Consider Your Days

Consider Your Days

Scripture Reading

James 4:13-17

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him it is sin.

Let’s pray                                   

Eternal Father, today is in your hands. You know the very message each of us needs to hear to increase our worship of you in our everyday lives. Would you take this very message with its words and the speaker who speaks them and guide them for your purposes in hearing the Word today.

God some need inspiration for their everyday lives. Some need correction in their lives. Some need to hear the gospel so that they might be saved, and others need to hear the gospel to be greater lovers of Jesus. Provide, Lord, the bread of the word of God for our spiritual nourishment today.  Both the good spiritual food that tastes good to our souls and even the bad tasting food that is good for us, yet tough to swallow at times. May we have teachable and open hearts and minds that attend to your word both in acknowledgement mentally and submission spiritually for your glory and our good.

In Jesus name amen.

Warm up

As a teen ager, I remember going to a movie, by myself one Saturday night. And the movie was called Dead Poets Society. In Dead Poets Society Robin Williams played a teacher at an all boys school who, on the first day of class and in an unorthodox style of lecturing, explains for these young men—and ultimately to all those who were seeing the movie, the phrase Carpe Diem. Which is Latin for the phrase Seize the Day.

He explained that life is short! “That one day we’ll stop breathing grow cold and die”  

The Carpe Diem theme puts a very man centered spin on it. That we are to make the most of our days because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Live for today! Grab hold of this life now because its all we have…

Introduction

The title of my message today is Consider Your Day.  And I wish this message to be a call for us as Christians, to consider  how and why we  approach or days. That is , when we plan our  days  what do we consider? What is the foundation of the “way and why” we live as we do

As believers, the roots of our day should be firm in what God’s word says. I don’t wish to give you a philosophy of life. But I wish to establish in  all of a theology about our days

And my prayer for you is that it will stir in you to embrace the God given days he has granted to you for something greater than yourselves, something greater than the moment.

PREACH

            Because as believers we live and die for something greater than ourselves.

When I teach men out of Corinthians and  Scripture says ACT like men, I call men and boys to Accept responsibility, Courageously lead in life and family and Think beyond themselves. We can’t be like Han Solo  just taking care of our lives. A Christians life is called to something bigger than the Christian version of the American Dream!

            As believers we are to live for something greater than the moment. We are to have an eternal perspective to realize yeah life is short HERE- But there is more to life than the here and now.

When we are gripped by the grace and glory of God it is to be the greatest consideration of living day to day.

Here we go- strap into your seats…

1.    Our days are given to glorify God

 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Cor. 10:31

·         The sum and value of your days are not measured by what you do.

Yet this is exactly how each of us categorize our lives- by what we do.

I had this happen a few weeks ago when  I ran into my best friend in high schools old girl friend… In the brief encounter we got to the  “what are you up to.” question. Its here that our boss has a good come back because he’s the owner of our company. And I was strongly considering using his come back.. it goes like this  “Oh man yeah I’m saving the world…. Saving the world one chiller at a time…”

            What drives many of our days is the striving for identity found through what we do.

Listen to this quote from the book, Who will deliver us? The present power of the death of Christ:

“If I can do enough of the right things, I would have established my worth. Identity is the sum of my achievements…There are infinite ways to prove our worth along these lines. The basic equation is this: I am what I do. It is a religious position in life because it tries to answer in practical terms the question “who am I and what is my niche in the universe”

            Yet Look at this honest evaluation about what we do. This is from Solomon:

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

 “What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow and his work a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This is also vanity.”  Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

            This is from a many who had everything. Kingdom, family and knowledge

            Wisdom, women and the world.

            Vanity. How he lived for these things, Money, children and wives, and his own ambition. Vanity.

·         POINT IS:  We as God’s people should measure our days not by what we do, but WHY we do what we do..

This point is counterintuitive to how we grow up learning how to approach our days of living. - do what you love- do what you enjoy and you’ll be happy in your job.

Todays young people hear the one liners- Work hard and you play hard. They are challenged with the phrase- pay the price now and you get to play later… that if you work hard now, you wont have to work hard later.

