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Psalm 90:1-7
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[00:00:00] Now we pray, Lord, for this message. I pray that you would open the eyes of our understanding, awaken our hearts. May this be like a little alarm clock waking us up this morning and saying, hey, I've got something for you for this new day. And I pray that we are going to embrace the days ahead in Jesus name. And God's people said, amen. Amen. You may be seated. I was working on my John passage, but I just could not pull it together in my little brief time back from my vacation. So then I started praying. And just to let you know, I really feel what I'm going to share today, God directed me towards, because last night, in the night I woke in and I felt God just keep downloading even more stuff. And this morning, in my devotional time, God just kept reinforcing this. And so I really believe that what I'm going to share today is exactly what you and I need to hear today. How many know times of crisis are often one of God's means of getting our attention? How many know that's true? You know, there's something God's trying to say to us. And so the question I raise is, what is he trying to say? What's going on, God? You know, it was at the beginning of the Second World War. CS Lewis was preaching in St. Mary's in Oxford, England. He was speaking to the challenge that the people of England were now about to face the onslaught of the blitzkrieg that came and rained down. I was reading the other day, over 800,000 homes were destroyed in London alone during that period of blitz Creed. Can you imagine? And just the rubble and the debris and the loss of human life. And here is what he said. He was challenging the people of that hour to look beyond and discover the true meaning of life. He says war does do something to death. He says it this way.
[00:01:49] It forces us to remember it. Isn't that an interesting statement? It's forcing us to remember death, he said, you know, so often when people pass away in their general course of life, maybe they die of cancer at a certain age or, you know, we just kind of, kind of move along as a collective society. But war is kind of a commonality that we're faced with, and everyone is now threatened with their existence as a collective, and it challenges us. He says war makes death real to us, and that would have been regarded as one of the blessings by most of the christians of the past. You go, why might you say that? Well, they thought it was good for us to be aware of our mortality in other words, how many realize that we all have a shelf life?
[00:02:38] We're not going to live forever on the planet. This planet as it is today. It's going to change. But something is happening. We're moving in a direction, and I'm inclined to agree with him. And Lewis goes on to say, all the animal life in us, our natural carnal life, he says, all the schemes for happiness centered in this world, are all doomed to final frustration. In ordinary times, only a wise person seems to get an understanding of this. But at the core of the message of the book of ecclesiastes, that everything we pursue in life apart from goddess, only produces emptiness inside of us. And some of the most successful people are really deep down inside empty, because once they reach the pinnacle, they go, is that all there is to it? Because, you see, you and I were designed by God to really have a connection with him and relate to him. But, you know, in times of war, Lewis goes on to say, even the dullest of us begins to understand the reality of death.
[00:03:45] We see unmistakably the sort of universe in which we have all along been living and must come to terms with it. And if we've been foolish, unchristian hope about our human culture, they are now shattered. He says, if we thought we were building up a heaven on earth, if we look for something that would turn the present world from a place of pilgrimage into a permanent city, satisfying the soul of man, we are disillusioned. And not a moment too soon. Wow, those are pretty shocking words, aren't they? What is he saying? He's saying, don't put all your marbles in this basket. Call earth. And this earthly journey we're only passing through. I think one of the great challenges in living in the kind of affluence we have in North America is that we try to make this the permanent life. We try to live as if everything is right here and for now. You know, Larry Crabbe, in his book inside out, says something. He said, there is a yearning. He said, a longing in our souls that can never be met in this life. We're designed for eternity. And until we are in the presence of God, that yearning will not go away. It's just there. Yet we try and fill this longing by filling our lives to capacity with earthly activity. It was Henry Nouwen who talked about the challenges that busyness presents us with. He says one of the most obvious characteristics of our daily lives is that we're busy. How many go? That's so true. How many know? I think we're getting busier. Anybody say? That's probably right. It's amazing. All the gadgets that we have to help make life easier, I think are making life more stressful and more anxious producing. And there's more busyness that's caused by these things. We experience our days as filled with things to do, people to meet, projects to finish, letters to write, calls to make, appointments to keep. Man, I'm getting out of breath just thinking about all those things. Right. You know, our lives often seem like they're over packed, suitcases bursting at the seams. In fact, we're almost always aware of being behind schedule. I can relate to that. I'm thinking of all the things I got to do when I get home here. And I'm going, man, I'm behind schedule. I can relate to what Henry is talking about here. There's a nagging sense that there are unfinished tasks, unfulfilled promises, and unrealized proposals.
