INVESTING YOUR LIFE RATHER THAN SPENDING IT
How To Have A Great Year
Part 1
Gerry White
January 2, 2005

Welcome to Lighthouse on this first weekend of 2005. We're glad you're here. Hope you had a great Christmas.

It's also a time during the holidays where we tend to eat a little more fudge and put on a few holiday pounds. Our pants are a little bit tighter. I know that some of you had plans already tomorrow morning, you're back for your annual trip to the gym.

I found a verse for you that might be your verse for this whole year. In fact, for some of you it might be your life verse.

Bodily exercise profiteth little.

1 Timothy 4:8

So tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off just feel free to roll over, turn it off and go back to sleep.

Here we are in the early days of 2005.

  • All the parties are over.
  • All the relatives have gone home.
  • All the packages have been opened, the decorations are back in the box.

It's been a good holiday but tomorrow morning it's back to the real world. This is a great moment for us to stop and not just reflect on where we've been the last year but to look at the year that God's put in front of us. And realize that's a gift that He's given to us.

This morning we're going to start a three-week series called "How to Have a Great Year."

This morning we're going to laser focus in on the topic of time. If you live all the way through 2005 you're going to live through 527,040 minutes in the coming year. Those minutes represent much more than ticks on a clock. They represent your life.

Because life is all about time and what you do with it. God has a lot to say on the topic.

Lord, teach us to make the most of our time so that we may grow in wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

That's my hope for you.

  • How to invest your life.
  • How to spend your time this coming year so there is a spiritual return and gain on the investment that you make with the minutes that God is going to give you.

So let me give you these two statements:

1. Live for eternity.

The Bible teaches that you had a beginning. But really you don't have an end. You are immortal. You may only live 70, 80, 90 years on this planet.

The purpose of life is preparation for eternity. In Ecclesiastes Solomon says:

God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. But even so people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

1 Corinthians 3. The Judgment Seat of Christ when someday we will stand before God and give an account of the kind of life we built. He uses the analogy of a construction project.

Each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood or straw his work will be shown for what it is for the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives he will receive his reward. But if it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames.

As Paul starts this discussion he begins with the phrase "be careful how you build." Why does he start with that? Because life is a stewardship.

  • It's a sacred trust.
  • It's a gift from God.

Every day that you've been given is a gift from God and it's to be used to fulfill the purposes of God in your life.

Giving an account of your life

  1. Be careful how you build
  2. Construction phase: building your life

Different materials for building.

  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Costly stones
  • Wood, hay and straw.

Here's the point. Each of those building materials represent your life and your time and how you live your life. He says you get to decide what kind of life you're going to build.

If you build a life

  • Out of gold and silver and precious metals - focused on eternal values, on the purposes of God.
  • Out of wood, hay and straw. It's about self. It's about just chasing the things of this life that don't really matter.

At The Judgment Seat of Christ our lives, our works, will be tested by fire.

If you

  • built with selfish ambition, there won't be any reward.
  • built a life on eternal values, that's a person who will receive a reward in heaven.

Verse 14 says

His work will be shown what it is because the day will bring it to light.

What day is he referring to? He's referring to that day called The Judgment Seat of Christ.

Romans 14 says

Remember each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God and our lives will be reviewed, not only our actions but even our motives will be reviewed by God and we'll give an account for how we lived.

This is the Point!

It's your personal relationship with Jesus Christ that determines whether or not you have a place in heaven.

But what you do with your time and how you build your life determines your reward, the prize of heaven. That day at The Judgment Seat of Christ only those of us who are believers will be present on that day.

When you hear this phrase "Judgment Seat of Christ"

  • It doesn't give me warm, fuzzy goosebumps
  • It strikes fear.
  • It causes concern.
  • It fills us with apprehension.

