{"id":8752,"date":"2020-01-19T15:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T20:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?post_type=message&p=8752"},"modified":"2020-01-22T15:54:46","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T20:54:46","slug":"the-blessing-of-being-generous-with-our-time","status":"publish","type":"message","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/message\/the-blessing-of-being-generous-with-our-time","title":{"rendered":"The Blessing of Being Generous with Our Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is an automated transcript of this message<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Good <\/i><\/span> morning, church! It is good to see all of you here this morning. We’re in part two of our series entitled, \u201cMore Blessed.\u201d We’re talking about these words that we find in the book of Acts, chapter 20, where Jesus says it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

\nWe learned last week that the word, \u201cblessed,\u201d could be translated, happy or content; it has this richness to it. It also implies that it has something to do with your spiritual reality; it’s not just a physical, circumstantial kind of happiness and contentment but it’s something deeper that comes from God. Jesus doesn’t disagree or say that receiving isn’t a blessing. He doesn’t say that receiving isn’t a blessing; we all know that it is. We learned this from our first birthday or Christmas. Receiving gifts is a blessing. We know that, but here’s the surprising thing; Jesus says that it’s better to <\/i><\/span> give,it’s more blessed to give than to receive. That really turns the world upside down because the world’s economy says that it’s all about receiving, but the kingdom of God’s economy is about giving and about generosity. Jesus says, it’s a better way to spend your life. That’s what we talked about last week. That’s the introduction. As we continue, we’re gonna unpack it by thinking about the three areas that you can be generous; your time, talent and treasure. That’s how we’re going to unpack it.

\nToday’s topic is time; how to be a blessing, how to be generous with your time. We’re talking today about the blessing that comes from being generous with your time. Many of you are thinking right now, \u201chey, look, I don’t have enough time now and you want me to start giving some time away? How am I going to do that? I don’t have enough time for myself as it is; how am I going <\/i><\/span> to be more generous with my time?\u201d You wouldn’t be alone for thinking like that. Most Americans are pretty tied to the clock. We don’t really live by the day or the hour; we live by the second. We’re so constrained with our time.

\nMany of you have joined me on mission trips to third world countries like Guatemala, Indonesia or Uganda. These are places that we have partnerships. They have a whole other sense of time; they’ll invite you to come over for lunch or to come over and have a meal, and so you’ll show up around noon and they meant somewhere between 11am and 5pm. You might as well take your watch off and just put it in a drawer; if you don’t, you’ll be so unhappy there because time slows down, There’s less of a commitment to slice time up in <\/i><\/span> slivers as we do now.

\nRecently, they took a survey of how Americans use their time, and I looked at several articles on this. One particular pie chart that I am about to show you is of all Americans, even if they’re teenagers, college students, young, married, retired or working. It puts it all together. The biggest quadrant here, the biggest slice of the pie is sleeping. If you read the article, this quadrant actually includes personal grooming, like shaving and taking a shower and those kind of things. That is personal time, you know, getting rest and getting ready for your day; it says 9.5 hours. That’s a good portion of your day.

\nThe second largest slice is leisure and sports; that’s the ESPN. A lot of us are going to use more of our day today watching football games than we did for church. <\/i><\/span> I’m not preaching against that. I’m just pointing out the fact that it will happen. A lot of us are TV watchers or gamers, or we have hobbies or shopping. That’s a big slice.

\nThe third slice here is working, which they’ve actually gone down here; it is kind of surprising. Only three and 1\/2 hours; most of us work eight hour days. Some of us are workaholics and work 50\/60\/70 hours a week; that might be me. God’s working on me so don’t judge me. You know, Gary\u2019s, \u201cunder construction.\u201d We need to get those t-shirts,right? \u201cI’m under construction, God’s working on me.\u201d So, some of us are working, but like I said before, this chart includes people that are retired and people that are teens; it’s all Americans. There’s all kinds of smaller slivers.

