Skip to main content

Tuesday... It can be such a waste of time.


Tuesday... It can be such a waste of time.

Now the reality of life is that it is pretty short. I'm at the age that I wonder where it has gone. And I am at the point of my life that I don't want to waste any more time on things that don't make a difference. And Paul in his first letter to the young Timothy deals with this. In 4:7 (NLT) he writes, "Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives tales. Instead, train yourself to be goodly."

Over in Proverbs 19:3 it says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then they are angry at the Lord." Like it is his fault.  Now he had a different plan but our representatives ruin it. Now he did create us with the power to choose and they made some really, really bad decisions that were really foolish and we have suffered the consequences. But it isn't God's fault.

Do you realize that if we would have followed all the laws in Leviticus that there would be no diseases? Death was not in God's plan. Sickness was not in God's plan. Old age was not in God's plan. And so many other things that we blame God for were not in his plan. They came about because of our not following his plan.

Back to 1 Timothy 4.  In verses 8-9 Paul writes, "'Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.' This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it." There is a choice here for us to make.

He goes on in verse 10, "This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savor of all people and particularly all believers."

And then in verse 16 Paul tells Timothy, "Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you."

So let's not waste our time. Let's make use of the opportunity of the life that God has given to us and called us to live. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...
Post a Comment
Read more