Three Sure Ways to Waste Your Life

Grab your Bibles and let's go to Philippians.

Philippians chapter 3, I want to use the main thrust of the truth of Philippians 3, 13 and 14 and then do something of a systematic overview of a simple truth from this simple, simple outlined sermon to renovate our thinking, renew our thinking, retune our hearts to those mundane, ordinary things that really, really matter the most. It's great to have a true church conference and our hearts soar and it's just a blessing. We have all these brothers and sisters.

It's really a big family reunion who come in from all over the place and we just are blessed to see them again. Now we're like Paul. We don't, we're not perfect at it, but we need to be purposing toward it. I'm going to preach to you about three sure ways to waste your life. Three sure ways to waste your life. Philippians 3, 13 and 14. If you want to for surely waste your life, then do the opposite of what Paul says about himself in Philippians 3. Philippians 3, 13, 14. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet.

Hadn't arrived. I'm not perfect. I'm not the perfect Christian yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind.

And that's a good word for a lot of us this morning. Forget what's behind you. It's under the blood. It's gone. It's over. Now, but reach forward to what lies ahead. Paul continues on in verse 14. You may just could amplify that out and say, I press toward a faithful commitment to service to Christ in this world. I press on toward a faithful commitment to service to Christ in this world. Okay, three things, three sure ways to waste your life in 2023. Number one, give yourself to the wrong things.

That's a sure way to waste your life. Give yourself to the wrong things. I mean, what is the main thing? What is the main purpose and following that pattern of your life? What do you give yourself to? What are you in pursuit of?

If it's not the right thing, that's a sure way to waste your life. Now, the foolish man, the carnal man, the man of this world, usually what he's pursuing, what he's giving his life to is a combination of four things, profit, power, pleasure, and popularity. Profit, wealth, power, power and control, pleasures, and popularity. These base proud passions drive this world. Look out there at the world system, and these are the things that are the motivating driving factors that run this present world system. And these things are driving the world straight off a cliff, straight into the abyss. But we're not like the world.

We're not of the world. Proverbs 14, 12 reminds us, there's a way which seems right. It seems right to live your life for profit, power, pleasure, popularity.

It seems right to a man, that means the natural man, the unregenerate man, the man whose eyes have not been spiritually opened, but it's end is the way of death. Ecclesiastes 5, 10, he who loves money, not has money, that's not sin, but he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income, this too is vanity. It's not wrong to have wealth, even great wealth. God used men who had great wealth.

Thank God for Lydia. She let Paul and his associates live in her home because she was a wealthy lady, she could handle it. Thank God for Philemon, another wealthy man who had a room in his house. And Paul could just call Philemon, well, he didn't call in those days, right Philemon, and say, hey, Philemon, get my room ready.

Because he had the kind of house that had plenty of room for Paul to relax and do his study or whatever he needed to do. God uses wealth, it's not wrong to be wealthy, but listen to me, it is dangerous to be wealthy. You have a much higher accountability because God's given you responsibility for much more stuff. And it's a dangerous temptation to have a lot of wealth. But it's not sinful, but it is dangerous. 1 Timothy 6-11, in the context of the world and worldly pursuits, Paul tells Timothy, but flee from these things you men of God. Don't let these things become your primary motivation for life, the driving force of your life, that's giving yourself to the wrong things. And pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. God is absolutely sovereign, brothers and sisters, but his sovereignty includes for us to grab ourselves by the nap of the neck, for us to gird up our loins and push ourselves toward righteousness and godliness, i.e. genuine and devoted service to Christ and his church. Now, there is a simple, profound concept that few seem to find and fewer even that seem to understand, a simple, profound concept.

Here it is. That if one's heart motive and pursuit in life is profits, power, pleasure, and popularity, or some mixture, then these things become a curse. They become a curse. But if one's heart motive and pursuit is to serve and glorify God, and in their endeavors, God gives them these blessings, profit, power, pleasures, even popularity, then it's blessed.

Did you get that? Then it's a blessed thing. I often speak to you about the difference between blessed and blessed wealth and cursed wealth. I hope all of our young businessmen, I'm really excited about the Philemon Fellowship because the concept is our older guard who's already repented a lot and learned a lot and got things better in order a lot. The older businessmen are trying to disciple the younger ones, not with legalism, you don't have to do it exactly like the older guys, but with the principles of heart that says Christ is first.