All this advice is all centered on me and my enjoyment and living life for the glory of now. This is the mentality of the seize the day man centered viewpoint. That our days are wrapped up in what we believe we are entitled to because we are Americans. That it is wrapped up in what we get to do for both work and play.

            But God’s word says whatever you do- do to the reason of glorifying God.

            Why do we have to live it that way? why is the exaltation of God the purpose of our existence? 2 reason

A. Because why we live exalts what we worship.

            Because why we live glorifies the reason for our days

            Why do invest in to school?

            What do I work for at my job?

Why do I raise my kids

            What do I hope to get out of marrying someone?

Why are my grandkids my pride and joy?

            Why is retirement the very thing I’m told to work for?

·         Think about the heart and soul and mind and strength that we put into these things. What happens when we live our days for these things, we replace God at the center of our existence  and place any or all on the throne to worship and they are called idols.

            It is just a few verses earlier where God says

            Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.     1 Cor 10:14

·         For the Corinthians it was about worship. The Corinthians were attending pagan banquets. The writer apostle Paul was warning them against idolatry. It is a verse that calls us to examine our lives and hearts for any hint of idolatry and we examine what what we do when we probe the reasons why we do them.

Socrates famously has famously been quoted as saying: An unexamined life is not worth living.

In the verses earlier, Solomon was quoted that everything we do in life is a vanity.

James in our opening verses says that a presumption and self directed life is not worth living.

·         So  when we consider our day, the question of “why do” is bigger than “what will we do”—Because the reason why we do something shows what we worship

It is God who we are to love with all our heart, soul mind and strength.

·         You might object and say “but these are all good things”- and I agree with you- but they are not worth worshipping.  Each of these things will disappoint us. Each of these things will get us worried.  Each of these things done with the wrong motive while on the outside looks fine yet inside it is sin.

·         THE motives for living our day is that we glorify God. We are to think beyond ourselves- our reputation- our greed, our insecurities- our fears- our pride our desires. In fact the Bible say that we to put to death these things in our life.

Don’t place these things at the center of why or what your day should be about. We are too content as God’s children sitting in the sandbox making mud pies for our enjoyment, when there is a GRANDER enjoyment that is more satisfying

            Each of these things are good and an important part of the life God has blessed us with. But our shift in attention… is to realize that God is the all sufficient Giver of Life and the gifts in our life on a daily basis..

            The gifts of learning,

            The gift of you job

            The gift of your kids

            The gift of your spouse

            The gift of your grandkids

            The gift of your retirement…

            The gift of our days…

And the purpose of our days and the receiving of all these graces and mercies are to glorify him.

Now get this..pay attention…

Our days are given in order to glorify God  You must realize something that goes hand  in hand with this

2^nd reason why we live to exalt God?

2.  BECAUSE WE ARE CREATED FOR GLORIFYING HIM.

Restate: So our days and our very lives are created to glorify God.

One verse:

“bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

                                                                                    Isaiah 43:7, 8

            So not only are our days and the activities of our days to glorify God- but our pursuit and meaning of life is that we are created to glorify God

           

·         every pursuit we chase after in this world will leave us unsatisfied.

·         St Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee”

I want to end this first part saying that we will have restless days until we find rest in God himself.

            Proclaiming his greatness should be our greatest passion, motivation, love towards and worship of   God himself. Our restless passions must find its desires in the glorification of God himself before they will truly be at rest and happiness.

            You want to be happy- that is a God given longing,-- designed to be found in God-Not from God likes the blessings he gives is- but in God himself. When we find our happiness in God – we are glorifying him in the biggest way possible.

We need to move forward…

So 1. Our days are given to glorify God..

2. Our days are empowered by the grace of the Gospel

Michael Spencer-  awriter and preacher died at age 54  quote- 10 months before he died of cancer: When you know your going to die there is something that seems to clarify in your life. He writes this:

“The big issues that face me as a teacher, writer, husband, father and employee are all about grace. Grace in everyday life. Grace to people who don’t deserve it. Grace as a way for me to live in the power of the Gospel when I’d rather be controlling things and determining outcomes. All day, every day I have to live in an atmosphere where the use of the law, guilt, manipulation and punishment are the standard ways of doing business. But I want my life to be more and more and more about grace…

The question for me today and from now on is “Has grace made me gracious?””