\nThere is one <\/i><\/span>sliver that says, non f to f community, non face to face community? I think that sliver, this chart must have been older than I thought it was, because that’s like social media and stuff. Put your phones away unless you’re looking at the Bible app right now. So, we cut our time into slivers, and then we say we don’t have time for other things.

\nHere’s what the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Colossae; he says that there’s a better way to use your time. In fact, there’s a best way to use your time. So, as you’re listening today, you’ll hear me giving examples. Don’t be thinking, necessarily, that I’m saying it’s a sin to do that. It might be more like this; that\u2019s an okay thing, or that’s a good thing to do with your <\/i><\/span> time but what’s the best use of your time? We’re talking about our time today. I’m convinced that Paul’s teaching is under Jesus\u2019 instruction here; the best use of your time is to give it away. That’s what we’re gonna be talking about today, that the place you could be most blessed is to be generous with your time. Let’s dig in.

\nWe’re going to be in Colossians, chapter four, reading two through six. Colossians 4:2-6 (ESV) \u201c2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison\u2014 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.\u201d This is God’s <\/i><\/span> Word.

\nWe’re looking for three ways on how to make the best use of the time God has given us. Here’s the first.

\n(1) Pray continually for gospel opportunities.

\nPray continually. Now, as we look at the text, I want you circle in the text or be aware of certain \u201ctime\u201d words. The word, \u201ccontinue\u201d in verse two; continue in, stay with it. That’s a time word. And then, in verse three and five, we have the word, \u201ctime.\u201d Well, that’s definitely a time word. And then, in verse six, we have the word, \u201calways;\u201d to continue something you do all the time.

\nAnd so, and if you’re still not sure, it’s about time, Paul makes it clear, in verse five, when he says, \u201cthe best use of time.\u201d <\/i><\/span> Here is the best use of your time. We’re talking about how to use your time and how to be generous with it.

\nNow, we’ll start with verse two, where Paul says, \u201ccontinue steadfastly in prayer.\u201d Friends, let’s be honest with ourselves about this; is that the best use of your time, talking to God? Is it the best use of your time? I mean, there’s stuff to be getting done today. Who has time to spend 15 minutes talking to God every morning. Who has the time? We work it in and do something else. Can we pray in the car on the way to work? We’re busy people.

\nI have often told this story to illustrate how we think about talking to God. Guys, if you were starting to date a young woman and you’re trying to win her heart, you decided this would be the way you do it <\/i><\/span>. You pull up in front of the house in the driveway, you honk the horn, kick the side door open and start yelling, \u201churry up! I’m in a hurry!\u201d She comes out, she gets in the car, and before she can get the door shut well, you’re already backing up. As you get going down the road you say, \u201cHoney, I love you. It’s so good to see you. Thanks for understanding; I’m really glad that we could go out. By the way, I’ve got laundry in the back seat. I was hoping I could take you out to dinner later. I have this other thing I need to do. Could I just drop you off at the laundromat? I forgot to bring quarters and I know you usually have some money. So if you could go ahead and do the laundry, I’ll pick you <\/i><\/span> up on the way back and then we’ll go out to dinner.\u201d Ladies, wouldn’t you love a man like that? It would be awesome. But, that’s how we treat God. We think he’s like some sort of \u201ccelestial Santa Claus.\u201d We think He’s the guy that we give this dirty laundry to. I really love you, God, but do my laundry. That’s how we treated God. We really think prayer is a waste of time. We don’t in our minds, but in our behavior we practice it this way. This should break our hearts.

\nPaul begins by saying that prayer is not only not a waste of time, but it is the best use of your time. You should continue steadfastly at it, which means pressing with perseverance. Stay at it. Become prayer warriors. How many of you are learning that you can get more accomplished on your knees than you can on your feet? Are you learning this? Some of you? I saw three of you wave your hand at me . <\/i><\/span> Maybe there were more. I want us to be a church where everybody says that prayer is not a waste of time and it’s the best use of time. You’re giving away time to God. I think it says something about what you believe and what we believe. Continue steadfastly in prayer. Continue steadfastly in prayer with your eyes open. You can do that.