It just excites me greatly, because without a Lydia, without a Philemon, without an Aquila and Priscilla, Paul's great gospel preaching, church planting work wouldn't have made it. He needed those guys who had been successful, but they had gotten things right after their conversion and put serving God in the glory of God above the pursuit of prophets and power and pleasures and popularity, even though God gave some of them some of these things, but it was a blessedness because they had given themselves to the right thing. Now, another way to illustrate this is two different men from the Bible.

I'm just going to kind of run through this quickly for time's sake, but two different men. First of all, the Apostle Paul. He's on the road to Damascus.

He's unconverted. He's Saul of Tarsus. And on the road of Damascus, persecuting Christians, a bright light shines from heaven. He's knocked off of his horse. And in essence, Paul says, What is this, Lord?

What is this about? Jesus speaks from heaven and said, I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. You don't understand something, Paul. I am the Messiah.

And when you persecute my ekklesias, my called out local churches, you're persecuting me. And then Paul meets Jesus. Paul asks, Well, what's this about? And as Paul learns what it's about, he makes the right decision. He gives himself to the right thing. Philippians 3, 13 again. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, the upper call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul meets Christ.

Who are you? What's this about? He learns what it's about. And he says, That's what's the priority of my heart and life now. That doesn't mean you all become missionaries to some remote village somewhere, okay? But it means where you are with your mundane responsibilities as a homemaker and a mom or dad or a business owner or student or wherever you are, the pinnacle motive of your heart must be to give yourself to the right thing, Jesus and his work and his kingdom.

You'll never regret that. Some of you might leave my preaching thinking, Golly, I wish you'd get off of me a little bit. But when you get at the judgment seat of Christ, just say, Thank God for a pastor who always pressed on me what mattered. My flesh needed the alerting, the shocking, the reminder. Well, that's a man who made the right decision and made a decision that made sense.

Here's a man who made the wrong decision. Mark 10. The Bible says he was setting out on a journey and a man ran up to him and knelt before him. This is a man kneeling before Jesus. And he said, Jesus, good teacher, what shall we do that we might inherit eternal life? And Jesus said, Well, why do you call me good?

Now, Jesus is giving this guy unique, particular challenge for this man's unique, particular idols and struggles. Okay? And Jesus says in verse 19, Well, you know the commandments. Do not commit murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud.

Honor your father and mother. And this guy arrogantly says, and he may have really believed this because outwardly he may have kept these pretty well. But inwardly our hearts are always violating them. He says, Well, teacher, I've kept all these things from my youth up. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, Now, here's this particular man's personal plan of salvation.

This isn't for anybody else. Jesus knew this man's heart. He knew the one idol that he was honoring instead of God.

And he nails it. Jesus said, Well, one thing you lack then. Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor. You shall have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

Now, that's not the requirement for anybody. Matter of fact, I think if this man had willingly chose to do what Jesus said, God would not have made him give everything. It was a matter of his heart getting right about his idol of profits and wealth. Verse 22, But he makes the wrong decision, a decision that doesn't make sense, a decision that means he wasted his life. Verse 22, But at these words he was saddened and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

But we know the reality of that, the truth behind that. Not only did he own much property, his property owned him. His stuff owned him. And he could not look to Jesus as his Lord because he had a Lord already. So this man meets Jesus. And in effect, he says, Teacher, Christ, what's this all about? And Christ says, Okay, this is what it's about, repenting of all idols that you're looking to and turning and trusting me, basically what Christ is saying.

And this man says, I can't do that. I worship and love my stuff over God. And he makes a wrong decision and wastes his whole life. It reminds us of the rich farmer in Luke 12. Remember the farmer in Luke 12? Jesus gives this parable and this farmer's been so very successful. He just keeps building bigger barns and building bigger barns. And finally, he's just so wealthy and he's getting a little into age and he says, I tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to just sit back and relax and enjoy this immense wealth that I've amassed. Luke 12, 20 says, But God said to him, You fool, this very night your soul is required of you.