            I have on my desk at work a sticky note that asks me the question everyday… can I really be arrogant when I stand next to the Cross.

            In my personal walk with God and for so long in my early Christian life, my thoughts about God dying for me, were twisted to think I was the center of God’s universe. And as a result, I was a very arrogant young man.  Maybe not outwardly, but inwardly I was grasping  with insecure hands.. a crippled hand trying to find identity.

It is as I continue to understand the cross and the meaning that God has created this life for… That I realize that my sins put Jesus on the cross, yet he still died for me, an enemy, a sinner not deserving of his grace. I see his great love on display in my life as he doesn’t treat me as I deserved.  That exalts God’s character and not mine. He is to be worshiped and glorified. Not me! It is with that humble truth, I realize that because he’s been gracious with me, I’m to worship him  and I’m to be gracious in my days.

The Scriptures show this truth in: Romans

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present you bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”                                                                                                             Romans 12:1

In view of God’s mercy…

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul makes a very deliberate shift when he says Therefore. By the mercies of God.  In chapter 1-11 Paul has been talking about the very mercies of God and now at the beginning of chapter 12 he is shifting from truth teaching to practical application.            But get this… he’s not just going into the commands of doing.. He is saying “in view of God’s mercy… live your days this way.In view of the Gospel and its power in your live, live this way.

When we read the Bible and see the commands and encouragements of God to do, we could read into this two ways. If you read it thinking that our good works directs God’s favor- than you will have a wibbly wobbly walk determined on how good you behave one day to the next- going from the highs of pride on good days and the lows of depression on the bad days.

But if you read it remembering that our good works reflects God’s favor- than you will become a deeper lover of Jesus. One who appreciates the good news of God’s free grace even more

• So many of us, when we get saved and experience the grace of God’s forgiveness and love try so hard after that day of conversion to muster up the strength to grow and maintain our  salvation. We are like  the Amish father- who won the gift of a brand new car.--- (kids if you are drawing the sermon today- maybe on your paper somewhere you draw this image)—The amish father won a brand new car, and as soon as it was dropped off he hitched the horse to it, loaded his family into it and said “There now we are going to the city with style”   ( so kids draw a  car being  pulled by a horse and what you want to write underneath it is the word- “foolish”)

This verse in Romans carries the heart of How the Gospel is not just an evangelistic message for conversion. But how it is an edifying message for Christ-likeness. When we consider our days it is to be in view of God’s mercy. We sing the great hymn Great is Thy faithfulness and it boasts of how morning by morning new mercies I see.

Do you allow his new mercies in you life  to empower you for the day?

What happens is when we think our days are worked out through our own strength and wisdom and goodness we try seize our days- by behaving better--- I contend--- that what God says to us that we put the cart before the horse. The key to considering our days as believers is not better behavior. But rather… Better believing about our days and where God is in all of our days.

           

Our beliefs determine our behavior. As believer we must reflect on how the Gospel changes our lives. We realize that the gospel doesn’t make bad people better- rather the Gospel makes dead people alive.

Eph 2: 1, 4, 8-10

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins… But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved… For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God. Not a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Verse 8 It is a gift of God

·         Salvation is a gift we don’t earn - we can’t earn, will never earn.

“Why will you go to heaven?” “I’m good” – No your good works will never  be enough

Why will God accept you “I’m good”- No His word says he came to save sinners not the righteous. We are sinners--- dead in our sin deserving of punishment. Yet Jesus came and took that punishment as our substitute.

It’s not about what we do its about what he has done on the Cross.

            What has he done? He took  the punishment our sin deserved- that is what we deserved and satisfied the wrath of the Father so that now His righteousness is put on us and God views us now through Christ’s righteousness. If you are trying to gain or maintain the salvation of God- you will fail!