[00:06:03] It goes on to say, although we're busy, we also have a lingering feeling of never fulfilling our obligations. In other words, there's always more that I should be doing. But when we think of stewardship, that word this morning, what's the first word that comes to our mind? We think of money, but I think that's the wrong way of looking at it. The greatest unit of currency is not money. In life, you can lose all your money, and then you can recover money. But there's a greater currency than money. You know what it is? Time. That's right, time. Because once it goes by, it's gone.
[00:06:37] It was Charles Spenzano who writes, you don't really pay for things in money, he says, but in time, money is determined by your investment in some venture or work that you're producing. What we're really spending is our time, that which we cannot recapture. So what are we doing with our time? How are we spending our lives? That's a bigger question, and that's the question I'm raising today. How are you spending your life? And that's what we're going to look at. Psalm 90 is a prayer for wisdom. How many know? It takes wisdom to know how to spend our lives with. With the right priority. That's what we're going to look at. If we're experiencing crisis in our lives, maybe this is a moment of re evaluation.
[00:07:29] Okay, God, you know, what am I doing with my life? Unfortunately, for most of us, we actually lack wisdom in the expenditure of our time. We don't think about it. We just feel like we're caught up in it. We feel like it's pulling us along. But let's stop for a moment and take the time out here and say, I need to reevaluate how I'm spending the most important commodity, which is time.
[00:07:55] Psalm 90, verse twelve says it this way. We're going to look at psalm 90 this morning, teach us to number our days are right, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Isn't that a great prayer? This is a prayer. It says here in our caption at the very top. Most scholars believe this was the prayer of Moses. Very interesting. It was prayer of Moses. Marvin Tate says, regarding this text, the need for human beings is for a mind wise enough to sort out the days with their events, responsibilities and opportunities so that they can cope with the transcendence and evil of human life. The transcendence being the temporariness. In other words, how do we handle the things that happen in this world around us? Because, you know, things are coming at us all the time. Some of you are facing, you know, life crisis after life crisis. Some of you have experienced loss. Some of you are going through challenging moments in your life. So how do we handle all of these things that are coming at us? And what is God trying to teach us in all of this? What is he saying?
[00:09:00] Well, let's take a look. I think there's three things here in psalm 90 that are challenging us to consider how we're spending our time, how we're living our lives so we can gain a heart of wisdom. And the first one is simply that it's brief. How many know life is brief?
[00:09:18] You know, when you're young, you just feel like you got all the time in the world. But you know what I notice about time? The older you get, the more you realize how quickly it's gone by.
[00:09:28] How many here? How many here? Probably 50. At least you're 50 years old. A few of you. Okay, how many are saying, wow, did that ever go by fast? How many of you here are over 60? Right now you're saying, it's even going faster. You know, the older you get, the faster it seems. And you look back in the rear view mirror and you say, man, I remember when our kids were this age. And now all of a sudden, your grandkids are older than your kids that you're remembering back to.
[00:09:51] It's a shocking experience, folks. It goes by so quickly.
[00:09:57] Yet often in our lives we don't want to miss anything. We're often trying to do so much we actually miss sometimes just savoring the important moments of life. We're focusing on the people around us. We're so busy trying to, you know, either achieve something or acquire something. You know, we're missing what's really valuable. And, you know, what's really valuable is relationships, because those are the only really important things in life, because that which is eternal is found inside of people, and what we're depositing inside of the lives of people. So when you're investing in people, you're making the wisest choice possible. Those are great investments. I think one of the problems with our present world philosophy is that we're told we can do whatever we want to do, and there are no limits to opportunities and possibilities. Isn't that kind of what we're being told? And yet I think we're forgetting something. We're forgetting our own humanity and our own sets of limitations because they're all out there. Not everybody can do everything. I think that's a misnomer. It was Henry Thoreau that once said, one is not born into the world to do everything, but to do something. And I think that's a profound thought, and maybe that's what we need to capture today. What is God's purpose for my life? I know I'm not called to do everything, but I am called to do something. There's a reason why the designer brought me into this world. He has a purpose for my life, and I need to discover that purpose, and then I need to be obedient to what God has calling me to do.