And now who will own what you have prepared? We've established from Scripture very thoroughly from the ancient kings of Israel, David and Abraham, and wealthy folks in the New Testament who honored God. It's not about the man having a great successful farm, it's about the man that he worshiped it. He gave his life for that instead of saying, All of this is to honor my Lord. I may enjoy the fruits of my labor, certainly you should, but the heart motive to honor Christ is giving yourself to the right thing. So the first sure way to waste your life is just to give yourself to the wrong thing.

And it almost always is a combination of profits, power, pleasures and popularity. I don't know if you know this, maybe if you hadn't been around here very long, you don't know it as well as some of us know it that have been here for several decades, but we made many decisions as pastor in church that did not make us popular. And it wasn't fun. And it didn't help my salary at the church. I'll never forget when I first became the pastor, likely the wealthiest man in this church walked out the door and said, This place will go under in six months. Well, that's been about 42 plus years and we're still here.

Amen. But that wasn't any fun. We were a young church, a lot of bills, a lot of stuff. I didn't know what was going to happen.

You didn't know what was going to happen. Isn't it amazing? God's given us wealth and God's given us power. We have influence in a lot of places we couldn't, I wouldn't have dreamed of a few decades ago.

God's given us some popularity in the right places for the right reasons. And it's been pleasurable, really pleasurable after we got over the bell curve. You got to get over the bell curve. You don't stop three ways, three fourths of the way up the bell curve and compromise because it's costing too much. You got to keep on being obedient.

Then you get over the bell curve. Oh, my goodness, it's so good. You see Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain, did not stop till he got to the top.

And then he saw the ram. Number two, if you want to waste your life in 2023, here's a sure way to do it. Give in to your natural lazy streak.

Just give in to your natural lazy streak. Brothers, we have a new religion in our land. It's actually an old religion, Satan just keeps repackaging and put different terms and different paint colors on it.

Then he brings it back out again. It's just old man centered humanism is all it is. Just old Satan religion that man can be his own God. That's all it is.

But this new religion, call it progressivism or call it wokeism or call it social justiceism or whatever you want to call it. It basically says you're all victims and you're all oppressed and you all deserve to get a lot of stuff free from the government. We used to live paycheck to paycheck. I know what that's like. Some of you know what that's like or you used to know what it's like at least. Now we've got a whole generation that doesn't live paycheck to paycheck.

They live election to election. We got to get the right people in office to give us more free stuff we don't work for. And it destroys the soul of humankind to get things that they did not labor and earn the kind of self-respect and discipline and blessedness of knowing that my labor helped produce what I have. So this live Satan that laziness and blame shifting and pointing your fingers at others and saying, I'm so woefully abused and victimized that I ought to just coast through life and everybody else ought to cater to me. Well, that's a sure way to waste your life.

That's an absolute waste of life. That's why the apostle Paul says concerning his devotion to Christ and his church, 1 Timothy 4.8, For bodily discipline is only of little profits, not of no profit. There's good to discipline your body physically speaking, exercise, ride eating, whatever that may be, different things. But godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life, that's right now, and also for the life to come. So in this new year, let's don't give in to our natural lazy streaks. Let's recommit ourselves to discipline ourselves for godliness, because it's best for us now, absolutely best for the age to come, our eternal state. Now, this is not natural, though. But after you're converted, your nature is changed. And because of the changed nature, you begin to strive by the power now in you to make this the new natural of your life, the new norm of your life, to strive for godliness first. So in other words, if you want to waste your life, then don't strive to seek God in the morning before you leave for your work or school or whatever you do. If you want to waste your life, then don't try to have a vital prayer life.

If you want to waste your life, then don't strive to be faithful in tithes and offerings when it's fun and when it ain't fun. Don't attend the meetings of the congregation regularly. Don't serve your brothers and sisters in small groups.

Don't be a part of our vision to go and make disciples of all the nations and planting biblically healthy New Testament churches to the end. Just don't do it. Just don't do it.

Coast, just don't do it. Just give in to your natural lazy streak. That's a sure way to waste your life. Just make easy choices. Just make soft choices.

Stay in your comfort zone. Brothers and sisters, God deserves all the glory and honor and credit for anything good that's come through this ministry, but you don't have the ministries we have today if you just sought comfort zones and easy ways to get things done. And I'm not talking about just me, I'm talking about us.

