If you live to be 80, you’ll have lived roughly 2.5 Billion seconds.  That sounds like a lot doesn’t it?  It becomes a smaller number when you realize that you burn through 90,000 seconds a day, or about 32 million every year.  By the time you finish reading this, another 60-600 will have flown by.  These are the moments that make up our lives.  Our most precious resource is not any material possession or money, but our time.  No matter how many pills you take, or how good of shape you’re in, your days are numbered.  So are mine, so are everyones.  Wisdom is gained through calling this to mind as you choose how you will spend the time you have.

Psalm 90:10-12 – “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.  Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?  So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

It is because of the very precious nature of time, that how we spend it is immensely important.  I’ve always found personally that a gauge of a person’s convictions were not measured by the amount he/she was willing to give financially, but what amount of their time they committed to a cause.  Now the series I’ve been running through the past few times has been called “gaining through giving”.  Therefore, today I want to look at how and what we gain through giving up our time.

First I want to encourage you with two things.  You are already seeking after the Lord, otherwise nothing I have to say from the Bible would be of interest to you.  In this way you have at least apportioned some of your time to seek after Him and His will.  Secondly, none of us (except for maybe John MacArthur, I don’t think that man sleeps) submits our time to the Lord like we should.  So we’re all in this together.  Our goal is not that we would become task masters, but that we would be treasure seekers.  We don’t want to merely replace our tasks for the day, but to transform them into joy-filled duties of delight for the glory of God.

How do we get there?  Ironically the first and hardest step for most people is to simply stop for a moment.  Will you stop, even for just 30 minutes in the next week to seriously consider how you are spending your time?  It may be helpful to try to map out how much time you are spending on various things in your life, like sports, TV, work, going out with friends, etc.  Looking back on what you have written you will likely fall into one of two camps.  One, you will see a lot of empty time from watching TV, etc.  Alternatively, you will see a week that is so jammed packed, that you wonder if you should schedule your trip to the ER now when you collapse… you know, so it doesn’t conflict with everything else you have to get that day.

Here I’ll have to stop myself from wanting to exhort you to not make yourself “busy to death”, but that’s another topic.  Just know that God wants for you to have peace in your life, and it’s ok to say “no”, even to ministry opportunities.  So here is my challenge and hopefully encouragement.  You’ve stopped for a moment, you’ve got an idea of how you spend your time throughout the week; now match your time up to the Bible and the life of Jesus.  Jesus worked as a carpenter, Jesus ate and drank, and enjoyed the company of friends.  These are the things that we all share in our life, but Jesus was balanced and singular in purpose.  Moreover, Jesus lived to serve others and was at the same time the most infinitely joyful person.  Why was that?

I wish I had the time to unpack this next section of scripture more, but I can already tell I’m running long, so I’m trusting the Spirit in you to do heavy lifting.

Philippians 2:1-11 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

3 quick things to get from the above passage

1)  Joy was the author (Paul’s) ultimate goal through exhorting the Philippians to service
2)  That singular purpose to serve towards the glory of God that was in Christ, is in every believer because Christ in the Holy Spirit is in every believer
3)  Pursuing the glory of God, even at the cost of His life was “gain” to Christ, therefore the glory of God, at any cost of time is gain to us as well (because our joy in Heaven for eternity will be enjoying, in awe, the glory of God, to which there is no end)

If you are asking yourself, well Jesus didn’t seem very joyful on the cross, did He?  Was joy in the glory of God on His mind when He went to die?  Yes.

Hebrews 12:2 – “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross”

Paul says it this way earlier in Philippians 1:21 – ^“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

My exhortation is simple, live to pursue joy in God through dying to yourself, and serving others.  Let your life sing to the glory of God, and know that your inheritance in Heaven is greater than you could imagine.  For you, maybe you need to let go of some things, and make time to serve others.  Others, you may need to trade in some time in front of the TV, for some time serving the poor.  Two things will happen when you life becomes about serving others instead of serving yourself.  One, you will find out just how selfish we all are, and God will begin to grow you.  Second you will find out how rich the glory of God is, when you lose some time, but you gain a brother or sister in Christ for eternity.

Grace be with you,
Adam