The Time of Your Life

Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers. Take God's word, please, and turn if you would. To Ephesians.

Chapter 5. Ephesians Chapter 5. And I want to begin reading in verse 14. in just a moment. One of the most memorable bowl games took place some years ago.

It was the Rose Bowl. in Pasadena. and the University of California was playing Georgia Tech. And it was quite a game because both of these schools at that time We're undefeated. And it was late in the second quarter.

And Tech had the ball. and they were pressing hard on the 33-yard line. When a man named Thomason was hit and the center Well the University of California scooped up the ball. spun around and began to run with it. The crowd started to cheer.

And he took this fumble. and uh headed Toward the goal. His eyes were watching peripheral vision. He's moving to the right and the left. His knees are up high, his legs spread apart.

He's running brilliantly. But with one problem. He's headed toward the wrong goal. He has somehow gotten confused. And spun around, he is literally headed.

for the wrong goal with this scooped-up fumble.

Now The incredible thing is his own teammates are trying to tackle him. And the opposition is running interference for him. And finally. Down on the one-yard line after running almost 67 yards. In the wrong way, Roy Regals.

Is tackled by Benny London, one of his own teammates, on the one-yard line. Can you imagine the shame? The humiliation. as he walks back toward the bench. The jeers, the cat calls, the hooting.

for Roy Regals. They went into the half. And the coach put his arm. on the shoulder of roar eagles. and spoke to him words of admonition and encouragement.

And he came out. The second half. and played brilliantly.

Now I tell that story because Not only is it one of the great epochs in Football history. But it's such a parable of so many of us. who, when we think we're doing so good, may be doing well, except for this one thing, we're headed toward the wrong goal. I mean, you're doing fine in your business, and you're doing fine in your health, and you're doing fine in your relationships, but the problem is you've lost sight of the right goal, and it seems that Satan himself. is leading interference.

For you. I want to do the same thing. For you. Today that uh Benny London did for Roy Regals. I want to tackle you today if I can.

I want to stop you if I can, God helping me, and to help you to find God's goal for your life and to live life to its fullest and to be all that you can be.

Now look if you will here in verse 13. The Bible says But all things are reproved and made manifest by the light. And whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest. and arise from the dead.

And Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk. Circumspectly. Not as fools. but as wise, redeeming the time.

Now if that phrase is not underscored in your Bible, I suggest you may do so. Redeeming the time. Because the days are evil. Wherefore, Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.

Now in the Bible... There are two words. that are translated time. Of course, we see one of these words right here in verse 16, redeeming the time. One of the words for time is the word kronos.

It's the word we get chronology from. That's not the word that is used here. Kronos just simply means the passing of time, like so many hours and so many minutes and so many seconds. And some people call their watches a chronometer. That is, it just keeps count of time as it passes, segments of time, chronos.

But that's not the word that is used here. The word that is used here is keros. which means time, but it means like seasons of time. It literally means opportunity. Let me show you how that is used in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10.

The Bible says, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men.

Now the word that is translated in Galatians 6, 10, opportunity, is the same word that is translated here in chapter 5, verse 16 as time.

So when the Bible says redeeming the time here in verse 16, It speaks of the days, the hours, and the minutes, but more than that. It really speaks of the opportunities that we have. Because you need to see time not just as something that is passing. But you need to see time as an incredible opportunity. And when you're redeeming time, what you're really redeeming is opportunity.

So the Bible says the days are evil, but we are to be buying up the opportunities. What he's trying to tell us is how to live our wise ways for evil days. The days are evil.

So therefore take advantage of every opportunity that God has given us. And so I want to talk to you today about the time of your life. If you've been going toward the wrong goal, or if you've been sitting on the sidelines, either one, I want to show you from God's word how to take time and use time and maximize your time for God's glory.

Now, there's three or four things I want you to notice with me. And first of all, time is a provided opportunity.

Now what I mean by that is this. Look if you will in verse 14. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest. Now, we need to jolt some people awake. There is a day of opportunity.

