Sermon Sunday: Stewardship of Time- PART 1

I struggle immensely with time management. I go on the internet before I do my homework. I leave big projects until the last minute. Etc.

Today my pastor preached a wonderful sermon on Stewardship of Time and, knowing how many people struggle with time management, I thought I'd share with you some of it.

Of course, this is mostly paraphrased from his sermon, but if you want you can listen to the full sermon here.

The sermon was centered around Psalm 90. 

First, let's look at 2 important truths:

1. God is eternal
1. He is not constrained by time limitations, but is active now, in the past, and in the future.
2. We, as humans, are COMPLETELY constrained by time
1. We have a brief time on earth and then our bodies are returned to dust.

Why is life so short?

Many people talk about how awful it is that life is so short- and there is a reason for this.

"The brevity of life is a result of the righteous indignation of God."

Now, this sounds very serious and scary and, in some ways, it is. 

Because of our sin and rebelling against God, we can no longer live forever.

But! But! This is NOT the end! Jesus not only came down to earth to live among us, but he also came down to die for us. And because of this, we can have eternal life. Even though we've rebelled against God, even though we sin every single day.

Oh, and!

*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*

God knows we are dust. He knows our limitations, but understands and he loves us anyway.

So, onto the Psalm itself:

At the end of Psalm 90 there are several 2 line prayers which are wonderful to pray every day.

"Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom"

Pretty self explanatory. Once we realize that we don't have forever on this earth, we begin to make sure that the things we do are meaningful and have intrinsic value.

"Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days"

I don't know about you, but often when I wake up, I feel sad. My brain immediately jumps to all the things I don't want it to jump to. What if, instead, my brain jumped to thinking of God's unfailing love? How much happier would I be?

"Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble"

Asking for joy. (Always a good thing.) It also helps me to remember, though, the first chapter of James, where he reminds us to count it all joy when we experience suffering because if we hold steadfast, it shows that our faith is strong.

"May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children"

Right now, I guess, many of us are considered "children", but soon, and in some ways now, it will be our responsibility to help the next generation grown in their walks with God.

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands"

I feel that this prayer is applicable in so many ways. Right now I need to God to establish the work of my hands in the sense that I want to feel a calling from him in what I do with my life. To you it might mean something different. It does mean, though, for all of us, that we want God to be present in whatever work we do, big or small, writing a book, filling out a math worksheet, doing our taxes, etc.

To read Part 2, click here.