·         Salvation is a GIFT we receive.

What do you do with a gift? You receive the gift.

You don’t sit at Christmas opening gifts, see what they are and then write the person a check for that gift. The gift is paid for. Salvation is paid for- It is Jesus sacrifice sweat and blood that took the righteous wrath of God to pay for His people salvation!

·         Salvation is a Gift we  boast about.

            The salvation of God designed to exalt God—NOT us.  It’s to exalt His greatness not our lovableness…We can’t boast about ourselves and what we have done. It is his mercy, and forgiveness and provision and grace and strength and power that sets us free for the penalty of sin and sins power. We exalt Him- that is worship is. 

Verse 10 created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

·         Any time you see in the New Testament Letters the word walk- think live. Think lifestyle, think following Jesus. It’s a word picture of worshipping Christ and Acting like Christ and Loving like Christ and Knowing Christ in a relationship.

·         Now we are created for good works, as I said before our lives are to reflect God’s favor.

·         Look at what the apostle Paul says after he says, by God’s mercies:

V3

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment…          Romans 12:3

Then later v 9

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Out do one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

            Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”

                                                            Romans 12:9-21

PR: with in this passage the first thing it says and the last thing say, summarizes it all!!!

·         When we think much of the grace of God, our love will be genuine and all the things it commands us here to do will come out of a heart that reflects the favor of God. And that will glorify God.

·         Two weeks ago I ran into someone at work, who I know has a Christian church going back ground, as a kid. I asked how is he doing and he said, “I’m full of the fruit.”  Wanting to stir the pot a little, I said, “what you have a banana this morning?. He said Eric, you need to get yourself a church—he knows I’m A Christian and former pastor so he’s teasing at this point—he said, you need to read the Bible, I’m full of love and joy and peace patience kindness stuff like that…

So I stirred a little bit more and I said “Is the fruit really something yu really grow in your life or is that something  the Spirit does?...” at that point he just said he’s feelin’ that fruit and then walked away…

But it got me thinking how many sermons do we hear about building the fruit in our lives.  Everyone agrees that each of the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit found in the list of Galatians are great qualities. But the word Fruit is singular. That means the fruit of the Spirit are all of these qualities—just some and not others.

The empowerment for our days comes through the grace of the Gospel- that is in view of God’s mercy in our lives.  The fruit of the Spirit are cultivated out of a heart is changed by the the Gospel.

            Colossians says:

            “Put on then as, God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humilty, meekness and patience. Col 3:12

·         see the encouragement  as God’s chosen people?  AS God’s has chosen you  a mistake filled prone to sinning, prideful person,… as God has chosen you and made you holy and his beloved through adopting you—not because their was something good in you- but that he chose you with His compassion, kindness, humilty meekness and patience.

·         And now as you see what he has done for you- you are to relect God’s grace to others through being compassionate, kind humble meek and patient

·         When you are gracious in these manner because of Christ…

Vs 13, 15 you can

“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive…and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…

·         Because God has been patient with you,  you can be patient with others

·         Because God loved his enemies- who were the subject of his justified wrath—THAT’S US—and saved them.  We can love who we feel are our enemies

·         Because God forgave you and knew your sins inside and out and still forgave you- you are empowered to forgive.

·         He who has been forgiven much can love much.

·         Want to examine your love quotient? How forgiving are  you in light of how much God has forgiven you.

What happens if I have a bad day that doesn’t reflect he grace of God,  nor empowered by his grace I really blow it and burn bridges and break relationships?

            I know those days because I have them—in my walk to live in the view of God’s mercy in my life I found this quote- years ago in a book I’ve got from the library in LaCrosse, from Jerry Bridges… it is a freeing quote, because it reminds me its not about my efforts either good or bad…

“Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.”
― Jerry Bridges

            So that #2 Our days are empowered by the grace of the Gospel.

3.    Our days are numbered

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”                                           Ephesians 5:15-16

·         Between this verse and James’s verse, these are  the Biblical perspectives of a theological view point that says “Seize the opportunity. For the days are short and evil.”

