Have you ever given consideration to the stewardship of “the day?” By that, I mean, “What if today was not what you made it (as if you were master of the day) but an assignment to be discerned, carried out, and celebrated?”
I have been “the guy” who thought of the calendar as an obstacle rather than an opportunity; a challenge rather than a commission. If I could control the appointments, arrange the flow of activities, choose the level of energy needed for each encounter, delegate away some of the less significant tasks…THEN I could look back on the day and talk about all that I had done. What if though, I had an assignment in the day that was completely overlooked in the hustle and hurry of my effective administration?
Someone asked me recently about a weakness or struggle that I knew about myself. I responded that, at times, I moved too quickly through a room. Even when pastoring, my default was to maximize my time and get to the front and in position at just the right time. In fact, after watching one of my mentors engage the same crowds, I realized that I needed to intentionally slow down. I would often pray for the Lord to show me His divine appointments in the conversations that I might have along the way. Sure, I needed to be at the front when the clock struck 00:00, but I also needed to maximize the appointments that God might have along the way.
The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that God is in the appointment business. He appoints everything under heaven.
1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
Ecclesiastes 3:1, NASB95
Often, the moments that we pass through are appointments affecting eternity for others. That disabled vehicle on the side of the road. The conversation after prayers with your son as you tuck him in. The Car rider line. The chit-chat with a co-worker over lunch. Any one of these may be an appointment that affects eternity.
2for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
2 Corinthians 6:2, NASB95
Finally, since God assigns the moments and controls all of the circumstances, we can rejoice in every element of the day. We can be grateful for the traffic stall on the highway, or the appliance repair that we have to arrange on the hone. We can thank the Lord that our coffee order is delayed for a fresh pot that is being brewed. Each one of these moments is divinely appointed.
24This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24, NASB95
Today, the Lord will entrust you with 86,400 seconds. He has appointed some of them for eternal purposes. Make the most of every opportunity and rejoice…for the Lord made the day!
Time is almost up! That statement may bring a sense of dread or feelings of anxiousness. It may also bring a sense of hope. What is the difference? Perspective.
My first overseas assignment in the Army was to a one-year unaccompanied tour in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). We were given a “short-timer’s calendar on the first day of in-processing. It was a map (Think Candy Land or Chutes-and-Ladders) containing 365 squares and we were encouraged to check off the days until we redeployed to the US. As one neared the end of the line of squares, the anticipation of reunion with loved ones increased to a fevered pitch.
The same anticipated reunion carried with it a far different sense of anticipation on report card day when I was a boy in school. I always got low marks on classroom conduct. It seems I was a talker. Go figure! Watching the clock tick off the minutes until my dad came home…was dreadful. There would be an accounting for my conduct, and it would not be pretty.
Both incidents involve being reunited with family after time away. So, what is the difference? Anticipation is informed by perspective and perspective is shaped by what I did with the minutes leading up to the reunion.
I imagine it is that way with other disciples as they consider their reunion with Jesus. How they view that day is directly informed by what they did on this day and the day before. The Psalmist gives us insight on how to gain a perspective of longing and excitement as we anticipate our reunion with Christ.
12So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12, NASB95
First, he asks God to “so teach.” In Hebrew, this is not just a “transfer of information” type of teaching. It speaks of helping us to understand correctly how to make our days count.
Second, he prays for God to instruct on how to “number our days.” The word here speaks of reckoning…which is an accounting term. Think soberly about the accounting of the days ahead so that we will have the right perspective. When I was a younger man in my twenties, I was pretty much convinced of my near immortality. As I’ve aged, I recognize not only that I am not immortal, but that the day of my departure is much closer than ever before.
Third, he prays that the fruit of God’s right-teaching about the reckoning of days will result in presenting God with the fruit of one who has lived wisely.
Have you considered what it might look like to stand before Jesus. Pastor JD Greear recently said in a sermon that there will be two questions that are asked of every person who stands before God: What did you do with God’s Son? And, how did you manage the “stuff” entrusted to you? We often think of stewardship in terms of money. It is that, but it is much more. What did you do with your most precious commodity entrusted to you…the gift of time? Did you leverage it well for the glory of God…or twitter it away on less significant interests?
Teach us Lord to number our days so that we will prove to have been wise in how we managed them for your glory. Amen.
Frank Robinson. That’s who first said, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Actually, the quote by the Hall of Fame player, coach, manager, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005) in its entirety which appeared in Time Magazine (July 31, 1973) said, “Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
Close can be but is not always close enough. Take, for instance, this encounter of a religious leader and Jesus.
