezing by paycheck to paycheck, he says, don't go buy a new car. Don't go buy a new boat, jet ski, some of those other toys. He says, don't be throwing your money that you can barely hang onto out on things that lose value quickly. The problem is you'll go through life and you'll always be broke.

Instead, he advises people to invest their precious finances onto things that will appreciate in value. Real estate, a viable business venture, growth stock mutual funds, whatever those are. I don't have any. But he says, you want to invest your money on things that will increase in value. They'll put their money to work for you. You see, if you have too many of your financial legs in the basket of depreciation, you're going to get nowhere in this life financially.

You'll always be working, always making a paycheck, but in the end you'll have really nothing to show for it. Same principle applies to time as well. You and I need to wake up and quit throwing vast amounts of our limited time on things that depreciate us spiritually. On things that don't have any lasting value. Those are the things of the flesh. Instead, brethren, we need to be investing our times on the things that will increase our spiritual value before God. We need to invest our time on things that will last for eternity.

Again, remember, the physical things are temporary. It's the spiritual things that are eternal. The focus of our physical life needs to be on investing in eternity. That's what it means to wake up the redeemed time. Ask God to help you to number your days so that you gain a heart of wisdom. I also advise that as we wake up spiritually, we learn to treat God's time like tithe. Learn to treat God's time like tithe. You say, what do you mean, treat it like tithe? Well, when a new person begins to understand the truth of God, they come into the church and they find out, Oh, I need to tithe.

They say, there's no way. You know, I look at my budget, look at it on paper. This does not work. But as they grow in faith and knowledge, as they learn to trust God, as they take the steps and tithe, what they find out is you give to God the portion that's due to Him, and He'll take what you have remaining and He'll stretch it.

He'll allow it to work to cover what you need. It's not always going to cover your wants, but it will cover your needs. If we treat time like our tithe, we will give God His due right off the top. And then guess what happens to the rest of your time? God will allow it to work. God will allow you to fit in and accomplish what it is you need to do with the rest of your day.

Just give to God the portion that's due to Him. Sometimes I go out and I start a project, and I think this will be a quick project. This will have it knocked out in 15 minutes, and three hours later I'm fighting with it. Other times I'll go take on a project, and I'll think this is going to go on forever. And it goes very, very quickly. What's the difference? Well, I couldn't prove it to you necessarily scientifically and on paper, but I think oftentimes it's God stretching the time. If we give God what's due to Him, things just seem to go so much more smoothly during the day, doesn't it?

You get so much more accomplished with the time that you have remaining. But if you say, I don't have time for God, you rush out the door, you forget your prayers, you don't do any Bible study, it seems like the day is a mess. Maybe it's not the first day, maybe not the second day, but it catches up with you. Eventually, if God isn't grounded in your life, time won't work as it should.

Give God the time that's due to Him in prayer and Bible study. And then I would say, take some of those balls that you're juggling, some of those that depreciate you in value, those that are eating up your time that really aren't that important, and take and set them aside so you can truly focus on the things that are important.

Brethren, God's called us to wake up now. He's called us to redeem the time now. One final passage I believe ties this whole principle together is Matthew chapter 25.

Matthew 25, the parable of the Ten Virgins.

Beginning in verse 1, these are the words of Jesus Christ. He said, Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. And so we could say that five were walking circumspectly, five were not. Verse 3, Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And so the foolish had their lamps, their light was burning, they had oil in their lamps, that oil is representative of the Holy Spirit, but the wise had that as well, but they had additional oil as well. Five had some, but five had more. They had that extra vessel, that extra spiritual reserve. Verse 5, it says, But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. They all did. All ten. They fell asleep with their lamp burning. Verse 6, And at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. The lesson, brethren, is that you and I cannot give someone else the measure of our Holy Spirit. The relationship that we've developed with God, the spiritual level of maturity that we have, is personal and individual to each and every one of us. It's for you. It's for your eternal salvation. You cannot give that away to someone else. Five of the virgins had redeemed the time along the way. They had been well stocked with oil. Five had not. Now we have the bridegroom coming. And what's the problem? There's no more carrios. The time's up. The season is past. Verse 10, it says, And while they went out to buy, the bridegroom came, And those who were ready went in with them to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward the virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, assuredly I say to you, I do not know you.

Christ said, I do not know you. Brother, these were virgins. They had the lamps. They had the lamps that at one point had oil in them. They were the called, the converted of God. They had his Holy Spirit. Their light was going out, and Christ said, I do not know you. So what's the lesson for us? Verse 13.

The lesson is, watch therefore, For you neither nor the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. The warning from Jesus Christ Himself is that we watch. Watch what? Watch world events? Watch prophecy? Maybe in part. But the general and the driving focus behind his warning in this parable is that we watch ourselves. We watch our spiritual condition. We wake up now and redeem the time because we don't know how much more time we have until the return of Jesus Christ. And we want to be found ready. Just as the five wise virgins were ready, Brother, you and I want to be ready as well. And that is the lesson. Wake up now and watch yourself. Watch your spiritual condition. Should knowing the time of Jesus Christ's return make a difference in how we live our life today? Hopefully, brethren, we could all answer, no. No. We can never afford to make the kingdom of God the deadline by which we decide to live this Christian life. Our Christian calling is not about a deadline. It's about a way of life. It's about being converted in heart, soul, and spirit according to the word of God and the nature and the character of God. Christ told us apostles that it wasn't for them to know the times or the seasons that the Father had put into His own authority. And it's not for us to know either. What is for us to know is the clear and resounding warning and admonition that we receive from the very word of God. God's message to His people, and especially now at the end of the age, is wake up now. Redeem the time.