\nYears ago, I was a discipling a guy who had just come to Christ. We were driving in my car because one of the ways you can disciple somebody is to ask them, \u201cHey, I’m going over here; would you like to ride with me?\u201d That way I get a \u201ctwo-fer\u201d out of it. I’m still going to the place I have to go but I am discipling along the way. So, I’m with this guy, and he tells me something. I respond with, \u201cLet’s pray about it right now.\u201d I’m driving and I start praying. The dude reaches over and grabs my steering wheel. He says, \u201cMan, I was afraid you were gonna wreck the car.\u201d I said, \u201cYou can pray with your eyes open.\u201d He says to me, \u201cWhat?\u201d He\u2019s a new believer. He didn’t know you could pray with your eyes open.

\nPaul says, pray with your eyes open. He doesn’t necessarily mean it literally. He says, \u201cbeing watchful.\u201d What does that mean? It means to be alert. You could say like this, \u201cDon’t pray prayers with your head buried in the sand like an ostrich, afraid of everything around you, wondering, Lord, what’s gonna happen to us?\u201d Pray more like, \u201cLord, You see that stuff going <\/i><\/span> on in the Middle East. Lord, do you see what’s happening in our politics and the way people are hating on each other?\u201d Pray informed prayers, pray prayers where you’re aware of everything but not afraid nor grumbling about it, but with gratitude and with Thanksgiving. Pauls says to pray steadfastly, alert, and watchful with thanksgiving.

\nThe attitude is with thanksgiving. The content is with watchful, informed prayers, so you’re aware of what’s going on at your church, you’re aware of what’s going on in your city, you’re aware of what’s going on at your workplace, your school, your country and in your world. You can tell God about it, knowing he already knows. But you’re letting Him know that you know that He knows. Now, you don’t have to worry about it.

\nAs you pray you’re praying with a heart of gratitude knowing that whatever you ask, according to God’s will, He hears you and knowing that it’s according to His will, He will give you the very thing you’ve asked. So, you go ahead and thank Him in advance because He’s got it now. I don’t need to worry about this now; He’s got it. Oh, what a relief. What a blessing, what happiness that would bring if we would turn our worries into prayers. Paul wrote to the church of Philippians and in chapter four, verses six and seven, He says, \u201cDo not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition. Make your request known to God. The peace that passes all understanding will be yours in Christ Jesus.\u201d Don’t worry but pray What is worry? Worry is self talk; it’s you talking to yourself. \u201cOh, my goodness. What am I going to do, self? <\/i><\/span> Where am I going to live? How am I gonna pay for this? Who am I going to marry? Where am I going to school? What am I going to do with my life? What’s gonna happen tomorrow at the hospital?\u201d On and on. Worry is self talk. It takes a certain amount of energy.

\nDoctors and psychologists tell us that it has a psychosomatic effect on us; it can cause all kinds of physical problems. Worry solves nothing. Who ever solved anything with worry? No one. You were talking to yourself. And if yourself knew what to do about it, you wouldn’t be talking to yourself. Worry is a waste of time, so, why not take the same amount of energy and talk to God instead of talking to yourself? Turn your worries into prayers. That’s what Paul says. Pray with thanksgiving. God can carry it; you can’t. Pray; it\u2019s a good use of your time . <\/i><\/span> It’s the best use of your time.

\nPaul says, at the same time, in verse three, \u201cpray also for us.\u201d Okay, so you’re praying, watchful prayers and informed prayers, thankful prayers and you’re staying at it. And then he says, don’t forget to pray for other people. Here’s a prayer request .