“So teach us to number our days that we get a heart of wisdom.” Ps 90:12

          On this last point we are not to have a morbid obsession with Death. We are to have a motivating passion for why and how we live!

            Notice that both the verse in Ephesians and Psalm emphasize limited days and living with wisdom.

            Let’s bite the first one real quick

            Limited Days

            “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil”                                                                        James 4:14-16

·         we are not guaranteed tomorrow. The word mist means puff of smoke.

·         Don’t believe me? Just open the news headlines- and then count your blessings for this day alone!

Second emphasis

Living with wisdom

“Walk not as unwise but wise.”

This message is an out working of the command to look carefully at our life. Consider your day. And the majority of the emphasis is on motivation why we live or days

But: What does it mean to walk in an unwise manner.

I’m going to phrase it like this: How do we waste our lives. To live our life unwisely or foolishly.

Let me give the meaning of the foolish life and then ways in which it is lived out.

Foolish life: It is the life that does not account for God.

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” they are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.” Psalm 53:1

They may say they believe, they go to church, they are religious, but they foolishly live their days with no account for the Lord and his will and ways and His strength and presence.  They live by themselves and through there strength. But even their good works will be a waste.

So that’s the definition. And I want to reassure you we all fall into this category there are pockets in our lives that don’t take God in to account. There are places where we are all foolish.

We’re at different points of the journey—But that’s why we have each other in the Church family- we go on together. Not just Sunday AM but throughout the week as we interact and get together.

Now How do waste our lives?

W.A.S.T.E. five ways we waste our life

W- We waste our life on worry.

This is one of the biggies. Let me give you a poem and then the preaching points briefly, truly this is a sermon in itself and I’ve preached  on worry in the Christian life before- here are the highlights

Worry doesn’t add another day (Matthew 6:27)

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Matthew 6:27

Jesus asked rhetorically, who can add as ingle hour to your life by worrying. In fact it blinds our eternal perspective and highlights the momentary here and now

Worry takes our strength away (Matt 13: 22)

“As for what was sown on among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word , and it proves unfaithful. (Matt 13, 22)

Jesus said the cares of this life can choke out the seeds of the word of God

They can zap our energy and  godly positive attitudes.

                                     

Corrie ten Boom: Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrow, it empties today of strength.

We are to see what God would say (Prov 12:25)

When consider our stressful days or the days of suffering we must know what God says about it

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25

Good words from God’s word and God’s people  will help what troubles our heart. We won’t  find inspiration inside of ourselves. That’s why we need the family of God around us. We must be eating of the bread of the word of life…

·         We must learn his promises to his children :That he will be with us in the days of trouble. That he will give us courage to face our cares honestly and not run away. The he will give us wisdom when  we ask and the strength that is beyond ourselves and cause us to thank Him for it. That he will be our comfort above and beyond all other people or vice we might turn to.

·         We must learn his perspective in our troubles and suffering.: Jesus promised the followers of him that life would be hard. It’s just as hard for a believer as an unbeliever.  The difference is the hope we have. The more we see what his good word says to us, there will be a greater trusting that will glorify him and satisfy us. RANDY ALCORN BOOK If GOD IS GOOD.

·         We must know how God uses problems in our life (I preached on this afew years ago)  God uses your problems, to direct you, or to detect the condition of your heart, or to discipline your behavior, or to defend you from danger or to develop your character

When we buff up on the word of God we will become stronger and instead of wasting our days in anxious hopelessness. We won’t waste our problems or suffering or stress. We will be able to use them to—again- glorify God.

Peace will come when we pray(Phil 4:6,7)

God can handle our honesty in prayer about our hearts being in anguish and restless. Ps 55:1`2,4,6

God promises in Philippians that when we present our requests to God that peace will guard our hearts. And minds. 

Isn’t that the most important areas in our lives that need to be guarded when we are going through stressful stuff??

In 1 Peter 5:6,7 we see that God cares about what you worries you and tells us to cast our worries to him.                        Cast ”throw it like a football”

That’s worry- don’t waste your life on it

What are other ways we waste our life.

