Making the Most out of your Day

Dr. Marty Baker / Ephesians 5:15-17 / April 18, 2010

Good morning and welcome to Stevens Creek Church! I would like to welcome all of those who are in our Grovetown Campus and those watching on television and online. Today, we are continuing our series called Margin.
How has your week been? Did you get everything done that you wanted to do? Probably not. What would you do if you had some extra time? How would you spend it?
Would you spend it with God? Would you spend it with your family? Would you catch up on your rest? Or maybe spend it improving that golf swing?
Today, I am going to talk about Making the Most out of your Day.
Several years ago, I sincerely asked the Lord to expand my ability to lead. At the time, I did not know what I was praying for. Have you ever prayed for something and then you realized that you honestly did not know what you were asking for?
Well, the answer to my prayer came in a way that I never expected. I wanted God to wave his magic wand and make me into a different person. Instead, God put me in the middle of a storm … a perfect type of scenario.
Maybe you have been there. A perfect storm is when … a person with an expanded never dreamed that For me it was a perfect storm type of scenario. A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically.
Several months after I prayed for God to make be a better leader, I was given three projects to manage and each one of these project were much bigger than I was.
I believe that this perfect storm was a time test. God knew that for me to be a better leader, I had to learn how to manage my time. You cannot be a great leader if you cannot manage your schedule. You cannot be a great Mom or Dad if you cannot manage your time. You cannot be a great employee if you cannot manage your time.
God allowed me to be placed in a situation where I had to manage three projects in addition to my regular duties and all the while maintaining my family life. What were they? I was responsible, along with Jerry Ashmore, for managing the construction of our new facility. Along with that came the responsibility of raising over a million dollars to off-set some of the cost of the project and a side note I was involved in managing what I thought would be a 90 day software development project off-shore. It turned out to be a year- long project working with four programmers in India.
How do you do that? You invest three to four hours a day on Indian Standard Time which means you work on their schedule. I would log on at 10 PM to get them started on the day’s work and then I would go to sleep and wake up at 5:00 AM and review their progress until 8:00 AM. It was a scheduling night-mare.
But, through it all, I learned how to manage my life. I trimmed away a lot of time wasters. I learned how to lead people. I learned the importance of balance, structure, systems and sanity. Today, I can talk to you because even though I have a full schedule, I have margin.
So as we go through this talk, I want you to open to taking an honest look at your life and an honest look at your schedule. Be willing to trim some areas and at the same time expand some areas. Be passionate about creating space between your load and your limits.
We are talking about margin. Last week we learned that…
Margin is the amount available beyond what is necessary. In other words, it is the difference between what you have and what you need.
In our scheduling lives, margin would be having more than enough time. It would be having extra time. It would be having time to help someone who is in need.
Margin would be having time to listen to our children and not working in our minds. Margin would be having time to be interrupted and be glad about it, "I'm so glad I could be here to help you."
Margin would be having time to rest, to relax, to reflect. Margin is having enough time to be with the people that we love. Margin is having quality time with God.
Our scripture today comes from Ephesians 5:15-17.
Ephesians 5:15-17
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Notice it says, “Be very careful how you live”. The Apostle Paul wrote this because he understood that there is a great temptation to exceed our limitations and be overloaded. Typically when this happens, we have veered away from the most important things of life and focused on lesser things of this world.
He is saying to be careful then how you live, how you plan, what you say yes to, what you say no to.
The verse goes on to say, "..making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Last week I said: “If Satan can’t make you BAD, he will try to make you REALLY busy.” He will try to pull you off center…make you veer off the road.
Ephesians 5:16-17
16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
We have to watch our schedule because the culture will drag you away from the things that you say matter most in life. So, how do you know what to do and what not to do? How do you know where to go and where not to go?
Let’s talk about it. If I said to you, "Hey, can you do such and such next Saturday?" Chances are, most of you would kind of look at your calendar and say, "Are we free? Well, if we are free, then we can do it."
So, you ask, "Are we free?" It's not a bad question, but it’s not the best question. Or, you might say, "Well, is this right, or is this wrong? Well, since it's not wrong, it must be right, so we will do it."
But, a better question to ask when it comes to our scheduling is not is it right, or is it wrong, or is it free? But, a better question to ask would be this, "Is it wise?"
SLIDE: What is the wise thing to do?
Before you make a decision about your schedule, consider what is really important in your life and say, “Is adding this thing, this event wise?" It may be fun, but is it wise.
In light of our current family situation, it could be in light of the fact that our marriage is not where God wants it to be, is it wise to take on something else?
Or, in light of the fact that we have two children in diapers right now, is it wise to do this?
Or for you it could be, "In light of the fact that we have a 17-year-old, who only has one year left under the care of our home, is it wise to be taken out of the home for this?
In light of the fact that our days are numbered that we are not promised tomorrow, is it wise. The half brother of Jesus wrote these words in the Bible.
James 4:14
…What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
In light of the fact that life is precious and short and that every day is a gift from God, in light of that fact, is it wise that we invest our time in this? Is it wise?
Not is it right, not is it wrong, not can we do it; but, is it wise?
Ephesians 5:15-17
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
What are we going to do? How do you schedule wisely? There is a whole lot of people that fall into the trap of scheduling foolishly, rather than wisely. If you are going to schedule wisely, then you have to have the courage and faith to say "no" to many good things, so that we can say "yes" to the best things.
Help me out, what are we going to say no to? We are going to say no to many good things, so that we can say yes to the best things!
Life is too short to continue being overwhelmed, being overworked, frenzied, stressed, being miserable, being busy and yet being empty!
How often do you see a friend and ask, “How’s it going?” Then you get this response: "Everything is great. I am busy.” "What's going on right now?" "Really busy!"
Busy doing what? There are so many people busy doing useless things. Busyness does not equal importance. Busyness does not equal meaning. People are being robbed of a life of meaning, not because they are not committed, but because they are overcommitted.
That's why I want to challenge you, I want to dare you, I want to beg you, to have the courage and the faith to say "no" to what so many others say "yes" to; so that you can say "yes" to the very best things.
You may need to take some drastic measures. You may have to un-plug, log-out, or turn off some technology toys in order to re-connect with something or someone better. This past week I heard that the average American spends 35 hours a week watching television. You may have to miss a show or two.
If this past week, you said, “I wish I had more time for this ______! I don't have time for what's important to me!" Look at your schedule and make the right choice.
"Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." You choose, you choose.
When planning your schedule…
1. Everyone needs God time.
daily basis. We need to realign daily with God, because by nature our hearts are out of alignment. We need a daily adjustment.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Put God first in your life. Put Him first in your family. Put God first in your career. Put God first in your finances. God will bless you. It's like the tithe, you put aside the first and He blesses the rest. You seek Him first and the rest of your day is aligned to the heartbeat of God.
I have said it before: Give God the first part of the week, the first part of the day, and the first part of your pay.
Putting God first is important. This week I want to encourage you to take an action step.
Spend five minutes just being in the presence of God. Open up God's Word this week daily, first thing, and just take it in. We are doing this as a congregation. Get on a reading plan.
You can go to YouVersion.com and choose the one year reading plan. Put your start day January 1st and you will be with the rest of us. If that’s too complicated, stop by the table in the atrium and pick up a paper copy and put it in your Bible. Start reading God’s word.
2. Everyone needs personal time.
We all need time to let the dust settle, to evaluate how life is going, to plan for the future. When was the last time that you heard from yourself? The most productive thing that you can do this week is to schedule a time of solitude.
3. Every needs family time.
You need to connect with your spouse and with each of your kids. You need one-on-one time to develop those relationships.
4. Everyone needs sharing time.
When you are making your schedule, you need to plan time with your friends. It seems like we have scheduled our friends right out of the picture.
Psalm 39:4-5
4 “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”
We only have a short time on this earth and we need to use that time wisely.
Several years ago, Reba McEntire recorded a song to honor the seven members of her band that died in a plane crash in March 1991. This song has been used countless times at memorials and funerals to remind people to cherish the time that we have with each other.
Listen to the words as April Sturgell sings: If I Had Only Known.
Song: If I Had Only Known