\nWhen Paul is writing this letter to the church of Colossae, at this point, we know he’s never been to Colossae. It’s a little town it’s close to bigger cities that are actually better known. It’s kind of like Wilson sitting in between Greenville and Raleigh. People know about Wilson because they have to drive through it, but, it’s not the biggest of the three, it’s the smallest. Colossus was smaller; Paul has never been to Colossae. He’s writing the letter and he says, \u201cMy friend, Epaphras, is the one who’s been ministering to you\u2026\u201d He probably planted the church there. And that’s how he knows about them. He asks them to pray for him because he was in Rome in chains. You see, Paul was, at that time, under house arrest. He had an all- expense paid trip from Jerusalem to Rome because the Romans had taken him there. It wasn\u2019t the best trip. He was shipwrecked, snake bit and other things. He got there , <\/i><\/span> and now he’s under house arrest. It says he’s imprisoned, but a better translation would be that he’s in chains because he’s not actually in a prison. He’s actually in a house, and he has a Roman soldier outside the door 24\/7 making sure he doesn’t leave. They didn’t have those things you put around your ankle back in those days so they just put a soldier out front.

\nIf I had been Paul and I had been in that circumstance, where I’m under lock up, I’m under house arrest and you had asked me how I can pray for you, \u201cHow can I pray for you, Gary?\u201d I would have told them to pray for an open door. Paul prayed for an open door. Do you see it in verse three? He says, \u201cat the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door.\u201d I’m praying for a different door; could you get me out of jail? Could you open the door of the circumstance that I’m in and get me out of it <\/i><\/span>? That is how we pray most of the time. If I were in prison, if I were in trouble, if I were in the hospital, if I were out of work, if I was in a circumstance I didn’t enjoy being in and I wanted to get out of it I would say, \u201cGod, get me out of this.\u201d If you were to ask, \u201chow can I pray for you?\u201d I would ask them to pray that God would open the door and get me out of this circumstance.

\nPaul understood the best use of time; there’s a better use of time. It would be great to get out of this, but Paul probably never visualized it. When he said he wanted to carry the Gospel of Rome, he probably didn’t visualize he would have that all-expense paid trip in a Roman galley on a Roman prison ship. We find out later, in other letters, that he prayed for the <\/i><\/span> ones from Caesar’s household Greek, the ones from the Praetorian Guard. How is he reaching these people? Paul had this guard stuck outside; the guard couldn’t even leave. He had to listen to Paul preach day after day. Paul has these Roman guards he’s preaching to. People who came and brought him food. He’s got people coming, apparently from Caesar’s household. He reached more people under lock up than he ever would have reached if he strolled into that city free. Why was that possible? Paul understood the best use of time. It wasn’t, \u201cget me out of the circumstance.\u201d It was, \u201cGod, open the door for me so that I don’t waste my time in this season I’m in.\u201d

\nDoes that speak to anybody today? Man, that speaks to me. Sometimes we think we’re between A and B: we call it \u201climbo.\u201d We can’t do anything for God right now; we\u2019re in limbo. We\u2019re not at the destination yet, so we can’t do anything yet. But that’s a lie <\/i><\/span>. There’s a time you’re in and there’s a people in that time you’re there that God wants you to talk to. Stop wasting your time. Ask for an open door, not the door to get out of it, but the opportunity that God would use you inside of it. This is what Paul prays in verse three.

\nHe goes on to say, \u201cat the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the Word to declare the mystery of Christ.\u201d I want to reveal the gospel which is hidden from people unless they hear it preached. He says, \u201cthat’s why I’m in prison anyway, so I don’t want to waste it. Pray that I make it clear.\u201d Paul is humble; listen his prayer. You can tell a lot about a person from their prayer request; Paul didn’t say one word, other than referring to the reason he is in chains was <\/i><\/span> because he got in trouble for preaching the gospel. That’s why He is here. So he guesses he should keep preaching the gospel; that’s why he\u2019s here so he should keep doing it. That’s his thinking that seems so different than our thinking. That’s how Paul prays; it\u2019s not a waste of time.

\nColossians 4:3 (NLT) \u201cPray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.\u201d He sees the open door as an opportunity. Paul closed many of his letters like this. In first Thessalonians, chapter five, at the end of that chapter he says, 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18 (NIV) 15 \u201c\u2026 always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God\u2019s will for you in Christ Jesus.\u201d Don’t waste the time that God has given you; the best use of it is to give it away to be generous with it.