It was hard on a bunch of you too. 1 Corinthians 9, 27, Paul says, I discipline my body and make it my slave. My body, my old fallen humanity, this old unredeemed nature wants to be lazy about the things of God. And Paul says, so I have to discipline my body, lest after I've preached to others, I myself might be disqualified. Now, when he says I discipline my body, it literally has the idea of turning it black and blue.

Just kind of, it's a mental picture. It's a metaphor, a tough physical disciplining of myself to make sure I stay putting first things first. It's like the war horses pulling the chariots in the old days, the days of biblical days. And those horses were mighty and strong and powerful and they had to be kept in line by whip and rain.

That's what he's saying. Got to be tough on me so that this old fallen unredeemed natural laziness doesn't ruin my life, get me chasing stuff that doesn't matter. You know, the truly great people are the quote and then some people, end of quote. They do what other folks would do and then some. They pray like other folks would pray and then some. They give like other folks would give and then some. They preach and study like other folks would preach and study and then some. Jesus said, you know, if you're going along, if you're my disciple and a Roman soldier comes and says, you know, it's the Roman law, you got to carry my pack for a mile. He said, go ahead and take it two miles, do what other folks would do and then some.

If somebody sues you based on the fact that you love Christ and they want to take your shirt, go ahead and give them your coat also, do what other folks would do and then some. Don't give in to your lazy streak. I got a natural lazy streak. Do you have one of them?

I got one. That's why I need the word every week and I need prayer every week and I need you every week to jar me back closer to what really matters in my life. Brothers and sisters, this is why we have Anchored in Truth Ministries and Anchored in Truth Missions to plant churches and mentor churches around the world. This is why we have the True Church Conference because you as a church have done what other churches would do and then some. You didn't stop at what was culturally convenient. You didn't stop at what was the status quo understanding of churches of our age.

You said, what does the book say? Well, let's go there, which really means let's don't pat ourselves on the back. Let's don't rest on our laurels. Let's don't think we've arrived. We're barely normal. It's just that the average church today is grossly subnormal. Are y'all with me this morning? I don't have to start over on point one.

Let's get this. May be my preaching, but it's good truth. God sometimes for His children steps in and He helps us discipline ourselves. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 that the Lord gave him a messenger of Satan to torment him. That's the New American Standard Word, to torment him. Now, I don't know if Satan himself has ever tormented us. I mean, Satan is not omnipresent.

He can only be one place at one time. I don't know if the demon Satan has ever messed with me or not, or ever really messed with you. Paul said it was a messenger of Satan. Matter of fact, I don't know how Satan's gonna come and mess with any of us individually.

He spends all his time in Washington, D.C. You don't come up with a vile filth and wickedness and not just come up with a vile filth and wickedness, but celebrate and promote and force and push vileness, grossness, ungodliness and wickedness unless Satan's having an influence. That's the world we live in. Thank God we're not of the world, amen?

We are an oasis of sanity in a world that's gone mad. That's what the local church is. But when Paul said that I was given this messenger of Satan to buffet me, in a broader sense to humble me, the word torment in that verse is the same idea as the word discipline when Paul earlier said, I discipline my body. So he says, I do it, then God sometimes steps in and helps me.

Maybe it's a sickness, maybe it's a family situation, maybe it's a marriage in trouble, maybe it's a child that breaks your heart, maybe it's a job you didn't think you'd ever lose. I don't know what it is, but sometimes God steps in and says, I'm helping you discipline yourself for godliness a little bit here. God sometimes gets more directly active in our discipline process.

He's certainly done that in my life. None of you have had to repent more and restart more and get things in order again more than your pastor has. Let's begin 2023 with a new level of discipline in the things that matter so that we don't waste our lives giving into our natural lazy streak.

Instead of missing 15 or 20 small groups this year, let's cut it back to eight. Discipline yourself for godliness. You can't come to our small groups and it not help you be more godly. You can't come sit under spirit anointed preaching of the word and it not help you be more godly.

And there's lots of different things, your prayer time, your quiet time, sharing the gospel, discipline yourself for godliness. Don't give in to your natural lazy streak. That's a sure way to waste your life.

Number three, not only giving in to your natural lazy strength and not only just generally giving your life to the wrong things, but thirdly, third way to surely waste your life is to spread yourself too thin. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. 2 Corinthians 5, 10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Now note, it's not that you didn't do anything, it's that you did too many things that didn't matter.

