One Life to Live

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last." --C.T. Studd

There was surely something about last Sunday's message that struck a nerve with a lot of people. I heard from several folks who said they were tired of always spending their time on other people's agendas, and were constantly frustrated because, in the big picture, they recognized they were not living their life "on purpose."

One theme seems to have echoed through this week, and that is, we have to spend our limited time here on earth investing in things that will outlast us in eternity. All of our lives have an expiration date, and whether that be sooner or later, our days are still numbered. If this window of opportunity we call life--lived within the confines of time--is going to count for anything, then we would all do well to realize the urgency of dealing with eternal things now while we still have the chance.

The most basic of those things is settling our eternal destiny, now while we have a chance. The prophet Isaiah reminded us to "seek the Lord, while he may be found." (Is. 55:6). If we go through this life chasing fame and fortune and success, and never use the brief time allotted to us to entrust our lives to God and be reconciled to Him, then we have wasted our one opportunity, and will prove to be the ultimate failure.

And once we know Christ, then our aim is to be the best stewards of the time we have by the choices that we make with the one life we have to live. As someone said, having enough time is never the problem; learning how to prioritize the time we have always is.

So, commit to living for the one who died for you, and establish your priorities accordingly. Then, work to ruthlessly eliminate the time-wasters. Turn off the TV for a while. Log off the computer or video game. Shut down your not-so-smart phone. Get a life again. As John Piper has said, "One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time."

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Eph. 5:15-17)

I'm praying for you, as I hope you are for me, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

--Pastor Ken

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