\nHave you ever heard the term, \u201copportunity cost?\u201d If you’ve been in any kind of business world, this is usually where you’ll hear it or you’ll hear it in the investment world. It could also be applied to time; opportunity cost has this idea that represents the benefit that you could get or the lost benefit that you might lose if you spend your time here rather than there. You find out later, by spending your time here, you lost the opportunity to spend it over there , and you find out later that would have been a better opportunity. But you only have so much time, so you choose this when you should have chosen that. If it were money, you invested in this stock and it went like that. But because your money was there, you could invest in this stock that went up, up. It’s called, \u201copportunity cost.\u201d Every time <\/i><\/span> you spend time, talent or treasure in one place, you’ve withdrawn it. You’ve pulled it out of the possibility of another place; that’s called opportunity cost. You have to choose wisely where you spend your time and where you will get the most blessing. The most payback, the most use of it. Paul says prayers aren\u2019t a waste of time; they are the best use of time. It\u2019s time that you spend what really matters because you’re spending it with God.

\nMaybe you’re a father or a grandfather, and you’re trying to save money, which is treasure. I’m going to save money; I’m gonna change my own oil this coming Saturday. I will save money by changing the oil in my car, and so I’m going to save money because I’m not going to spend it at the auto shop. I’m gonna do it in my backyard. <\/i><\/span> So you say you’re saving money, and you are, but you’re spending what to get it. So everything costs something, so you’re spending time and talent. Hopefully have talent to do that, or you shouldn’t do it at all. But you’re spending your time and talent and you’re saving treasure. That’s how you get treasure. By the way, the way you get money is by giving your employer or your business time and in exchange for your time and talent they give you treasure. Think about those three things; they all connect. \nLet\u2019s say you are a father and you find out your son has a Little League game Saturday. What do you do? You know there’s an opportunity cost. You could save money, changing the oil yourself, and you have to weigh it before the Lord. You pray about it; class=”messageTimecode” title=”Play the video starting here” data-timecode=”1454.53″><\/i><\/span> what’s the best opportunity? What has the greatest impact in the future? Pray about it. This is what I’m talking about. There’s a best use of time. Prayer is among the best uses of your time. If you’ll start your day talking to the Lord, He’ll order up your day for you.

\nHere’s number two.

\n2. Live wisely before unbelievers.

\nWe are on verse five; Paul says, \u201c(5) Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.\u201d So the word, \u201cwalk.\u201d If you see that in the Bible, it rarely means walk. It sometimes does, but most of the time it’s a metaphor for your conduct, your behavior, your lifestyle. The word in the Greek literally means, \u201cto walk around,\u201d but it’s actually a metaphor, meaning, how you live, how you behave, your conduct.

\nHave you ever heard someone say this? \u201dHis <\/i><\/span> walk doesn\u2019t match his talk.\u201d What we mean by that is his conduct didn\u2019t match what he claimed to believe.

\nPaul says, walk in wisdom toward outsiders. As you’re going through life, you’re going somewhere anyway. You’re on your way somewhere; you’re walking somewhere in life. Walk wisely; what does that mean? It has this idea of having godly wisdom so that you have His perspective on where you’re at in the journey. You’re just not just walking along thinking like like I sometimes do; I am an \u201cA to B\u201d kind of guy. If I say I’m going to Lowes to get a part for my car or if I’m going to go get some fertilizer for my yard, I\u2019m not going there to talk to you people. I keep bumping into about half the church at Lowe’s. I don’t know what you are doing there. I can’t go to Walmart, because all of you are over there. I’m in there to get what I came to get, but I’m a <\/i><\/span> preacher, so I have to ask, \u201cHey, how you doing?\u201d Then I walk to the next aisle and there’s another one of you, so I have to just say that maybe the Lord wanted me to talk to these people. When I’m living wisely, I don’t think like that, but sometimes I’m not living wisely. Sometimes I’m living selfishly.

