Regardless of how time was used before, becoming a follower of Jesus means we use our time differently. We are probably used to spending time on ourselves, but we now want to now make time for two new activities:
First, Christians are called to devote Time for God
Yes, God is present everywhere, all the time, but we want to have specific time laid aside for God. Jesus did this himself:
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone… (Matthew 14:22-23 ESV)
This isn’t the only example, there are many examples like it. Today, people focus time on God by reading his Word, the Bible. A key part of our community is that we base all our teaching on the Bible, and encourage you to read daily. Secondly, focus on God in prayer. We encouraged you to start this in our Becoming like Family series, but don’t forget!
Second, Christians are called to devote Time for others
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38 ESV)
Jesus dedicated enormous amounts of time to serving the needs of hurting people around him. Following Jesus means we are meant to focus our lives outward as well.
If all this sounds really busy, you are probably thinking we have to add these to our schedules. These are not additions, but are meant to replace, refresh, renew, or as we have named this series, reset our use of time. Some of the things we used to do were wasting time, and now we are invited to redeem that lost time.
What will you let go? Budget your time. Think of it as a limited resource, sine we can’t create time, and can only manage it.
Challenge: Watch your schedule next week. Write down how much time you spent on each activity, then categorize it as me, God or others. What’s out of balance?
Read the Bible in Sync Today
Loading Content...
Share a Link to this Message
The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it.
Jesus’ second illustration about priorities in life. Said it with a confusing saying that needs to be explained for people in our day:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23 ESV)
When we ask what’s in someone’s heart, is the answer blood? No, the heart stands for something else – the core of their being. In Jesus’ culture, the eye was often used in the same way.
Someone with a good eye was someone generous. Someone with a bad eye = miserly.
Jesus is saying those who are generous are like those who can see where they are going, and those who are selfish are like the blind.
That’s why he says the eye is a lamp, or window, into the body. It’s a small thing, but its functionality changes everything. For sighted people, eyes are the guide for just about every task. We don't do much by touch unless we have to. But blind people learn to do everything differently. I’m always fascinated by how blind people get around – it takes an entirely different skillset from the way I move. And the difference all comes down to that little eye.
In this illustration, our “eye” or “heart” represents our priorities, ambitions, hopes and dreams. And like an eye, they affect everything. If our priorities are right, they affect how we handle everything else. If our priorities are wrong, then everything is in disarray, with competing priorities constantly battling each other.
Sailing - aim the bow where you want to go. Aim it at Christ’s character – the one who was generous, sacrificial because he was resolute in his priorities, God’s kingdom breaking into our world.
He was heavenly minded – but did a tremendous amount of worldly good.
Investing in developing a Christlike character as our priority is the one safe investment, because is something we can take with us. As we accept him as saviour and submit to him as Lord, he transforms us through his Holy Spirit, into his likeness. Makes us acceptable to the Father. So we can join him, in his presence, heaven.
Question: When you see someone who has what you desire how to do feel personally? What do you think of them? How does greed blind us to our true state? How does generosity free us from the grip of materialism and self-centeredness?