[00:11:28] So we all have a limited time span.
[00:11:31] Let's take a look at Moses prayer, and he points out how temporal our life is. Beginning in verse one, Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. So what is he doing now? He's going to contrast the eternalness of God and the temporalness of humanity. You know, it's so funny. Today, as a culture, we've just eliminated God, who's eternal, and we're caught up with all that's temporary. Isn't that kind of crazy? You know, here's an anchor. God is eternal. He's never gonna change. His word is always the same. God is unchanging.
[00:12:05] That's why you can lock in and anchor in, because we're living in this fast changing world, and it's like a whirlwind and everybody's fretting and freaking out, and it feels like everything's dissolving and falling apart. And then I read the verse, I, you know, God says, I've established the world. I'm the one that's in charge here.
[00:12:24] Put your roots down there, folks. It gives you a little equilibrium to deal with the challenges that are pressing in, into our lives. Then he goes on to say, before the mountains were born or you were brought forth, the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
[00:12:42] Isn't that great?
[00:12:44] That's something that you and I can really sink our thoughts and our minds into. And then he contrasts that with, you turn people back to dust, saying, return to dust, you mortals.
[00:12:54] Wow. We refrained from the earth. We're gonna return to the earth. There's a time span, you know, and we all need to recognize that we have limitations, you know, and we know that there's just a certain amount of time that you and I have in order to fulfill God's purposes for our lives.
[00:13:16] A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by or like a watch in the night. God is. This is poetic language, and God is making a comparison. A thousand years for God is nothing. You and I can't even relate to that. You know, ten years seems like a long time, but really, for God, it's just gone by.
[00:13:38] Verse five. You sweep people away in the sleep of death. You're like the new grass of the morning. In the morning, it springs up new. By evening, it's dry and withered. How would you like to be compared to grass? You know?
[00:13:52] Yeah. Hot day. You know, it starts out, everything's nice, little dew on the ground. But by the time the beet and heat and everything else, and, you know, the little plants are withering and, you know, I look at our lives and it's so true, you know, our lives go by so quickly. You know, we start out, you know, if you're watching some of the Olympics, you see these, you know, lean, you know, athletic young people doing amazing things. But, you know, 40, 50 years from now, you know, their bodies are not going to look like that, you know, isn't that true? And some of you can look back, I remember when, now I look at my body today and go, really? That's you, you know, and some of us are probably looking in the mirror and saying, who's this old person I'm looking at? Right? I remember when I was younger. And we all do. So, in other words, he's equating the picture of how quickly life passes. Described as grass in a dry climate which flourishes in the coolness of the early morning dew, only to wither and shrivel under the heat of day, simply put, transitory, fleeting. It soon passes by. Before we know it, there's our life. It's quickly gone. Bye. Just like that. And so the question remains is, what did I do between the day I was born and the day I died? What was I doing with that time? That's the question. Let me move on to point number two. He brings out that apart from God, life is meaningless. It's barren. It's empty.
[00:15:23] A life without God is empty. We see the emptiness today, the discontentment. People are busy trying to find meaning, some satisfaction in life, but it seems to elude them. It's always just beyond reach for many. They just can't seem to find it. Why are so many people troubled, distressed and depressed? Why this internal pain and the satisfaction that's coming from within? We can't just seem to put our finger on the trouble.
[00:15:51] But a life lived not in harmony with the creator and savior means a deep emptiness in the human soul. We search for it in all kinds of human experiences and relationships, but like the writer to the ecclesiastes, we find it disappointing and empty. We can't experience fullness apart from God. We weren't designed that way. Much of our anxiety and fear comes from a subconscious realization that we're in rebellion toward God and there's a sense of accountability towards him. You know, I was going to preach on, why is the society hostile to christians? I'll get to that sermon. But this is one of the reasons, because deep down inside, people are in rebellion against God. And when you represent God, there's a hostility towards that. We need to understand that we are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. Wow, that's an interesting statement by Moses. You know, as I was reflecting on that statement, I thought most of us, and I said it earlier, we fully cannot grasp the incredible love of God. But on the other side, I don't think we really have really grasped what it would be like to see the anger of God towards sin. And we get a little glimpse of it when we read the Bible. At times when God is expressing his anger towards sinful humanity, you know, and I think of Moses. Moses is the guy that's writing this. And I think he witnessed God addressing sin in the lives of the people he was leading. And I think one example was at a place called Terbera. In numbers, chapter eleven, verse one. It says, now, the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord.