18A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20“You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” antis
Luke 18:18-22, NASB95
As resumes go, this guy had some high points. Since his coming under the Law (think age-of-accountability…or bar-mitzva), the leader had kept the Mosaic law perfectly. That’s quite a statement! Yet, Jesus still pointed to something that was missing. He tells the man to divest himself of worldly possessions and become a follower. Jesus is not advocating a vow of poverty. He is chipping away at what this man relied on for righteousness with God…apart from surrendering to the Messiah.
This man would point to his achievements, his background, and his affiliations as accomplishments. Jesus treated them as obstacles. Not that the Law was a stumbling block. We know that the Law is good…unless we trust in it to make us righteous before God. The same is true with security. Sometimes we can trust more in our retirement account for the future, than the God who holds the future. We can trust more in our training than in our calling. We can trust more in our success than in the Savior. That’s the point. We NEED/REQUIRE someone to save us. We cannot save ourselves. No matter how perfect we think we are. No matter our training or background. No matter what our genealogical record is. To be righteous before God, we must be rescued by God.
Does God rescue everyone? Of course not. In fact, when we read the rest of this story (Luke 18:23-30), Jesus indicates that this man was not a believer because of the difficulty of surrender. The Gospel writer records that the man left Jesus’ presence filled with sorrow BECAUSE of his vast wealth. He wanted to bring one thing with him into the presence of God. Just one. But God requires that we come to Him empty-handed. The opening verse of the beloved hymn, “Just as I am,” captures this perfectly: “Just as I am, without one plea. But, that Thy blood was shed for me…” (Charlotte Elliott, 1835).
Since there are no perfect Christians, who then can be saved? Jesus said that salvation is impossible with man’s efforts but achieved perfectly by God’s grace (Luke 18:27). Who then does God save and how can we be assured of it? The Bible says that Salvation is a gift by God’s grace and experienced as we exercise faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, assurance is tied to the demonstration of faith. That’s as true for us as it was for the religious leader. If there is any command that we refuse, we cannot be fully assured of our right-standing before God. (That’s why the ruler came to Jesus even though he had such a strong religious resume). Something was missing and he hoped to obtain it.
Recently I was asked about the importance of baptism. While baptism is not a requirement to be saved, it is certainly a command for those who are saved and evidence of one’s faith in Christ as Lord. All believers are commanded to be baptized as a confession of their faith. Baptism is the biblically required confession of faith. It is not a second level of grace or the product of an extended discipleship journey. It may be difficult to submit to, but that doesn’t make it irrelevant or unachievable.
Baptism is an act of obedience. It is either ON or OFF. No one gets kinda baptized. You either are, or you’re not. I have watched friends wade out into some of the snakiest watering holes in South Asia or step down into murky springs behind fortress-like walls to be baptized. These candidates came, at times, from hours-long journeys to confess faith in Jesus! And they do so in the predominantly Hindu culture where it can be a capital offense to “convert” someone from Hinduism to Christianity. They risk their lives and their family’s lives and the lives of their church family to confess Christ. Why? Because Jesus commanded believer’s baptism as a profession of faith in Him. Jesus Himself submitted to John’s baptism (over and against John’s initial protest…which is another sermon entirely). Baptism is important and I maintain that the Bible teaches, and experience affirms, that apart from it, something is lacking. Something is amiss. Like with the religious ruler to whom Jesus speaks, “One thing you lack,” the peace with God that He desires and provides is elusive until we yield completely to the Master’s commands.
One last observation on this gospel story. Jesus let the man walk away. He did not compromise on His instruction. He did not accept the premise that the man was close to the Kingdom and that close was close enough for now while the man grew in the faith necessary to follow Jesus. He permitted the man to walk away, sorrowfully. That sorrow was twofold. Jesus was sorrowful, desiring the man’s repentance (See Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34). I imagine that the religious leader spent many sleepless nights thinking about how close he was to the peace of assurance of eternal life. I imagine that Jesus’ instructions played on a loop in his mind and heart. In fact, I have enough experience with this kind of surrender that I can say without any doubt…the conviction of needed surrender remained until the man either hardened his heart against it or surrendered his will to it. God is too loving to leave us “close.” Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
So how do we, as believers, view and deal with a person’s, in this case the ruler’s, unwillingness to surrender? This may be the most significant point of all. We love the ruler and continue to press for surrender. We continue to pray for God to grant repentance. We labor under the burden of concern for as long as there is a burden. We express the same sorrowful desire Jesus exhibited when crying out that He longed to gather Israel to Himself, but they were unwilling. We never give up on the rulers we know, and we never surrender the steadfast assurance of God’s Word. That’s true for the man who refuses baptism. That’s true for the woman who refuses to relinquish a stronghold. Whether this person is a genuine believer or not is above my paygrade; however, my loving, kind, encouraging, and exhortative call to obedient submission is the centerpiece of my mission as a pastor, but more significantly as a Christ-follower. After all, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
1Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.
