Here’s the focus: How can we use the time we have so that at the end of the day we can feel good about ourselves and what we’ve been able to do - that we haven’t wasted our valuable time. I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians 5:15-17.

Every school day morning there’s this mad dash at our house - getting up - getting dressed - trying to get some food - and running for the car. By 8:15 our oldest son is at school - generally by 8:30 I’m in the office. And the day keeps on going - often late into the night. And I know that the Muncherian household schedule is not unique.

And it seems like a struggle to find any quality family time. Raising kids is a full time experience - there’e school commitments - community commitments - extended families - work is demanding. I get tired just thinking about this. And I’m told that retirement is even busier.

Have you said this lately? “Don’t bother me with that - I just don’t have the time for it.” or “One more thing to do, and no time to do it.” or “I can’t seem to find enough time to do what I have to do and what I want to do.”

We all struggle with this. Where in all this do we find time for God? To spend time each day reading and meditating on the Bible - time in prayer. And we understand this too well - come Sunday morning - coming to services - or the thought of serving in the church - is a real sacrifice. The reality is that on the list of priorities - developing Godly character and serving God get pushed to the bottom of the list.

Life in the 90’s is a rush to the finish line - wherever that is. Time is something we never seem to have enough of. Given 24 hours in a day and we need 25 - given 25 and we would probably need 26. Our lives are full of things which claim to be priorities and which all require more time than we have.

In Ephesians 5:15-17 the Apostle Paul writes: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Three main points: How can we make best use of our time? First Paul says:

1. BE CAREFUL (15a) - don’t just let time pass by

According to U.S. News and World Report, in a lifetime, the average American spends 6 months sitting at stoplights, 8 months opening junk mail, 1 year looking for misplaced objects, 2 years unsuccessfully returning phone calls, 4 years doing housework, 8 years watching T.V., 5 years waiting in line, and my favorite - 6 years eating.

It has been said that, “More time is wasted not in hours but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over.”

We’re born and we grow up. Someplace along the line we get our first job and gain a certain amount of independence. We finally get our first car.

And then there’s college - and we move out from home. Perhaps we earn a BA or Masters - maybe even become a doctor of something.

We start our career. We commute and work from 9 to 5... or 6... or 7. Over 30 years - given 2 weeks off - working 5 days a week - that comes to roughly 7,500 days. Spend 45 minutes on the freeway going 1 way and we’ll spend 465 plus days - over a year - parked in traffic.

And then there’s marriage. Someone has said that there’s an order that Armenian men are suppose to follow:

1) Get an education
2) Get a job
3) Get a house
4) Get a wife.

And there are times as a family - vacations and gatherings. And someplace - when we weren’t watching our kids grow up - go off to school - get married - and have kids of their own.

We retire - which is a hard adjustment. Traveling and spending time with the Grandkids. Good years - but passing years. And, we’re getting older.

Our spouse dies. We move in with the kids - or find ourselves in a rest home. And there’s a realization that life is almost over. The time has come to die.

There’s a day, when a question that has been hanging in the back of our mind surfaces - and can no longer be ignored. “What purpose was there to my life? Was there a significance?”

This is an amazing truth about our affluent society. We have so many things and our days are so full - and yet we find so many who are empty inside - hollow - looking for significance and purpose - to know that their lives actually count for something. This feeling - like the time they had was wasted - empty.

Paul says in verse 15: “Look carefully then how you walk.” Walking is easy. Where we walk is laid out for us. But, how we walk through life needs our constant attention. Watch a man walking on a tightrope and he has no concern as to where he’s expected to walk; the rope is there. But how to walk - that’s the problem.

Secondly Paul says:

2. BE WISE (15a-16) - make wise choices - set wise goals

Paul says in verse 16 - walk as wise men, “making the most of the time - because the days are evil.”

Yesterday we went grocery shopping. Supermarkets are not just laid out by random choice. There’s a strategy that is used to get us - the shopper - to buy the most amount of things before we leave. Have you ever done this - gone into the store for one thing and come out we several things you never intended to buy?

Supermarkets put the stuff we need in the back so we have to pass by everything else to get there. And they have all these displays of “special” and “discounted” items that we would “foolish” to pass up. And now they have those coupon machines that blink at you. And then at the Check-Out there are all these “little” inexpensive items - candy - magazines - batteries.

The advice I’ve heard is this:

1) Never shop hungry - because you’ll buy more food than you need
2) Make a list of what you really need and stick to it.

When Paul says, “Make the most of the time...” The word used in the Greek for “Make the most of” is “exagorazdo” - literally it means to “to redeem” - “to buy.” Paul says - shop wisely with your time - don’t get taken.

In Psalm 90:10,12, Moses says, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, and even the best of these years are often filled with labor an sorrow; for soon life disappears and we are gone. So teach us to number our days, that we may acquire discerning minds.” - number our days to gain the wisdom to spend them profitably.

I know of at least one person who took this verse to heart. He subtracted from his present age the number of days left until he would be seventy. On his daily calendar he wrote in the number of days left from a given date until his seventieth birthday. Each calendar day presented him with a number - one number less than the day before. This served to remind him that God had called him to number his days and use them wisely.

Plan - prioritize - set goals and objectives - use your time for those things of the greatest value. Paul says, make the most of the time you have.

Thirdly - How do we decide what is of greatest value? Thirdly Paul says:

3. BE GODLY (17)

Verse 17: “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Be aware of what God desires for us.

Usually when we hear the phrase, “the will of the Lord,” most people think in terms of guidance. They think we’re referring to what we ought to do next - where we should live - what job we should have - who we should marry - or how to decide something.

But guidance is not the major issue in understanding the will of the Lord. What we do is a pretty simple matter. Once we get the real issue straightened out, what we do is relatively unimportant and can be handled very easily.

God is not so much interested in what we do as what we are. Who we are - our Godly character - that’s the real issue - who we are in every situation. This is what Paul is talking about.

Paul tells us, that to use our time wisely means that we must be focused on being Godly men and women - to live in a growing intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Who we are in Christ will determine how we live in the situations of life - the priorities we have and the decisions we make - how we choose to use our time.

The bottom line here is the priorities we set for our lives.

Surprised to see an empty seat at the Super Bowl Stadium, a die hard fan remarked about it to a woman sitting nearby.

“It was my husband’s,” the woman explained. “But, he died.”

“I’m very sorry,” said the man. “Yet, I’m really surprised that another relative, or friend, didn’t jump at the chance to take the seat reserved for him.”

“Beats me,” she said. “They all insisted on going to the funeral.”

What is really important for our lives - and are we focused on that? Either we choose priorities or they are chosen for us. On God’s list of priorities there’s a warning: Be Careful - Be Wise - Be Godly.

In Pompeii, Italy there’s a museum of things they have excavated from the city. And, there is a body of a woman that was found mummified by the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. The position she was found in tells a really tragic story. Her feet were pointing toward the city gate - she was facing away from safety - and her outstretched arms and fingers were straining for something that lay just beyond her reach. The treasure - that she lost her life for - was a bag of pearls.

Are the things we prioritize really that important? Here we are as Christians - and talking about time and Church Membership - and so often we come up short and unable to serve - to give quality time to Jesus and His church - even to be here on Sunday morning - or to grow in our relationship with Him. Paul says - choose God first and then everything else will receive the right priority in your life.