\nDo you ever do that? Some of you are better than me. And I get that. You know, you’re farther along in your Christianity than I am, but I’m trying. I’m under construction. I’m growing. You know, some of you are thinking I\u2019m terrible. I know. Yes, but I think I’m there at Lowe’s to buy the fertilizer; I don’t think I’m there to see you. Because my brain works that way, I waste the opportunity <\/i><\/span> because I’m not walking wisely. I’m walking selfishly. I see a neighbor that I know is far from God and I ask the Lord if I talk to them later because they get on my last nerve. I know they need the Lord, but right now look at me. I mean, I’ve been working out in the yard and I’ve got my baseball cap on and my sunglasses and I don’t want them to recognize me. I’m in disguise. Yeah, I know. I\u2019m terrible, but I’m being honest with you. We waste time all the time because we don’t walk in wisdom toward outsiders. and outsider is someone who’s outside the faith. They’re not inside the faith, and we want them to be inside and walk in such a way and live in such a way. Outsiders are watching so that your talk matches your walk, so that your witness matches your behavior, your your <\/i><\/span> conduct.

\nPaul says, Colossians 4:5 (NLT) \u201cLive wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.\u201d Actually, in the Greek, it’s redeeming the time or buying back the time. It’s a marketplace word. It means to buy it out of the marketplace. It’s like you went shopping somewhere and you said,let me have two days of time and you bought it. You bought time. How do you buy time? You buy it out of somewhere else. It means to buy it out. So instead of spending your time the way you’ve been spending it, buy it back and invest it over here, redeeming the time, not wasting the time. Make the best use of time by buying it back and using it where it’s best served.

\nNow do we believe something? Do we believe that those who believe in Jesus Christ will spend eternity with Him forever? data-timecode=”1765.3″>If <\/i><\/span> you’re here and you’re checking it out, maybe that’s why you’re here because you\u2019re having some trouble in your life. You’re in the right place. So I just wanted to make sure we’re in the right place; we believe that there’s something called eternity. There’s something called a place where everything is put back the way it should be and we believe that. So we place our faith there. But then we live in this in between place called planet earth, and we live as if we don’t believe that. We don’t live wisely in front of outsiders. We live selfishly, and we think maybe somebody else will make time for you.

\n1 Peter 2:12 (NLT) \u201cBe careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. \u2026\u201d\nEphesians 5:15-16 (ESV) \u201c15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.\u201d\nThere’s a lot of bad stuff going on in this world and <\/i><\/span> oh, eternities coming. It’s pressing in. Even now it’s coming; it\u2019s right around the corner. We’re rearranging furniture on the deck of the Titanic instead of talking to people about the fact that it’s sinking. We’re not focused on the best use of time. When we’re on our way to Lowes to get fertilizer, we should be praying, because we’re always supposed to be praying. Don’t ever hang up on God; just take it off the hook now, right here, right now. Take it off the hook and say, \u201cI’m gonna keep it off the hook all the time. I’m gonna constantly be talking to the Lord . Even right now, as I’m listening, I can say, Lord, help me to hear this.\u201d You could be talking to Him and listening at the same time. Keep talking to the Lord all the time. Stay in constant communication; you\u2019re on your way to Walmart. You think you’re going grocery shopping? Okay, get some groceries while you’re there, but actually you’re there in order to live in a certain way in front of outsiders. They have to get groceries, too. It’s a different way of thinking about the best use of your time.

\nPastor Jonathan was up here earlier talking to us about the Children’s Ministry and he gave us a glowing report about how it’s growing and how we have the greatest number of volunteers we’ve ever had. But yet, the Children’s ministry is still growing so we need more. I started thinking that the best use of our time is at church. I spend most of my time with you people because that’s how God shaped me. We have people in here that are making decisions, faith decisions, coming to Christ, all the time. But our greatest response to the word of <\/i><\/span> God is not in this room. The greatest harvest of people hearing the word of God and believing in the word of God is next door in the children’s wing. This is an important room too; I need to be in the important room with the grown ups. Oh, yeah, it’s true, but the most important room is next door. Did you know that more stuff is happening over there for because children are more receptive. Children are more receptive. Young people are more receptive. They don’t have those crusty, hard hearts that we’ve built up over the years. I am just thinking about our best use of time.