Example

I grew up in church so I'd heard about this fact that someday after I died as a Christian I would stand before God at judgment. So I had this picture in my mind. I'm sure some preacher must have given it to me. This picture was there was going to be a day in heaven when all of us were gathered there and we were going to fill this massive big arena, stadium kind of place and on this day there was going to be this huge screen rolled out of heaven. On that screen we were going to watch everybody's life. It was horrifying to me to imagine that my life was going to be shown up on this big screen at the judgment day and everything I'd ever done, every bad deed, every evil thought, every terrible thing I'd ever done was going to be up on the big screen for all of you to watch. That's pretty horrifying for me as a kid. The only comfort that gave me was realizing I was going to get to watch your life.

I'm not sure where that picture came from. But I'll tell you this much. It didn't come from the Bible. That's not at all how the Bible pictures that day.

In fact, the Bible is clear. If you are Christ's follower, every sin you ever committed, every past, every present, every future sin has been completely forgiven at the cross. You will not have one sin follow you into heaven.

So then what is this thing called The Judgment Seat of Christ? The Isthmian Games were the forerunner to the Olympics. In the Isthmian Games after the athletes competed there was a place up in the stands about half way up in the stands called the Bema, the judgment seat and it was the judge's platform.

After the athletes competed they walked up those steps to the judge's platform and it was there that the judge of the events would take the wreath or take the garland and place it around the neck of that athlete. It was an award ceremony.

So when we read about The Judgment Seat of Christ it's the awards ceremony for believers. It's not a time of humiliation or punishment. It's a time of honor and reward.

Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do whether slaves or free.

Ephesians 6:8

The Judgment Seat of Christ is a time of reward.

Can you imagine that?

At that time [speaking about this Judgment Seat of Christ] each will receive his praise from God.

1 Corinthians 4:5

What an incredible statement! Not one of us who know Christ will be left out.

The Bible says that God Himself will do the honors. The rewards aren't given a nation at a time or even a congregation at a time. But one by one. After all, we won't be in a hurry.

God will call each of us by name and on that day He will say to us those words "Well done good and faithful servant." What a great day that will be!

A sobering statement that might be a little confusing. Paul says,

If now we take what we've built and it's tested by fire and survives then we'll receive a reward. But if it's burned up he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames.

A good question:

  • If my sins are not judged in heaven,
  • If they've already been taken care of at the cross, then in what sense could a Christian suffer loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

It will be a day of rewards but for some of us it will not necessarily be a happy day.

For some they realize the sobering reality that they gave their life for all the wrong things.

  • A day of regret
  • A day of sorrow
  • A day remorse
  • A day of embarrassment

Paul describes that Christian, that person, as someone who escapes out of a fire.

Paul says that for some people the only thing they're going to have when they get to heaven is just that they're there. That's good. They're alive and they'll enjoy heaven for all eternity with God. But there will be that sense of regret that the one life they were given they didn't use it as God really wanted.

But what a day it will be when we stand before Jesus Christ on that day of reward and He's pleased.

When I understand that, when I really get that picture of eternity it has a couple of implications for my life.

1. When I understand my future, it decreases my fear.

  • I don't have to be afraid of standing before God.
  • I don't have to worry that somehow this is all going to be about wrath and punishment and sin.
  • I don't have to be afraid.

2. It increases my focus. I know that someday I'm going to stand before God and He's going to inspect my life and so when that reality really sinks in it's going to shape how I live my life.

Paul says,

For we fix our attention not on things that are seen but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time. But what cannot be seen lasts forever.

The New Year challenge: have a perspective change, a motivation change. Let the fact that eternity is real and someday as a follower of Christ you will stand before God. Let that shape your new year.

But let me get real practical.

2. Live with urgency.

Paul says in Ephesians 5

Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.

In 1 Corinthians 3 he says

Be careful how you build.

In Ephesians 5 he says

Be careful how you live.

Same thing.

Some urgency busters:

1. Trivial pursuits.

Just giving your life for stuff that doesn't matter for eternity. Spending large blocks of time, large quantities of your energy on stuff that has absolutely no eternal value.

Exchange the minutes that God gave you on this planet earth for something that has more eternal value.

2. Cares of life.

If I will let it the cares of life will actually push me or nudge me

  • to trust God in deeper ways,
  • to go deeper in my relationship with God.

We actually have a broader perspective. But it's your choice on how you choose to look at it.

