SF763 - How Can I Make The Most Of My Time - 3 of 11 ANSWERING LIFES TOUGHEST QUESTIONS (Ecclesiastes 3 1-17)
Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
Introduction
We live in the most time conscious nation on earth
We have more time saving devices than any other country and yet nobody complains about a lack of time more than Americans.
Today we're going to look at, How we can make the most of our time?
I am not going to tell you how to get twice as much work done in less time.
I want to talk about how to make the most of the times that are out of your control?
How to manage the unmanageable, the irritations, the inconveniences, the illnesses, the delays, when things just cause your schedule to fly out the window.
How do you make the most of those times?
Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 gives five keys:
Ø Accept, affirm, apply, appreciate, and anticipate.
1A. I WILL ACCEPT THE FACT THAT GOD HAS A PURPOSE IN EVERY THING I EXPERIENCE. (3:1)
1B. Every life has its share of positive and negative experiences. (3:2-8)
There is a divine balance in life.
God is the one who keeps the books.
2B. Only God can make sense out of life’s experiences. (3:11a)
Everything is not beautiful, but God makes “everything” beautiful.
Ø This includes every event in life.
He can bring good out of bad, beauty out of ashes.
3B. God is always at work even when we do not see Him.
God’s presence is not limited to our perception.
All of life is part of the plan. It's all appropriate in its place.
2A. I WILL AFFIRM MY FAITH IN GOD EVEN WHEN I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME. (3:11b)
1B. We have an inborn desire to know and understand the future.
2B. We have a limited perspective. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Our brain isn't big enough to handle all of God's plan.
Ø If you could figure out all of God's ways and understand why He does everything He does, you would be God.
3B. Only God can see the end results.
We see the worm and the cocoon, God’s sees the butterfly. We look at the external, God looks at the eternal. We look at the wrapping paper, God looks at the gift.
We look at the here and now, God looks at the long term.
Ø God says, don't make snap judgements just because you look at something and it doesn't look like its fair or right in your life
4B. There are some things we cannot know now.
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this."
2 Corinthians 1:9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
Sooner or later you will figure out that you can't figure it all out!
Two reactions acceptance & faith or rejection & resentment.
3A. I WILL APPLY MYSELF TO DOING GOOD IN THE TIME THAT I HAVE. (3:12)
1B. I will focus on both being and doing good.
By thinking of others and not just myself.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
2B. I will do what I can while I can.
Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
We do not have any guarantee of the future.
Ø Utilize the present and apply the present to doing good.
Procrastination robs us of blessings now and rewards in heaven.
4A. I WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ALL MY TIME IS A GIFT FROM GOD. (3:13)
1B. By seeing life as a gift not as a given.
We do not earn the time we have, It is all a gift.
What should you do with a gift? Enjoy it!
God wants you to enjoy your life not just endure it.
John 10:10 …I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The two things to do with your life: be happy and do good.
2B. By living each moment with an attitude of gratitude.
Time is a daily deposit on our account.
If you were notified that you would be given $86,400 every 24 hours as a free gift, no strings attached and you could use it any way you wanted to, but at the end of the day, whatever amount you have not spent would revert back to the bank and none of it carried over to the next day then you would probably spend some serious time trying to figure out how you would use the money.
Every morning, your Heavenly Father deposits 86,400 seconds into a daily time account. You get to choose how you use it. But if you don't use it, you loose it.
3B. By accepting life as it comes.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
Contentment is something you learn.
We have enough time to fulfill God’s will.
If you say, "I don't have enough time", it means
Ø You're doing something that God never intended for you to do, or
Ø You're doing the right thing in the wrong way.
5A. I WILL ANTICIPATE GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF MY TIME TO GOD. (3:15-17)
1B. Because God holds me accountable for how I live my life.
Romans 14:12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Time is the stuff life is made of.
Time is your most important, precious commodity.
Ø Money is a renewable resource.
Ø But you only have a certain amount of time.
Ø You get 168 hours a week -- no more, no less.
Everyone gets the same amount of time.
Ø If time is the most precious commodity, then wasting time must be one of the biggest sins.
2B. Because God commands me to invest my time wisely.
Ephesians 5:15-16 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
We choose how we will use our time.
We must make the most of our opportunities to serve God, because of the level of evil in our day.
Application
Are you making the most of your time?
What are you investing your life in?
What have you done to prepare for eternity?
2 Corinthians 6:2 For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
1A. I WILL ACCEPT THE FACT THAT GOD HAS A ___________________________ IN EVERY THING I EXPERIENCE. (3:1)
1B. Every life has its share of positive and negative experiences. (3:2-8)
2B. Only _____________ can make sense out of life’s experiences. (3:11a)
3B. God is always at work even when we do not see Him.
2A. I WILL AFFIRM MY _________________ IN GOD EVEN WHEN I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME. (3:11b)
1B. We have an inborn desire to know and understand the future.
2B. We have a ______________________ perspective. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
3B. Only God can see the end results.
4B. There are some things we __________ know now.
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this."
2 Corinthians 1:9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
3A. I WILL APPLY MYSELF TO DOING GOOD IN THE TIME THAT I HAVE. (3:12)
1B. I will focus on both being and doing __________.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
2B. I will do what I __________________ while I can.
Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
4A. I WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ALL MY TIME IS A _______________________ FROM GOD. (3:13)
1B. By seeing life as a gift not as a given. (John 10:10)
2B. By living each moment with an attitude of _____________________.
3B. By accepting life as it comes.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
5A. I WILL ANTICIPATE GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF MY TIME TO GOD. (3:15-17)
1B. Because God holds me ______________________ for how I live my life.
Romans 14:12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
2B. Because God commands me to _______________ my time wisely.
Ephesians 5:15-16 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.