\nAre you buying back your time? Parents, don’t waste the time when your children are growing up. I know you’re already crying when Facebook gives you one of those memories; ladies, I know you are. I see mom’s saying all the time, \u201cOh, she was so little five years ago.\u201d Some people who don’t understand Facebook posted a five year old memory and they respond with, \u201cWow, your daughter. I thought you got another daughter. She’s little.\u201d No, it’s a memory. Facebook does this to make you cry at some memory. Live wisely; don’t waste the time. What’s the best use of your time? The best use of your time is to be aware of those that are far from God.

\nHere’s number three.

\n(3) Speak graciously with everyone.

\nIn verse six, Paul says, \u201c(6) Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.\u201d Let your speech always be gracious. In other words, let the words that come out of your mouth always be filled with grace. Now what does gracious mean? It means it’s like a gift here of your words. When I hear you talk, it’s a blessing to my ears . <\/i><\/span> It’s favor; unmerited favor. It’s not judgmental at all. So when you’re at work, when you’re at school, when you’re talking to your neighbors, they love talking to you because you listen and when you speak, they say that they always feel better. When I hear you talk, you always give me a different way of thinking about it. You always bless me with your words. The idea of being gracious means to be favorable. Don’t be rude. Don’t cut people off; listen to them. Have you ever been with a little child? Maybe it’s your child or your grandchild; you <\/i><\/span> pull them near and say, \u201cyou’re so smart. You’re awesome!\u201d They will want more because they love it. They get so little of it.

\nWe are filled with Christ and the Holy Spirit, who by grace has saved us through faith. We have living within us the words of grace. So be gracious when you talk, stop going around like you hate life. You\u2019re in a hurry and chewing out the clerk because she didn’t check you out fast enough, or the waiter at the restaurant because they gave you sweet tea when you asked for unsweet tea. You’re just always ticked off. Refer back to verse 2, \u201ccontinue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.\u201d Pray first before you go out. Get your worship on before you show up for church. In other words, don’t come here to receive, bring it with you and then share it with each other. Always be gracious, be a blessing.

\n\u201c 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.\u201d Salt is a metaphor here that Paul’s using; it was very well understood during that time. If you think about it, you’ll understand it , too. It’s a preservative, so you can preserve foods with it, it has preservative effects. If you are salty, then you don’t tear things down; you preserve things, you build them up. Salt has a healing effect. How many of you here were made to gargle with salt water when you had a sore throat? Anybody here? I don’t know. The young people are like, \u201cNo, I don’t do that. No. We go to the doctor <\/i><\/span>,pay money and get medicine.\u201d Back in the day, your mom made you gargle with salt water. Now, I looked that up before I preached this sermon today because I was just checking to see if Mom was right. I looked it up and, actually, salt reduces the moisture in your throat, and it also kills bacteria. So the doctor actually says it’s helpful. It actually works. Mom was right again! Salt is a preservative; it has a healing effect. The one that Paul seems to have in view here is a seasoning effect, which is seasoned with salt. So I’m thinking it means it has flavor.

\nWords like, \u201cI love it when I talk to you, when I hear you talk to me, I love hanging out with you because I feel better about life and about myself. I want to ask you a question:Why are you different? You’re like no one I’ve ever met before <\/i><\/span>.\u201d You give him the answer. Here’s what Paul says, \u201cso that you may know how you ought to answer each person.\u201d The question is coming because you’re different. You’re otherworldly. No one talks like you do. Your words are full of grace; they are seasoned with salt. No one else at work, no one else at school, no one else in the neighborhood talks like you. They will want to know what is it about you. You may say, \u201cIt’s the Person that lives inside of me. Can I tell you about Him?\u201d They might be ready, then, to hear from you because you’re prayed up and you conduct your life wisely in front of them. Your talk matches your walk and you are not judgmental but you are gracious and your words have an appetizing flavor to them. When you give them the gospel, they are ready to receive it. It’s a wise use of your time. It’s a better, it’s a generous use <\/i><\/span> of your time.