3. Busyness.

The cares of life have to do with the weight of life. But busyness has to do with the speed of life. Speed can also cause us to lose perspective.

  • We need to develop a Stop Doing list.
  • Some things you ought to cut out of your life, not because they're bad but just simply because they don't have any real significant value.

You need some space and margin in your life to hear God so you can have spiritual focus.

4. Taking life for granted.

  • The Bible says you are not the product of evolution.
  • You were made by God.
  • God carefully crafted your body just like He wanted it.
  • He breathed life in you
  • He put you on this planet
  • He numbered your days
  • He gave you purpose in life. That life is a gift from God.

In fact, you are a gift from God. I know some of you for a long time thought you were God's gift to the world but... let other people tell you that.

Let me get positive and practical on the other side and give you some things that help build urgency and focus in my life.

1. Feed your soul

It's your soul that's eternal, not your body. So all that showering and manicuring and nipping and tucking and combing and primping on a body that is just here for a short time.

  • Spend some time feeding your soul.
  • Spending time in God's word. Realize how big God is. I realize why I'm here and what the earth is all about and what my time is supposed to be for.

2. Make people a priority

Jesus was a fanatic about people. People last for eternity. In this new year, spend lots of time on relationships.

  • Go deeper in your friendships.
  • Spend time with your small group.
  • Love on your family. It's people that matter.

3. Hang around other people who live urgently

As a Christian you have this little pilot light inside of you.

There are three kinds of people that you hang around with.

  1. The largest group are people who have no spiritual bearing on your life whatsoever. When you rub up against their life they don't really impact you. They're so consumed with their stuff and this world spiritual realities really aren't on their radar.
  2. Then there's another group, a smaller group, who actually kind of drag you down. They're like a bucket of cold water. It seems like they're always trying to put out your fire.
  3. But then there's that handful of people who when you're around them they make you want to be like Christ. They make you want to live for God. They inspire you to take risks and stretch your faith and to believe God for things that you never believed before.

If you know a person or two or three like that, find a way to get around them in the coming year.

4. Move outside your comfort zone

Life's too short to play it safe all the time.

Remember Abraham and what God said to Abraham? "Abraham, I want you to leave the country that's familiar to you and I want you to go to a place far away. I'm not going to tell you how we're going to get there or how long it's going to be until you get there. I just want you to be obedient to Me."

Or He says to Moses, "Moses, I want you to go back to Egypt and I want you to walk up to the Pharaoh, the king of the land and I want you to demand of him and I want you to say to him, 'God says, Let my people go!' Moses, you're not going to have an army. You're just going to have My power and you're going to have to trust Me. And I'm going to use you to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land."

Or Jeremiah. God says "My people have strayed from Me and they've become rebellious and fallen into idolatry. Jeremiah, I need one man who will be My spokesman in this generation who will speak My truth in a rebellious generation. Jeremiah, you're not always going to be popular. Sometimes people aren't going to like you. In fact, sometimes you're going to get persecuted. But Jeremiah I want you to be My man for this time in history."

The same will be true for you. If in the New Year you really decide to live for eternity and live with urgency I promise you that God will ask you to do some things that will stretch your faith and will pull you outside of your comfort zone.

"Remember that in a race everyone runs but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you'll win the prize. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away but were do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal, with purpose in every step. I'm not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified."

Friends, the clock is ticking. One day God will call you forward and you'll march up those steps and there at the judge's platform the Almighty God of the universe, the lover of your soul, the one who redeemed you from your sins, it'll be in that moment He'll look you in they and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." At that moment you will be glad that you invested your life in things that matter for eternity. You'll be glad that you were careful how you built your life.

So my challenge to you as you begin this New Year is to live for eternity and live with urgency.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for this reminder that life is a gift from You. Thank You that You created us. We're not some cosmic coincidence. You created us to live life with purpose and You gave us so many days. Now I pray that we would be faithful with those days You've given us. Lord, as we march into the new year help us to have one eye onto eternity, to live with an eternal focus like we never have before and then help us to live with urgency, to have a spiritual focus that makes this year a better year than ever before for making a difference with our lives. We pray that it would be so for Your sake. In Jesus' name. Amen.