[00:17:31] Now they were going through hardships. They were in a wilderness. Pastor Mark spoke on that you know how many know wilderness are not fun experiences? But I want to just make a statement to all of us here today. Do you realize that our earthly journey is actually a wilderness? That God is leading us from a place to bring us to a promised land? God is promising us that we're going to be with him in heaven and ultimately to a new heaven and a new earth. Isn't that beautiful? God is promising that, but he's leading us through this life. And this life is filled with challenges and difficulties and disappointments and sorrow and grief and pain. We can talk about all of these things, but what happens when you and I lose sight of who's leading us through the wilderness? What do we do? We start complaining. They complained about their hardships and the hearing of the Lord. And when he heard them, his anger was aroused. Why? Because God was providing for them in that wilderness. God was taking care of them. God was leading them. God was making sure that they were making it all the way through. I mean, that was true.
[00:18:32] He was even doing miracles in the wilderness, giving Amana to eat.
[00:18:36] Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.
[00:18:45] Don't tick God off.
[00:18:49] You should write that in your Bible. Look what happens. You could get scorched.
[00:18:55] You know, we just act like, oh, this will never happen to us. Well, I don't know. Happened to some people here in the wilderness, you know, so that place was called Tabara because the fire from the Lord had burned among them. You go, pastor. Listen, that's the Old Testament. Well, what had they really done wrong, pastor? Well, they were complaining. You know, my father used to say they're belly aching. That was his term. You know, they're whining.
[00:19:18] How do we respond to the challenges and hardships in our lives? Do we moan and groan and complain and whine and all the rest of it?
[00:19:26] You know, I know it's hard to praise God when you don't feel like it, but, you know, we sang about that. I will bless the Lord when everything's going perfectly in my life, but when it's hard, I complain. Is that what the Bible tells me to do?
[00:19:39] No. It says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His prayer shall continually be in my mouth. You know, listen, job lost a lot of things in his life, and he got down and prayed and he said, I thank God, the one who gives and the one who takes away. God's in control here. He's still worthy to be praised. Let me give you another example from the Old Testament. You're going. I know you like the Old Testament, pastor. Well, that's okay, because there's good examples here. Chapter 21. They travel from Mount hor along the route to the Red Sea to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way. Anybody here ever get impatient?
[00:20:11] You know, one of the fruit of the spirit is what?
[00:20:14] Patience. We get impatient. You know, a lot of bad decisions are made in impatience. How many say that's true?
[00:20:21] We could have a whole sermon on that, but we won't. People grow impatient on the way. They spoke against God and against Moses and said, why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the desert? Did God bring them out of Egypt to die in the desert? No. He called them out of Egypt so they could come and learn who God was and learn to worship him and get to know who God was. God had to refine them. In the fire of testing, they were saying, no bread, there's no water. And we hate this manna, this miserable food that you've provided for us.
[00:20:55] Okay.
[00:20:58] Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them. They bit the people, and many Israelites died. When the people came to Moses. Hey, hey, hey. We spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us. So Moses prayed for the people. You know, I like Moses. He's a good guy, right? They're complaining against him, but he's still praying, still loving the people, regardless of how they're treating him. Is that what God's like? Yeah. The Lord said to Moses, make a snake, put it on a pole. Anyone who's bitten can look at it and live. And so Moses made a bronze snake, put it on a pole. And when anyone was bitten by a snake, he could look at the bronze snake and he lived. In other words, God says, I'll make a provision for your sin. Isn't that great that when you and I sin, mess up, complain, carry on. God says, I'll still make a way for you to be healed. I'll still make a way for you to be restored. I love that about God. He's amazing, you know?
[00:21:46] But, pastor, you say you're taking Old Testament examples. God's not like that today. Oh, don't be so sure, folks, because I'm going to bring you to the New Testament. Now, you knew I'd do that, right? It was setting you up. This is what Paul says. Now, these things occurred as examples, things in the wilderness. To keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. What evil things?