That you dare not Let pass by. We need to awaken from our stupor.

Some of us have been chloroformed by these evil days and somehow we need to be jolted awake. God has provided for you an opportunity. You see, it is God who is the creator of time. God's great gift to you, number one is Jesus and number two is time. Number one is Jesus.

Number two is time. God has given you time to work, time to serve, time to love, time to laugh. Time. To labor. But like any gift, how you use it is really up to you.

And we need to see every day, this day, and every day as a gift. from God. Has it ever occurred to you? That for you to cease living, God would not have to take your life. All God would have to do is stop giving you.

your life. Do you see what I'm saying? You see, the Bible says in Lamentations chapter 3, verse 22, it is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning.

Every day is a gift from God. Time is something that God gave you today. And God will give you tomorrow. It's not something that you own. God is the creator, the possessor of time.

And so therefore I am a steward of the time that God has given me. And one day I will have to answer to God for what I did with this day and every day that God has given me. 24 hours in the day, 1,440 minutes in the day, 86,000 seconds in the day, and every one of them is a precious gift from God. I don't know who first wrote these words, but they're meaningful to me. I've heard them since I was a teenager.

I have only just a minute. only 60 seconds in it. didn't seek it, didn't choose it. forced upon me, I can't refuse it. But it's up to me just how I use it.

I'm a suffer if I lose it. Give account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute. But eternity is in it. My dear friend, God has given us time.

Don't go around saying, well, thus and such a person has more time than I have. That's wrong. We all have the same amount of time. Everybody has 24 hours in the day. The difference between people is not that some people have more time than other people.

The difference in people is how people use the time that God has given them.

So I want you to see this time as a provided opportunity, something that God has given you and something that God wants you to awaken to. But secondly, I want you to see this time not only as a provided opportunity, but a present. opportunity, something that is here right now. Notice in verse 15, see then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Now he speaks here of days. This is the day. that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. There two days that can steal the joy from today. There are two days that can steal the productivity from today.

One is yesterday. And the other is tomorrow.

Now we have a lot of folks who live in yesterday. The Bible warns us against that. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, Beginning in verse 13. Brethren I count not myself to have apprehended. That is, I don't think I have arrived.

I don't think I'm already perfect. But this one thing I do.

Now, Paul wasn't a man of many ambitions. He narrowed everything to one focus. This one thing I do. forgetting those things which are behind. and reaching forth.

Unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He said, I forget the past.

Now let me tell you some of the things that the Apostle Paul therefore had to forget. He had to forget past guilt. The Apostle Paul was one who was guilty along with others for the stoning of St. Stephen. He said of himself, I am the chiefest of sinners.

But he buried that guilt in the grave of God's forgetfulness. Maybe there's somebody here today. You've done something so terrible, so horrible. Your face would turn red if people in this congregation knew what happened.

Well, my dear friend, I want to tell you that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses you from that if you'll confess it. And don't be haunted by the ghost of guilt. Paul said, I forget those things which are behind, past guilt. Past glory. I mean, not only was this man guilty as a sinner, but as a saint, He was the greatest Christian I suppose ever lived.

the greatest missionary, the greatest church planter. But Paul didn't sit around and rest on his laurels. Past grief. He suffered. As few men Suffer.

You read the account of Paul's suffering, but he just said, that's our light affliction. He said the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. He said, I forget that. and past grudges. I mean there were many people who did Paul wrong.

Paul was abused, lied on, mistreated, cheated. Overlooked? But Paul refused. to feed a fever and nurse a grudge. And Paul said, I take my past guilt.

I take my past glory. I take my past grief, I take my past grudges, and I forget those things which are behind.

Now I want to suggest as we face a new year that you do exactly the same thing. You just bundle all of those things up and you just forget them. Paul said, I forget those things which are behind. One thing that can take the joy out of today is yesterday as you carry along the load from yesterday.

Something else that can take the joy out of today is tomorrow. You know there was a psychologist. whose name was William Marston. And he surveyed 3,000 people. and asked them what they were living for.

