Word of Salvation – Vol. 23 No. 43 – July 1977

 

Every Minute Counts

 

Sermon by Rev. J. Goris on Ephesians 5:15-17

(Especially for our junior youth, may be used at camps)

Scripture Readings: Esther 4:10-17; Ephesians 5:1-17

 

Boys and girls, young people,

Time is a peculiar thing.

When you have oodles of time and you do not know what to do with it, it will be most boring.

When you are holidaying at an exciting place and time runs out before you realise it, you could wish for much more.

If you arrive half a minute late for your school-bus, you may have to walk half an hour extra.

However, the real problem of time is not HOW MUCH we have of it, but HOW we use it. And that requires wisdom!

So as we look at our Bible text we learn that

EVERY MINUTE COUNTS

and we see first, Wisdom's walk,

next, Wisdom's way,

and finally, Wisdom's will.

I. WISDOM'S WALK:

"Look carefully then how you walk....!”

The word 'walk' is used here to describe the way a person LIVES. Perhaps you can remember that remarkable man called Enoch. We are told in Genesis 5 that "Enoch WALKED with God, and he was not, for God took him." God was the outstanding Person in the life of Enoch. When people saw Enoch they thought of Enoch and his God. I guess if people see you very often with one particular person they would also link you together.

Of course, the way a Christian walks or lives is very important. Three times over in this chapter Paul speaks about the life of a Christian as a ‘walk'. In vs.2 (look it up!) the Christian is said to walk in LOVE. In vs.8 he walks as a child of LIGHT, and here in vs.15 he is to walk WISELY.

Now living is a real art, at least if you want to live WISELY. That is a great deal more than just existing. It takes effort. Naturally, it is NOT hard to let the minutes slip by each day and then to say, "that was another day", or when the next birthday comes around to be able to say, "I have managed to survive another year."

Many people are "being lived'. Life is an automatic routine about which they hardly think. Their decisions are usually made for them. It is hard to step out of that routine. Maybe you have experienced that too. Almost without thinking you can go along with your peer group. Very often you don't even want to do anything different. You don't want to be the odd one out, you want to be accepted by all.

So, you are going to have the type of hair-cut the others have.

You are going to wear what the others wear.

You are going to swear like the others swear.

You are not going to do your utmost, because the others don't.

You are going to watch the same TV programme, for otherwise you will feel left out.

But real living is not - being lived by others.

To walk WISELY is to know WHY you live, and how you can best measure up to the right goal. It is NOT to do a thing because everybody else does so.

And WHY do you live?

It is because God has given you life, and He wants that life to be beautiful, exactly suiting the purpose for which He made it. Let's explain what we mean. Suppose you buy or make your mother a beautiful, embroidered table-cloth, Would you be happy if she went to wipe the floor with it? Of course not, it was not made for that purpose! She can use an old rag for the floor. It is not that the table- cloth isn't used, but that it is not used in the right way. That is a shame!

Well, it's like that with our lives too.

Of course, we can live and get something out of life. But the point is, is it what God meant it to be? After all, He gave it and shouldn't He have the pleasure of seeing His masterpiece living the right way?

Now that's where our time comes in, isn't it? What is the way in which a wise person works this out?

II. WISDOM'S WAY:

During the second World War some prisoners of war escaped by making very clever things with a minimum of tools and materials. They did not spend time crying over tools and materials they did not have. They made the best possible use of the few things they had, and the results were amazing.

A Christian must be wise like that: his given material is TIME. He shouldn't sit down and cry about time that is past and lost. He must make use of every moment in the best possible way. Paul uses an expression in vs.16 that reminds us of a person who is in the market-place looking for bargains. You would do the same thing and try to get your best money's worth for the few birthday dollars that you can spend.

Well, that's what you must do with your time too. Don't waste it on useless things. Have you ever done that? Have you ever spent too much time on less important things, so that the more important things did not get done?

For instance: How many hours a week do you spend on watching TV? How many hours on study?

How many hours do you spend in looking after your body? How many in looking after your soul?

How many hours do you spend on entertaining yourself?

How many on visiting a sick or lonely person, or helping Mum?

The word that the Bible uses for 'time' in this verse actually means 'opportunity', the well-timed moment. The apostle Paul says the days are evil so we ought to make the most of each opportunity. What are you doing with the greatest opportunity God gives you? Do you know what that is?

It is the opportunity to meet with Jesus.

It is the time to get right with God!

You are very 'fortunate' when you get the opportunity to come to God.

It means that God has come to you in the first place. He has cared about you. He has gone out of His way to come to this world in person. You know that. You know that God's Son Jesus Christ became man, not just to live in our world, but to make life worth living again.

By turning his back on God, man turned his back on Life with a capital L. Oh yes, he still lives, even without God, but it is a life that is at loggerheads with God. And how can anyone face God when God's day comes?

You see, that is why the time you have in this life is an opportunity to receive God's best gift: Jesus Christ. That opportunity won't last. It may actually not be there next week. The Bible says that the opportune time is NOW.

But there is even more.

When you know the Lord Jesus personally, and you know why He came into the world, you also have the opportunity to tell OTHERS. Use that opportunity! Make the most of it.

Think of the story of Esther. She had the opportunity to save her people, the Jews. Her uncle Mordecai reminded her of that. It was a critical time for the Jews throughout the world. It was even a critical time for the whole world.

If Haman had succeeded to wipe out the Jews, the promised Saviour would not have been born. Satan doesn't want anybody saved. But God does! And so YOU must make the most of the opportunity to come to Jesus, and to lead others to Jesus too. Are you doing that?

III. WISDOM'S WILL:

Living is an art. I mean, real meaningful living. That is why we need to know WHY we live. God told us about that, but He does not leave us stranded half-way. He also shows us HOW we are to live.

Now to that, Paul is drawing our attention in vs.17. If we are to live wisely we must understand what the will of the Lord is. But how do I know what the will of the Lord is? Isn't that something mysteriously hidden from me? Shouldn't I just pray, "Thy will be done", and then hope for the best?

To be sure, we don't know everything about the will of the Lord, but we do know something. In fact, God tells us a great deal about what He expects from us. And the wonderful thing is that He has provided everything that we need to have to understand and do His will.

Just look at it:

God has given us the Bible, and there he tells exactly what He has done for us. What encouragement He gives us in His love and care for us! He sent Jesus to make up for our sins. He gave the Holy Spirit so that we can understand His message better, and so as to be able to LIVE it.

He gave us the Church so that we have each other as the people of God who want to do His will.

He gave us Christian parents, so that we can see Christianity practised at home, and can talk it over together.

He gave us Cadet and Calvinette counsellors and other leaders so that we can learn together how to put God's Word into practice. Together in groups we can learn how to deal with the problems we have. Youth Camps help us in that too.

You really have a tremendous opportunity to come to live the most meaningful life.

Every minute counts.

It won't be easy, mind you, but it is certainly best to have God on your side.

And then, when you KNOW God's will, GO God's will.

That's real wisdom!

Amen.