[00:22:09] Well, they were more concerned about the temporal than they were about the eternal, were they not? He says, do not be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, got up to indulge in pagan revelry. That's the golden calf story. We should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day, 23,000 of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. Just read that story, it says, and do not grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. Whats he saying? These are all examples. Dont do these behaviors. Isnt that what hes saying? Anybody pick that up? Okay. And these things happen to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come. In other words, God says those stories are there for a reason, so don't copy their bad behavior.
[00:23:04] Isn't that what he's saying? Totally. Teach us how to number our days are right. So how should I live my days when bad things happen? I continue to worship God, you know, listen, do I believe that all things work together for good, or do I not believe that if I'm a child of God, I go, hey, I don't understand everything. I don't get it. I don't understand all the things that God does and allows to happen in our lives. You know, I was talking to Tom and Karen. They missed their flight the other day.
[00:23:37] I said to Tom, because we were on a vacation, they joined us. It was the great adventure, you know, she's laughing because, you know, we went up to see the rocky statue in Philadelphia, and somebody broke into our vehicle and stole Patty's purse.
[00:23:50] Oh, yeah, I know. But you know what? I was so happy because there was four of us able to address the situation, and within an hour we had it straightened out.
[00:23:59] Isn't that amazing? That was a God thing. You go. Why did that have to happen, pastor? I have no idea.
[00:24:05] But I kept saying to myself, all things work together for good. There's got to be a reason. I don't know what it is, and I don't even to know what it is. I'm just going to trust God. Keep going. Right?
[00:24:16] You guys have all had bad things. That's a minor thing. Nobody stuck a gun in my face. Nobody shot my wife. You know, I'm just telling you, it could have been a lot worse.
[00:24:27] Yeah, keep moving.
[00:24:31] So God led them in the wilderness to prove them, to test them, to see if they would be faithful, if they would trust him. Are we just going to serve God when everything is working for us? How about when it's hard? You go, God, like, you know, Jesus turns to his disciples, go, well, you know, I just told you guys, you're going to have to eat my body and drink my blood. And all these other guys left. And he goes, what are you guys going to do? You're the one that has the worst two eternal life. We're going to just stick with you, Jesus. You know, God tests us sometimes to see, will we stick with God? Will we do the right thing, even though it's difficult? Are we true believers?
[00:25:07] That's the question. You know, how many know sin causes us to live in shame and concealment? We can spend incredible amounts of energy trying to hide our inadequacies and sinful tendencies from one another. Isn't that true? You know, Samuel Johnson, one of the puritan theologians from another time, once wrote, almost every man or woman waste parts of their lives in attempts to display qualities which they do not possess.
[00:25:32] That's an. What is he saying? Well, John Trent, a modern psychologist Christian, he says, this is image management. We're pretending to be something we're not.
[00:25:41] Let's not do that. Let's just be who we are.
[00:25:45] Amen.
[00:25:47] You don't have to pretend to be something you're not. Listen, God loves us just the way we are, but he's going to love us so much, he's going to help us mature and grow over time so we don't make an excuse. Yeah, I've got this problem in my life, but I'm never going to address it. No, we go, yes, God loves me even though I have this problem, but he loves me so much, he's going to help me overcome the problem. That's what we need to understand.
[00:26:14] Well, he goes on here to say, you have set our inequities before you, our secret sins, in the light of your presence. Can I tell you? God knows everything about you and me, and he even knows stuff about you and me that we don't even know about ourselves, and he still loves us. How many say, that's shocking?
[00:26:36] You ever have a friend and they have an issue in their life, but they're beautiful people, but they got a problem, but they never see it, but you can and you love them anyways. Anybody relate to that statement? Okay, God's like that. He sees what the issue is in their life. But he still loves us. I'm gonna say I love God. Isn't he amazing? You know, so all our days pass away under your wrath. We finish our years with a moan.
[00:27:01] Wow. I can say that's true. I've seen a lot of people pass away. You know, that's what the end comes like. It's kind of a whimper, right? We're not coming on like, you know, humanity acts like we're the, you know, mister big stuff, but, you know, at the end, we're nothing. We're just frail human beings. Why don't we just admit it? We need you, God.
[00:27:23] It says our days come to 70 years or eating if our strength endures. Yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly passed and we fly away.
[00:27:32] I mean, he's just summarizing our life. How many go? This is depressing. Pastor. When's the good news coming, right? Yeah, but this is reality. Why don't we have a reality check once in a while? This is it, guys. This is what it's about.