And out of that survey of 3,000 persons, An incredible thing, he found that 94% of the 3,000 people that he surveyed, were enduring today. in order to get to tomorrow. 94% of them. Today was not the day that they were living. They were only anticipating tomorrow.

They were waiting for tomorrow.

Well, the problem with that is, my dear friend, is that tomorrow never comes. Comps. We're always looking forward to what's going to happen. We want friends and so we look forward to having friends and when we get friends we weep when we lose friends but many times we fail to enjoy the friends while we have them. Women.

are strange creatures, aren't they? Mm-hmm. They look forward 20 years. to getting married and having children. And after the children...

A groaning out of the house. They spend 20 years looking back at the time when they used to have the children, but they can't stand them for the 20 years they had them. Yeah. Friend, listen, enjoy. Enjoy what God has given you right now.

Some people are waiting for tomorrow and some people are worrying about tomorrow. Let me give you some advice, not advice, more than advice. Oh, wonderful truth from the lips of the very Son of God. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 34, Jesus said, take no thought therefore for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

And then Jesus said something very interesting. He said, sufficient unto the day. is the evil. There are Don't worry about tomorrow. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Now think with me. What did he mean by that, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof? That is that God in the crucible of His wisdom And in the ecology of his grace, has ordered some trouble for you today. And every day of your life. The Bible calls it evil.

It doesn't mean sin. It's like an evil smell. It means.

something bad. All of us have difficulties. We all need difficulties. We have been blessed with difficulties. God gives us enough difficulties.

to cause us to come to Him. The worst thing that could happen to us would be not to have any difficulties. We'd never know our need of the Lord. Isn't that right?

So God every day says, I'm going to give you sufficient evil. Sufficient difficulty. But you see, God gives us enough difficulty to bring us to Him. But then God gives us enough grace. to meet those difficulties every day.

Don't worry about tomorrow. Sufficient unto the day. Sufficient what? Sufficient grace. For what?

For the evil. sufficient unto the day. Is the evil there?

So there's that perfect balance. God gives you a certain amount of difficulty today, and God gives you a certain amount of grace today. God brings you, gives you enough difficulty to draw you to Him, and then God gives you enough grace. to live this day as you are.

Now what happens When you worry.

Well, when you worry, you reach out into tomorrow. And you take tomorrow's difficulty and bring it into today.

Well, God didn't give you grace for tomorrow's difficulty. sufficient unto the day. is the evil thereof. And so God says in His word, as your days are, so shall your strength be, Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 25, As your days are, so shall your strength be.

Well, what happens is this, that when you reach into tomorrow and you bring tomorrow's troubles, real or imaginary, and you cram them into today, you overload the circuit. I mean, you upset God's divine ecology. You see, worry doesn't take the sorrow out of tomorrow, it takes the strength. out of today. And then when you meet tomorrow, you meet tomorrow out of breath because you're already overloaded from today and you already are run down when you meet tomorrow.

Worry, therefore, does not make us ready for the future. It really makes us unready. And we've been fighting. Tomorrow's battles today and therefore we meet tomorrow. Out of breath.

Somebody put it well this way when they said that worry Pulls tomorrow's clouds over today's sunshine. And so, true that is. You see, listen. Time is a provided opportunity. Time is a present Opportunity.

Yesterday That's just a cancel check. Tomorrow That's just a promissory note. Today is all of the cash that you have. You'd better learn how to spend it wisely. Thousands of years ago, a wise man said this.

Look well to this one day for it and it alone is life. Are you listening? Yesterday is only a dream. And tomorrow is but a vision. Yet each day lived well makes yesterday a dream of happiness.

And tomorrow. A vision of hope. That's great, folks. Listen. Listen.

Yesterday is but a dream. Tomorrow is but a vision. Life is today. And the Bible says in verse 15, see then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time.