2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.
3For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:1-4, NASB95
I once worked for a guy who was the consummate motivator. He was a football player and an aspiring football coach. Circumstances to him were less important than attitude. I never saw him without a smile on his face. He was always motivating. I imagine that if he were my son’s little league coach, the score could be 100 to 0 with two minutes to play and he would passionately tell the team that there was still a chance for victory. He had zeal!
Paul said the same thing of the Jews, His kinsmen according to the flesh…his fellow countrymen. They were passionate about the Law but saw the Law as the means by which we achieve righteousness. This is in direct conflict with the gospel. If my beliefs or your beliefs require us to do anything to earn our salvation, then our faith is no longer in the good news (Gospel) because there is nothing we can do that earns our righteousness. In fact, as verse four states, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness…to all who believe.
That means that earnestness will not make us right with God. Transparency will not make us right with God. Authenticity will not make us right with God. Good deeds that we do will not make us right with God. Only Christ can make us right with God because only Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
This is good news…and bad. It is good news because it levels the ground around the cross. You are not behind. You are not ahead. You are precisely equal with every other human being from Adam to the Apostle Peter, John to Jude, and from Malachi to Matthew. No one is excluded at all. The bad news is…we struggle to believe that we are bad enough to need a Savior. We think that in the pecking order of sin, surely, we are more righteous than Hitler, or Osama Bin Laden, or Chris Aiken. Surely! But we are not. In fact, the more we understand God and His gracious plan of redemption, the more humbled we become. We are slow to try to compare ourselves with others, and we certainly don’t elevate ourselves to a place of judging others in a manner that conflicts with the Word of God. If God says “forgive” …we don’t reply, “Yea, but…”.
In many ways, it seemed that Paul was so grieved because his countrymen felt they had an inside line, an advantage, a Fast Pass to get through the Pearly Gates and he argues that what should have been an advantage (the Covenant and the Law), because they had misused it, actually became to be an obstacle to overcome.
The same could be said for religious people today. Your neighbors perhaps. Maybe even you. Stop giving your resume to the Lord. Stop relying on “standing” from your good works. Instead, fall down before Jesus, surrender to His reign in your life, and find that which truly satisfies…the righteousness that only Christ can provide.
1God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
Psalm 46:1-3, NASB95
How “real” is the Lord? That is a fundamental question for all of us. For many, God is a good luck charm: largely irrelevant to their day-to-day consideration but seemingly on call to be used to combat terrible consequences. For others, God is a retirement plan: Something you plan for but once you have it, you can rest easy and wait until later in life when it begins to payout. But God never reveals Himself as the “in case of emergency” contingency plan or the golden years’ support system. He reveals Himself and demands recognition as our present tense help.
Psalm 46 is one of those psalms that some Christians view in ways it was never intended. Verse 10 has graced many T-shirts and coffee mugs through the years. “Be still and know that I am God.” What is often left off is the purpose of God’s presence and our confidence— “I will be exalted among the nations and in all the earth.” Our confidence is in God’s victory, His glory, and His exaltation. We do not need to concern ourselves with the responsibility of conjuring up the glory of God. His glory and His purpose do not ultimately depend on us…but on the God who works in us! That does not mean that we are passive or apathetic. It simply means we are confident in the conclusion.
That confidence is at the heart of the verses above. Notice that God IS our refuge and strength. He is a “present tense” God for “present tense” obstacles.
God is OUR refuge and strength. God is not the protector of all people. He is not the “safe place” for every person. Any confidence that brings comfort comes first from the covenant—God’s covenant promises toward us.
As certain as God IS, so apparently are our troubles. Troubles are part of life. This flies in the face of those who claim that a faithful life for God prevents difficulties. Jesus Himself said that troubles were the reality for all His people in this life (See John 16:33).
How can we rest in the help God promises and find any sense of peace in it? That’s the point inferred in our text. Not even nature is a source of concern for us because God is master over nature. You only have to live through a natural disaster to realize how overwhelming they can be. I have had a couple of events involving floods and can tell you that when waters rage, there is no resisting. I have had friends who have ridden out hurricanes or earthquakes and spoken of the terrible fright they endured. Obviously, these experiences have been on the tame side. None of them have been F-5 Tornadoes, Cat 5 Hurricanes, or Mt. Vesuvius-like eruptions. Yet each of these are under the absolute authority and care of God. And He has always reigned over them. Or might I mention the global flood of Noah’s day or the swallowing of the people Korah (See Numbers 16:31-33). God has caused the sun to stand still in the sky, held back the seas, and controlled the storms. If He can do these things, He is sovereign over our troubles. He is sufficient for our protection and peace. He is imminently helpful when we are at our end.
But we must NOW be His and treat Him with the honor and reverent obedience He commands.
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