[00:27:45] If only we knew. The power of your anger for your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you folks. I don't believe we understand the anger and wrath of God towards sinful humanity. See, we focused on the love for so long. Now, I think we forgot the other side. There's no fear of God anymore. You know, we don't have what Joseph had. How can I commit this great sin against God? Just because I have opportunity doesn't mean I'm going to take advantage of that opportunity and sin because it's against God.
[00:28:18] Marvin Tate goes on to say, both the power of God's wrath and the quality of reverence due him elude the knowing of human beings. This is beyond our comprehension. It would be a scary thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let me tell you something. If you and I ever had a meeting with almighty God and he revealed himself to you, you and I would be in a state of terror initially. It would be overwhelming. You know, even when angels show up, I see all these people in the Bible, they're like afraid. They have to be encouraged, you know? So a life apart from God is a life of struggle and sorrow, emptiness and barenesse in the relationship as it relates to God and that which is eternal. Yeah, they can have meaningful earthly relationships right now, but it's all temporal. It's all going to come to an end when their lives come to an end as we come to the closing part of Moses prayer, we discover that in our repentance and cry to God. We discover what God really intends for us. This is the good part. I told you I'd end on a high note here. Right? There can be blessings. Life can be beautiful. It depends on our desires and our attitude. So important to have the right attitude. Biblical wisdom challenges us to have a correct attitude towards our creator and our savior. We must learn to look to God in order to number our days correct. We must cry out to him for help and return to him in order to experience his favor toward us. Real meaning, purpose, significant comes from knowing God and doing his will for our lives.
[00:29:53] That's why he says, teach us to number our days are right that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Notice this prayer of repentance and acknowledgement of God. Relent, O Lord. How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love. Isn't that I love this, you know, Lord, today let us pray that we would experience your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. If you wake up in the morning, say, God, it's so good to be alive. It's so good to be your child. It's so good to experience your love. It's so good to know that you're with us through the day.
[00:30:36] Make us glad for as many days as you've afflicted us for as many years as we've seen trouble.
[00:30:42] May your deeds be shown to your servant, your splendor to their children. And may the fever of the Lord our God rest upon us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. Let us not labor in vain.
[00:30:57] Lord, help us to do the kind of work that has eternal significance.
[00:31:03] That's what we want.
[00:31:06] Does God bring joy and gladness into our hearts? Does God wants to restore the destructive locuses that have been brought into our lives? I believe God's in the restoration business. Isn't that great? You say, man, I got some problems in my life. God says, yeah, but I can fix them. Yeah, but you don't know how bad it is. God says, though your sins are scarlet, they can be as white as snow. How beautiful is that? God says, I can repair the worst things that are imaginable. I can take, you know, you know, ashes and make it beautiful. I can bring joy out of sorrow. I can do things God is telling us. I believe them. One thing we can be assured of is that when we serve God is that our lives will have significance and meaning.
[00:31:50] You and I will be able to touch people in ways that have eternal significance.
[00:31:56] You know, as you continue to move through life, hopefully you'll receive.
[00:32:00] Sorry. Realize that what is truly important are the people that God calls you to. That's the most important thing. You know, who am I investing my life into?
[00:32:12] How are we enriching the lives of people around us? Who are we truly influencing? You know, it's amazing to me. You know, I was just a broken young person when I became a Christian. I'll be honest with you. My background, my family life was broken. I felt isolated and alone. I came to a church, and this church family just loved me, and it was beautiful. And my pastor just kind of took me under his wing. It was a church of, what, 200, 250 people coming on Sundays, and I got to know the pastor, and he really deeply influenced my life.
[00:32:47] I remember doing things with him. I went on visitation with him. I started being involved with things in the church. And, you know, even though he died, I think, rather prematurely, he's 59 years old. You know, it was really sad. Our church really mourned the loss of his life. I wept, you know, because he was such a beautiful person, very loving and good bible teacher.