Now that brings me to a third thing I want to say. Not only is time a provided opportunity, And not only is time a present opportunity, but oh my dear friend, it is a precious, precious opportunity. precious opportunity. Look again. He says here.

that we are to redeem. the opportunity. Redeeming, do you see it? Redeeming the time. What do you do when you redeem something?

You pay for it. I mean, dear friend, there is something you must give in exchange if you would live up to the opportunities that God has given you. You see, we need to see how valuable time is. To waste time? is to waste life.

Because time is the stuff that life is made out of. A person who is killing time is not killing time, he's killing himself. He is committing suicide by degrees. A murderer, in the truest sense, doesn't take someone's life. That person's going to die anyway.

What he takes is that person's time. Do you understand what I'm saying? He just causes that person to die sooner. You see. Time is life.

Time is life. How precious it is. When I give you my time. When you give me your time, You're giving me a piece of yourself. When I give you time, I give you something that even heaven can't give.

In heaven, Time makes no difference. You see, time is so valuable. Time is so important and therefore we need to redeem the time. Do you know what wisdom is? Wisdom is the art of spending time wisely.

Listen. Or the art of living is spending time wisely. Put this verse down, Psalm 90 and verse 12.

So teach us. to number our days. that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. All right, now listen. Let me tell you how to redeem the time.

All right? We're talking about it being a precious time. and a precious opportunity. Let me give you four principles. to redeem the time.

I'm saying it's a precious opportunity. Principle number one, and there are four of these. Principle number one is what I want to call the prayer principle. How important that you let prayer be the key. that unlocks the door of the morning.

That you begin your day with prayer. As the poet said, lean. your arms upon the windowsill of heaven. and gaze into the face of God. As you greet the day, Begin the day with prayer.

Spend enough time every day in the morning. To get God's will for your life. Prayer must be in the morning. You see, it's not a waste of time to wait on God any more than a... A wood chopper is wasting time when he sharpens his axe.

I've said this before from this pulpit. And I honestly believe it. There's enough time in every day to do everything that God wants you to do. and to do it gracefully. It's an insult to God to say you don't have enough time.

If you don't have enough time, you're doing something God did not intend for you to do. Either it's something that you imposed upon yourself or you've allowed others to impose upon you.

So what you must do is in prayer every morning. The principle of prayer. is to get quiet before the Lord and let God speak to your heart.

Now after the prayer principle there comes the priority principle. I mean, after God speaks to you, then it's very obvious that you've got some priorities. You see, life would be simple if life were a choice between good and bad. Very frankly, most of the choices that I have to make are not choices between good and bad. Their choices between good and best.

Isn't that true? I mean, I don't have time to read good books, for I haven't read the best ones yet. I need to find out what God wants me to do. Most time management books tell you how to do more things. How you can play and work, and how you can read, and how you can do all those things are fine.

They all have their place. But you see, my dear friend, what you do is far more important than how you do it. I mean to get your priorities correct. Jesus who lived only to the age of 33 in his humanity here on earth, said when he bowed his head, it is finished. And the Lord Jesus said, to the Father, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do.

Now notice, it was the work that God gave him to do.

Now, there were many villages wanting Jesus to come and teach. There were many places that wanted Jesus to heal and so forth. But Jesus didn't do everything. Jesus didn't go everywhere.

Sometimes when the crowds were clamoring after Jesus, he just got alone. But he could say at the end of his ministry, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. Do you know what our problems are, dear friend? We're constantly having a battle between the important and the urgent.

Now what is more important? The plumbing in your house are your quiet time with God.

Well, you'd say my quiet time with God. What's more urgent? Your quiet time or a toilet that's overflowing? You say that's more urgent. I got to get that fixed.

Your wife calls you and says, Adrian! No matter what you're doing, you go in there, you got, I mean, the thing's overflowing.

Now that, my dear friend, is something that is urgent. And it's the urgent.

So many times it keeps us from the important, isn't that true? I mean, in all of life, we have these things that somebody calls, you just gotta do this, you just gotta do that. It takes such incredible willpower. Such an incredible prioritizing of priorities to see the difference between the urgent and the important. Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important things.