I want you to join with me in prayer. We are going to ask God to help us do three things:
Ask God to help you…
1. Turn when into now.
We are going to ask God to take our “whens” into now. Through the years, I’ve talked to so many people that have “when, then” scenarios going on. It could be the single person that says, “One day when I get married, then I’ll finally be happy.”
We say to ourselves, “When such and such happens, then life will really matter.” One day when everything is just the way I want it to be, then I can fully engage and do what God is calling me to do.
It could be the person that says, “One day when we get the right home, then we will host a Life Group.” One day when we finally get out of debt, then we will start to tithe. One day when my career is established and we are strong financially then I will re-engage with the family. One day when the kids are grown, we will start investing in our marriage again. The problem is the “then” rarely comes. When … then. Now is the time.
Secondly, we are going to ask God to ….
2. Turn intentions into actions.
God, turn our intentions into actions. If you are like most people I know, you have some good intentions about life, but like most people you have not gotten around to doing it.
In our world, we are going to ask God to close the gap between good intentions and right and godly actions. Close the gap between good intentions and actions. Never let the good go undone. Do it now. Do it today. Do it before the sun goes down.
Proverbs 3:27-28
27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"— when you now have it with you.
God turn when into now. Turn intentions into actions and finally, God …
3. Turn my whole heart toward Jesus.
We are going to turn our whole heart toward Jesus.
Life is brief. We are not promised tomorrow. Life is brief. A hand width. We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. That’s why … right now ….there is nothing better than you could do than in this moment to say,

“Jesus, I don’t want to be away from you. I don’t want to do my own thing. I don’t want to live with this sin that is destroying me. I want to know you, your truth, your power, your love, your grace. Jesus, I want to turn my whole heart to you, not just a little bit, but all of me.

Closing Prayer