[00:33:09] But you know what's interesting? He influenced my life. Because of that, he's still living because he's influencing your lives. See, he's influencing you through me. And, you know, he influenced a lot of people, and that's the same thing about your life and my life. We influence people, and those people influence people. It's something dramatic about living the right kind of a life and the kind of life that, you know, you have wonderful experiences and you meet people. You know, I'm on this trip, and, you know, it's such a long story, but I'm. You know, Patty and I decided to try Uber for the first time. You know, so we're in this vehicle, and, you know, we're praying that our days are directed. And we get in this vehicle, and here's this lady, and she's an I. You know, I thought she was probably in her fifties. She goes, yeah, I'm almost 80. I go, what? You know? And she was nigerian. And we started talking, and I could tell she was a Christian. I told her I was a pastor, and, wow. Then she just exploded. We got a 30 minutes sermon. It was awesome. I mean, we were having a blast, you know, and it was so much fun. But, you know, we were chatting, and she was explaining things to me, and she was, you know, we were just really connecting. And, you know, I just believe that God brings people into your lives, you know, and she goes, pastor, I'm going to. I'm going to look up your church. I'm going to listen to you online, you know, because I want to be involved in, you know, getting expository type of teaching. She says there's a real need for that in our culture. And so we had a wonderful conversation. I believe that was a directed moment. You know, God has directed moments for us in our lives, and it's true in your life as well as in mine. You know, if we say, God, direct my steps today, bring people into my life, God hears those cries and brings people together for eternal purpose.
[00:34:54] So how are you investing your time? That's the question today. What's the passion of your heart and who really does own your heart? Let me close with this story, the sermon that Augustine once preached, in which he proposed kind of a self test to see if we truly loved God. And he said it this way. He said, suppose God proposed to you a deal and said, I'll give you anything you want. You can possess the whole world. Nothing will be impossible for you. Nothing will be a sin, and nothing will be forbidden. Wow, this is an amazing proposal. You will never die, never have pain, never have anything you don't want, and always have anything you do want, except for just one thing. You'll never see my face.
[00:35:40] Then he said this. Did a chill rise in your hearts when you heard the word? You'll never see my face.
[00:35:46] That chill is the most precious thing in you. That's the pure love of God to say, you know what?
[00:35:54] I will abandon everything that this world has to offer for goddess. That's the most important thing. You know, I love what Jim Elliott once said. He's no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
[00:36:11] Listen, if you and I gave up everything we had for Jesus, you think you're going to lose?
[00:36:17] No. You're going to gain. You're going to gain what's eternal. That's what we need to understand. And so sometimes we're afraid. It really comes down to, do I really know God, and do I really trust him? And that's why it's so important that you and I keep growing in our faith, that you and I keep developing a relationship with him and grow in our understanding of who he is. And how do you do that? Through the word of God. And as I spend time with him and as you spend time with him, we get to know him. And our confidence and our trust in God continues to grow and increase. And as it's growing and increasing, you know what? When things happen to us, we just learn to walk through those things with a quiet confidence. God is in control. I know my redeemer. I know he lives like Job said. He could slay me, and I'm still going to trust him.
[00:37:05] My heart belongs to him. Let's stand as we close the service today and just maybe take that moment in your own heart and mind and say, lord, how am I spending my life?
[00:37:17] Because that's what time is. It's the life that you have. You only have one of those. One life to live. You know, I had this little saying in our bathroom for years. Only one life to live. Twill soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.
[00:37:32] What's eternal?
[00:37:34] What's eternal? That's the important things. Look around you. You know, sometimes we get caught up. You know, we're kind of like, you know, John Bunyan wrote this book called Pilgrim's progress, and he talks about the protagonist, Christian, who's traveling. He gets, becomes a believer, and he's walking through all of the trials in the wilderness, and he gets to the city called Vanity Fair. And so many people get trapped in vanity fair, and that's this world. We can get trapped in vanity fair and miss that. We're on a journey to the celestial city.
[00:38:08] Let's focus in again and say, hey, what am I doing with my time?
[00:38:14] That's the most important commodity, and let's make sure it's eternal in nature. Teach us, o Lord, to number our days aright.
[00:38:26] Give us a heart of wisdom, lord. That's our prayer today, that you will help us to do that. We'll not get distracted, that we'll be awakened. Maybe we've been sleeping. Maybe we've been caught up in things that we shouldn't be caught up in. But your love is so great, and your purposes for our life are beyond our comprehension. You have a game plan for every life, and they're all different. So, Lord, help us to not compare our lives with other people, but rather to understand what you've called each one of us to do and to be faithful to do that. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