Third principle. Not only the prayer principle, Not only the priority principle, but there's the promptness principle. This deals with the sin of procrastination. The Bible says In James chapter 4 and verse 17, therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Sin is not just merely doing wrong, it is failing to do what you ought to do.

Did you know that procrastination and disobedience? are different shades of the same sin. Procrastination. and disobedience. are different kinds of the same sin.

In my life. What I want to do is to cultivate the habit of instant obedience.

Now Where most of us Fail is in is in this area of willpower, isn't that correct? I heard a good definition of willpower. I copied it down. I want you to listen to it. When you have a job to do, Begin this very hour.

You supply the will. God supplies the power. Isn't that great? When you have a job to do, Begin this very hour. You supply the will.

God supplies the power. And my friend, that is willpower. When there's something you know you ought to do, do it and do it now. There's the promptness principle. And last of all, there's the power principle.

There's the power principle. Most of us think, oh boy, I just have it made if I knew exactly what God wants me to do. Oh no, friend, you need the strength to do it. I've already talked to you about this willpower, which is really God's power. In verse 16, he says, redeem the time.

That's the promptness principle. In verse 17, he says, be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. That's the prayer principle. Look in verse 18. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.

That's the power principle. You see, the power principle is to do God's will in the power of the Holy Spirit. Most of us don't need to learn to work harder. We need to learn to work with more power. We need to learn to work with more effectiveness.

Now Let me move on. to the final thing I want to say. Not only is time a provided opportunity. And not only is it a present opportunity, And not only is it a precious opportunity, But my dear friend, listen to me and listen carefully. It is a passing.

Opportunity. The days are evil.

Time is passing away. This day is passing. I must give an account for this day. I must give an account one day for this sermon that I have preached. Time is such a strange commodity.

You can't save it. You can't borrow it. You can't loan it. You can't leave it. You can't take it.

You can't give it. All you can do is use it. I lose it. Time can't be stopped. Yeah.

In a football game, you can call timeout, but you can't call timeout in life. Time can't be stored. You can put your money in the bank. But you can't put your time in the bank. Thyme can't be stretched.

You can add another cup of water to the soup. But there's no way that you can stretch. time, time can't be shared, I can give you my books, I can give you my money, I can give you my automobile, but I can't give you my time. I can give you a part of my time, but when I give you my time, in that sense, I have not added anything to your time.

So in that sense, time can't even be shared.

Someone wrote these words. When as a child I laughed and wept. Time. Correct. When is a youth?

I dreamed and talked. Time walked. When I became a full-grown man, Time ran. When older still I daily grew. Time.

Flu.

Soon I shall find in traveling on. Time. is gone. My dear friend, time is a passing. opportunity.

What do you intend to do? Do you intend to be a soul winner? When? Do you intend to be a good steward? When?

Do you intend to make reconciliation with that? Estranged friend. When? Do you intend to call your mama? When?

Do you intend to write a letter to your daddy and tell him how much you love him and how much you thank God for the sacrifices that he's made for you all these years? When are you going to do it? When are you going to do it? Time cannot be stopped. It cannot be stored.

It cannot be saved. It cannot be shared. We are to redeem the time for the days are evil. It was Horace Mann who wrote these words. He said lost.

Somewhere between sunrise and sunset. Two golden hours. Studied. with 60 diamond minutes. No reward is offered.

For they are lost. Forever. Oh, my dear friend, if you could only see the preciousness. of just one day. I've come to the end of my message, but listen to me now.

Cut yourself loose from yesterday. Last year with its heartaches and its failures is gone. Forget those things which are behind. Confess them to the Lord and bury them in the grave of God's forgetfulness. Tomorrow Is a time nowhere but on the fool's Calendar.

Stop saying if I had the time. You do have the time. Use it. And If you've not accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, The Bible says, behold, now is the day of salvation.

Now. is the time to be saved. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.