You did a lot of things that were good and a lot of things that were not good, they were bad. And we'll all give an account. And it's not an account as to determine your judgment. It's an account to determine what did you really do to the benefit of Christ's glory and Christ's church after he saved you and he appointed you to that job. You see, every church member here has been appointed to a job in this church, just like I have been appointed to a job. Now your job's not my job and my job's not your job, but we've all been appointed to a job in our church. And one of the sure ways Satan trips up good folks is he just subtly, slowly creeps in this thing and this thing and this thing and this thing and all these things take your interest, takes your heart, takes your energy, takes your emotions, and pretty soon you don't have much heart, energy, emotions, and time for the Lord's stuff.

I don't know where that is for you and I'm not judging anybody about that. But be cautious about spreading yourself too thin. Matthew 13, 22, the Lord gives the parable of the soils and all these seeds fell on different kinds of dirt or soil. And the one on whom the seed was sown among the thorns, this is that thorny soil, this is the man who hears the word and the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. Now you go on in the text and it talks about, but there was some seed sold not on thorny soil or shallow soil, but on good soil. And the man hears the word and he bears fruit a hundredfold, some 60 fold, some 30 fold. Two phrases in that parable about how things choke out our effectiveness, the worry of the world, the deceitfulness of wealth.

Generally speaking, stuff that wants my attention and my time and my energy that really doesn't matter. Spreading myself thin. Now the text is about those who are not truly saved versus those who are truly saved.

These are not a word for the saint of God here too. One irrefutable, irreversible key to avoid being spread too thin. Now folks, this is it. I'm telling you, this is it.

This nails it. It's all over if you get this right. Here's the one irreversible, irrefutable key to not get yourself spread too thin. If you're listening, say amen. Put first things first. Just simply do first what really matters. Matthew 6, 33.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you. They're not all wrong. They're just not first. They're not all bad or evil.

They're just not first. And all this starts with heart motive, folks. This is not just an outward put on thing. It's an inward heart motive. What's first in our hearts?

As they say, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It's really simple. Put first things first. Here's what first. I'm dedicated to serve Christ. That's first.

That's first. A lot of you are just starting your companies. Some of you businessmen, you were just starting your companies when I became your pastor.

And some of you are already retiring. So if you put your company first, now you're empty. But if all through building a successful company, which is God's will, of course, you kept saying, well, I'm going to work hard here, but it's all for Christ. I'm going to put Christ in His kingdom first.

Then you still got something when you retire. You're still on the same track, just a kind of different assignment in the whole ballgame. The first thing is I'm dedicated to serve Christ and serve Christ with my family, centered in a local church. We have no other biblical guide than that.

You may do other things, but you've got to be centered in a local church as far as your service for Christ. And then everything else comes after that. See how simple? That is so simple. Christ first, serving Christ through having a local church centered concept, vision of my service, and then whatever else fits in after that is whatever else I do. Just put first things first.

You cannot follow Christ and do everything the world offers. The world needs to hear more no's. No, from many of us. The world says, here's a good thing. Here's an exciting thing. Do this, chase that, be a part of this. May not be wrong at all, but there may be too many of them. Some of them need to hear a resounding fatherly, mature, godly, backbone like a saw log. No, we can't do everything the world says to do because we've got first things we're committed to.

Mutton can do so many of the other things. You see, being over committed and spread too thin leads to being stressed out, leads to anxiety, and all that's just idolatry. Children's activities, brothers and sisters, I don't know which ones you're supposed to say no to, but you're going to have to say no to many of them.

It's just, it's a level of insanity. The number of, quote, good things, and they are good things, unless they create out the main thing. The number of good things the Lord floods your life with for your children to do. And then you tag on, you check the box here and there. Well, I went to church, I did this, did that. Now, whoo, back to the things I'm really about. You need to check your heart motives. We are not in the business of judging each other here. I don't know where you're supposed to land, but you better be prayerful, discerning about these things.

And I'm going to say it again, I say it often, but I am genuinely burdened about our ladies. God called you to be a wife. God called you to be a mother. God called you to be a diligent and good keeper of your home. If you do anything else, you're moonlighting.