A- We waste our life on approval

On my thumb drive I’ve got  9 mp3 sermons about not wasting your life. And one of them is titled don’t waste your ambition. Of course others inc lude don’t waste your sports, your humor, your suffering, your mind, your kids—you get the point. If you’d like hear them come see me.

But the one on ambition really hit home when you consider the gospel and how it affects what you do and why you it.

One of the points were this:  The search for approval is over. so ambiton for God’s glory can begin: we have what we need from the cross—Christ “It is finished”  We have the approval that is the most important and that is God’s. And we have it through Christ.  So now your free to live for God’s glory with no concern for other people opinions  or approval. We are to have godly ambition so don’t waste your ambition  by fueling it for finding approvalin the wrong place

            We waste our life on approval.

The last three I have are brief and they are more characterized by the intensity or the obsession some people live under them

          S. We waste our life on Sexual Pursuit

            Sexuality is a beautiful thing created by God and to be fully enjoyed in a marriage between husband and wife. Churches today need a better theology about sexuality than we’ve seen in the past. If you want to see an example of one go to our websight- goto Biblical purity blog and search through the articles in there

But if we were to pick up our  cues—which a lot of people do and then live this way—from the entertainment world- you’d think that sex is the ultimate achievement desire of the human experience.

            And its not. Because in the sinful context it is misappropriated and unfulfilling

            And when people center there lives on sexual pursuit alone- it is the most emptying experience outside of God’s design.

            More and more break up s and divorce cases are poisoned with unhealthy sexual issues that are not worked out and create stress in the home.  It creates a wasted life when its all your looking for.

          T. We waste our life on Things

            Some people call them treasures- some people love to just shop- Ever heard of a show called hoarders or clean house? How about extreme couponing- how much heart soul mind and strength as well as time goes into stuff or things- our houses- all things that could instantly be gone in a fire or flood.

            Use your money for eternal things that will last- use your homes big and small to minister to people- invest into lives of people for the kingdom. If you’ve been blessed don’t waste you life on things.

          E. We waste our life on Entertainment

            This is another obsession. While we CAN be balanced and should be balanced with what we call in my house “Screen time”.   …Video Games, Television Shows, DVD collections Channel surfing computer gaming, internet usage can all become a waste of our lives.     

            I love all this- but it can be an obsession on the cusp of idolatry. Don’t  waste yorlife on it have balance. I’m not saying no entertainment-I’m saying balanced what you do recreationally.

We can waste our lives with worry, approval, sexual pursuit and entertainment These are some examples of unwise foolish wasted living.

Now how about wise living- seizing the opportunity.Eph. Walk not as unwise but wise

If unwise and foolish living is characterized as a life that give no regard to God. than the wise living is characterized by those who do.

James says instead we should say if the Lord wills…

It is here I want to add to those who love the Carpe Diem idea. I wish to add another Latin phrase that you can take home and put on the refrigerate or on your notes that when you Consider Your day and Not just How you live which is what we’ve looked at today  but it why you live… this Latin add on will be a simple yet powerful trigger for you as you live to grown in your valuing of the glory of God and investing your life towards that end…

STATE: When we Consider Our Day we are to live as Martin Luther said in the Latin language: Coram Deo.  This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.  Carpe Diem Coram Deo” Seize the day-in the presence of God. That is how we consider our day.
I’m going to end with a quote from RC Sproul: 
“The Christian who compartmentalizes his or her life into two sections of the religious and the nonreligious has failed to grasp the big idea. The big idea is that all of life is religious or none of life is religious. To divide life between the religious and the nonreligious is itself a sacrilege.
“This means that if a person fulfills his or her vocation as a steelmaker, attorney, or homemaker coram Deo, then that person is acting every bit as religiously as a soul-winning evangelist who fulfills his vocation. It means that David was as religious when he obeyed God’s call to be a shepherd as he was when he was anointed with the special grace of kingship. It means that Jesus was every bit as religious when He worked in His father’s carpenter shop as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane”
So be encourage to Carpe Diem, Coram Deo- Seize the Day, before the face God!

Let’s pray