The Vanity of Time
Notes
Transcript
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Introduction
Introduction
General
Previewing Dr. Strange…
Quotes about time
“Time is a storm in which we are all lost.” ~ William Carlos Williams
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” ~ Harvey Mackay
“Time is the great enemy.” ~ Winifred Holtby
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” ~ William Penn
Personal: What do you think about time? How do you use your time?
Biblical: We spend so much of our lives worrying about and trying to control time. We all know that our time will eventually come to an end. In fact, the certainty of death is one of the main points Solomon wrestles with throughout Ecclesiastes. How can life have meaning when eventually it comes to an end?
Subject: How can we live the good life when we are nothing but a leaf floating along on the river of time?
Body
Body
Everything has a time. Accept it. Everything has its season. Acknowledge it.
Explanation (v. 1)
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
Everything has a time. We can’t change it. We can’t avoid it. We can’t speed it up or slow it down. The good life is not found in trying to change the season God has ordained for us.
There are good times and there are hard times. There are times of plenty and times of barely scraping by. There are seasons of victory and seasons of loss.
We expend so much energy, effort, and stress trying to avoid the difficult times in life. And when we’re in a season of suffering, the first question we ask is, “What’s the fastest way out?”
There is no fastest way out. No matter how hard I try or how badly I want it, I can’t make 12:00 come before its time. I can change my watch and pretend it’s not 11:00, but that doesn’t make it 12:00. 12:00 comes when 12:00 is.
If we can’t change it, what do we do? We figure out what time it is, we accept it, and we wait on the Lord.
Illustration: The past 8 months of my life… Isa 40:31.
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Application: What time is it? Don’t try to avoid it. Don’t pretend it’s a different season. Deal with whatever needs to be dealt with in this season. Don’t try to self-medicate through the hard times with pornography, alcohol, prescription pain killers, comfort food, or binge-watching Netflix. Don’t try to distract yourself from reality of the time you’re in through overworking, over-scheduling your social life, or filling every free moment with your hobbies. Everything has a time. Accept it.
God has a purpose for every time. Live in harmony with it. God has work for every season. Join him in his work.
Explanation
Verse 11a… Who is “He?” God. God makes everything beautiful in its time.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Verse 14… The word “fear” doesn’t mean that we are terrified of God. It means that we stand in awe of him, in awe of his holiness and power, in awe of his goodness and love, in awe of his awesome deeds that endure forever.
14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.
In every season and every time, it is God’s purpose that matters most and leads to a meaningful life. God works in every season to draw your heart to his because when your heart is with him, then you find meaning in life—even in the desert seasons.
Verse 11b… We have the desire for eternity, but not the capacity to understand eternity. Why would God do this? So that our hearts would be drawn to his. I don’t have the capacity to see from the beginning to the end. But I know the One who is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. I don’t have the capacity to grasp the concept of eternity. But I know the One who was and who is and who is to come. I don’t have the capacity to count the stars, but I know the One who numbers the hairs on every human being’s head. I don’t have the capacity to deal with all the evil in the world (or even the evil in my own heart), but I know the One who, although he was without sin, became sin for us so that in him we could become the righteousness of God.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
In every season, God has a purpose, and the good life is found in living in harmony with his purpose.
Illustration: God is the melody, we are the harmony…
Application: Do I trust that God knows what’s best better than I do? Am I willing to follow his lead, and be the harmony to his melody?
Our time here is limited. Make the most of it. Our days are numbered. Seize the day.
Explanation
Verses 19-20… Life is short. Our days are numbered. Our time is limited. So what we should we do? Live (vv. 12-13).
19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
Carpe diem. Seize the day. But God’s version of carpe diem isn’t for self-fulfillment. Rather, we seize the day for the glory of God and the common good. The Christian message is not to abstain from life. Rather, Jesus invites us to live, to really live. Live today. Taste every breath. Savor every moment. Do the work God has set out for you to do today.
“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24).
24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matt 6:34, The Message).
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
“Wherever you are, be all there” (Jim Elliot).
Illustration: Every day is a gift. “If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance” (Andrea Boydston).
Application: Every day is a gift. What are you doing with your gift?
Conclusion
Conclusion
The good life is found when we accept the reality of time, live in harmony with God’s purpose in it, and make the most of it.
Communion: Listening prayer
Communion: Listening prayer
What time is it?
Where am I not in harmony with your purpose?
What would you have me do today?