Don't Waste Your Life, Part 2

February, 2004

by: Beth Mack

So did you complete your homework? If not, stop reading — put the Calvary Review down and spend a few moments reflecting over the last month. Once you do that, go back through and evaluate how much time was spent on earthly things and how much time was spent on the eternal? Ask yourself did I waste my life or am I making it count for eternity?

When I first set out to write this series of articles, I thought of a list of things that we could all be doing and could be involved in that would help us not to waste our life. I was challenged as I thought through it that the first way that we don't waste our life is by realizing that what we do flows out of who we are. It comes from our heart. The heart is the control center for life. A person's life mirrors his heart. Prov. 4:23 states it this way — “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The heart is the well from which all the issues of life gush forth. The behavior a person exhibits is out of the overflow of his heart. Thus, we make sure that we don't waste our life but first and foremost maintain a vital and growing relationship with Christ.

Sometime go back through the Gospels and look at how many times it says that Jesus withdrew to pray. It was his pattern. Jesus, who was very God of very God, knew he needed to commune with God. Paul realized this as well. In Titus 2, when he is commanding the older women to train the younger women, he says, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may train the younger women” (Titus 2:3, 4) The impact that the older women have on the younger women flows out of the older woman's own relationship to God.

You can't pass on to others what you don't have. If you want to impact the world for Jesus Christ, then you have to have something to impact them with. Nothing brought this home more to me than the time that I was asked to coach cheer–leading. Most people who know me know that coordination is not one of my strengths. There was very little I could pass on to a cheer–leading squad in terms of cheer–leading skills. I had nothing to give them. The same is true spiritually. If I am not walking with God and communing with him on a daily, moment by moment basis, then I have little to offer others.

Most people I know live very busy lives and many will look back over their log of the last month and see involvement in many good things. But as you evaluate how you used your time, how much time did you spend communing with God? Did you get busy doing and allow your heart to wander and become hard?

What are some of the ways that God has given us to maintain our walk with him? Well, first and foremost, He has given us His Word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Or as Eph. 5:25-26 says, “Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of the water of the Word.” The Word is the tool that God uses to cleanse us and sanctify us.

How much time did you spend in Scripture last month? Do you have a regular pattern of studying it? Are you hungry for the Word of God? Do you choose to be at places where you will hear Scripture taught? Or is your time so crowded by other things and events that you fail to have time to? What kinds of books are you reading? Are you reading books that challenge you to go deeper into Scripture?

Maybe you're saying, “I want to be a student of the Word of God but I don't know how to.” Well, what are you going to do about it? Have you thought about listening to the series Pastor Hughes did on how to study the Bible? Have you asked anyone to help you learn? Or have you thought about going through the book The Twin Pillars which is a practical guide to prayer and Bible study.

How much time did you spend in prayer last month? Did you pray? Philippians 4:6 says that we are to, “pray in every circumstance about everything.” Or 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says that we are to “pray without ceasing.” Did you do more in prayer than just ask God for things? Do you commune with God through prayer?

One other means that God has given us to maintain our spiritual walks is the body of believers around us. As believers, God has made us part of a family. We need each other. Do you have friends that challenge you and hold you accountable? Do you have people in your life who help in the iron sharpening process that Proverbs 27:17 speaks of? Do you ever spend time with the body of Christ? Are you actively seeking opportunities to be around other believers?

These are just a few of the things that are involved in maintaining our walk with God. My challenge to you is to pick one of them to focus on and apply it this month. Not wasting your life starts by not wasting the month!