That's not wrong. It may not be sin, but did you really pray it through and say, can I put first things first and still do these things? And I thank God for our ladies who really try to make sure that they do the kind of work that balances with their children's school life and things so that they're there when the children are there. I don't know how to slice all that, but we need the challenge and the charge today. Be careful, be discerning. Put first things first. He's first, his kingdom is first.

And don't miss this phrase. I believe this is a good one. He's first, his kingdom is first, i.e.

for us, local churches. Then everything else comes under that and flows within that. Everything else comes under that and flows within that. That'll really help you from spreading yourself too thin. There's a conditional insight in Proverbs 18, 24. Proverbs 18, 24 says, a man of too many friends comes to ruin. Well, I want to be a friend to everybody, but that's not what it's talking about. You want to be friendly to everyone. But a friend, you see, to be a real friend takes a lot of work, a lot of commitment, a lot of time. And if you're a good friend like that to a lot of people, you can't fulfill all of that and you end up disappointing the, quote, friends and then they get mad at you and they're offended and it'll ruin you. The point is you were just spread too thin.

A man of too many friends comes to ruin. Well, let me wrap up and say this. Do you feel beat up right now?

Do you feel beat down by this? Well, God's not doing that to you and neither am I. But what God is doing and what I'm striving to do for you is to release you from a bondage and a burden that we are sometimes too dull to see. Jesus said in Matthew 11, 28 through 30, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I'll give you rest.

That's good stuff right there. Oh, dear child, come kneel at my feet. Take the truths of my word that are very clear for you.

Do those first and forget the rest if necessary. Come and rest. So that's what God's telling you. He's not beating you up. He's saying, I want the burden off of you.

I love you. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. The yoke is the old workhorse yoke.

You put it on the horse and he's in bondage then in a sense to the load. Jesus said, but I've got a yoke you put on yourselves. Take the world's yokes off, take those off, put my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Jesus didn't just die on a cross in heaven and shout down to us, well, I've done the work now. Your sins can be forgiven and you can have eternity with me.

He didn't just, he came down here as a baby and lived among us so that he experienced all of our sorrows, all of our heartaches, all of our disappointments, all of our weaknesses and he can sympathize with us. So he says, I know what you're going through and I've got a yoke you need to put on. Take the other one off, take the yoke of Christ's lordship and service Christ, put that on, you'll find rest for your souls. Verse 30, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. There's only two kinds of yokes and every single one of us are under one of the two. There's the world's yoke of burden and the Lord's yoke of blessing. But you're under a yoke.

Problem is the world lies, the world deceives, the world camouflages, the world manipulates to make you think its yoke is good for you, but it's not. And so the Lord says, I love you, I care. Take off the world's yoke of burden and put on my yoke of blessing. Spreading yourself too thin is putting a yoke of burden on yourself. Taking up the yoke of his lordship is putting on the yoke of blessing.

But for certain, you're under somebody's yoke. Well, those are three sure ways to waste your life. Just give yourself to the wrong stuff, just bow out and give in to your natural lazy streak, or just keep on spreading yourself too thin.

Three sure ways to waste your life. I don't know about you, but your pastors had to repent some studying this, and I charge you to repent too. Be like Paul and say this one thing I do. I think the idea of this one thing I must do, this one thing I must do, serve my Christ and advance his kingdom. And if we will put first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now listen, this is what the Bible promises. All these things.

Now the things in that context was the worldly things that the disciples thought they had to have. That doesn't mean you don't have to have a work ethic, et cetera, et cetera. And can I just do a little addendum here?

I was going to say I know what time it is, but I have no idea what time it is. Here's a little addendum. If we can teach our children to be disciplined and respectful and honest, they will rule the world. Because this world is full of lazy, undisciplined, disrespectful, dishonest monsters. Good, solid Christian young people will run this world. That's what it means when it says the meek will inherit the earth. They're strong, but they're disciplined. I even like the phrase they're dangerous, but they're like a sword kept in a sheath.

They don't bring it out unless it's righteous to do so. But they're strong and mighty, but it's under control and discipline. Well, amen. That's what's been burning on my heart this week. It's no time to quit. It's no time to coast. Yeah, you need seasons of break. I get that, trust me, I know that. Jesus took 11 of them, the Bible records. We broke away to get a little breather, a little refresher to go back. We need some of those, but let's get back with it. Don't waste your life.