\nDo you bless people with your words? What was the best thing anyone has ever done for you? Here’s what I would say about me. I could think of a lot of things, but I really think about that which has the most eternal value. I’d have to say when someone told me about the Gospel. The best thing anybody ever did to me was introduce me to Jesus. He is the best thing that has the most long lasting effect. You know, I would think of my mother. I would think of my grandmother. Those two were very much the ones who told me the Gospel, but also, I would think, in the third grade in Wayne, Michigan, at a church called Prayer Baptist Church, third grade children’s church. I think her name was Mrs Smith. I don’t remember her name, but I remember what she looked like. She had her hair stacked high on top of her head, which was the fashion, I guess in those days. <\/i><\/span> My father had died only a couple of months before that. We moved in with my aunt in Wayne, Michigan, and I had never been to children’s church before. The church I grew up in was this little country church and everybody sat in the same room; we didn’t have another room. We didn\u2019t have a nursery. If your baby cried too much, you just walked out for a minute.

\nIn children\u2019s church, I prayed to receive Christ. My teacher would tell me, \u201cI love you, Gary. Jesus loves you, Gary.\u201d I believed her; she told me about Jesus. That’s where I remember walking down front and making a public profession of my faith. I think I probably asked Jesus in my heart thousands of times before that, because I was trying to understand it as a <\/i><\/span> little kid. I still remember I was at Prayer Baptist Church in 1966 on a Sunday morning in children’s church. I don’t know where my teacher is at now. I don’t think of her very much anymore. I bet she’s already in heaven because my mom and grandmother are there. They’re waiting for us.

\nWho spent important time with you as you look back? I would like to ask you this: What’s the most important time you could spend with someone else? What’s the best use of your time? Are you wasting your time? Are you wasting your life? Don’t waste your life. Be a blessing to others. Give away your time and experience the blessing, the happiness and contentment that comes from the Lord.

\nMaybe you’re here this morning, someone invited you and something’s stirring in your heart right now. That’s the Lord knocking on your heart’s door, asking for entrance. You might be wondering, \u201cI don’t know if today’s the day.\u201d May I say to you, \u201cToday is the <\/i><\/span> best day. It’s the best time. Come to the Lord.\u201d 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT) \u201cFor God says, \u201cAt just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.\u201d Indeed, the \u201cright time\u201d is now. Today is the day of salvation.\u201d Indeed, the right time is now. Today is the day of salvation; it’s the perfect time. If you’re here today, it’s a perfect time to come into the Kingdom.

\nLet’s pray. Lord, I pray first of all for that person that, right now, they’re sitting there and they’re hearing that knocking on the door. Jesus is saying, \u201cBehold, I stand at the door and knock. Anyone who hears my voice and opens the door. I will come in.\u201d He’s a gentleman. He won’t kick it in. You have to open it. Would you open the door, open your heart\u2019s door and say, \u201cI believe.\u201d Pray right now with me, \u201cDear Lord Jesus, I believe You died on the cross for my sins, that You rose from the grave and live today. Would You come and live in me ? <\/i><\/span> Would You forgive me of my sin and make me the person you want me to be? I want to be a child of God. I want You as my Lord and Savior. If you’re praying that prayer, believing, right now He will save you. That’s why He came. Others are here and you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but this message has hit you right between the eyes. Would you repent right now of those places that you’re being selfish with your time? You need to buy it back. Would you just say, \u201cLord, forgive me. I know You have already forgiven me, Jesus, but would you wash me clean and help me to redeem the time to spend it where You would have me. Lord, I say, \u201cYes.\u201d In Jesus name, Amen.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We can\u2019t create more time in a day. We all have 24 hours. But we can decide how we\u2019re going to spend those 24 hours each day. We can waste time. We can spend it doing good things. Or we can spend it doing the very best things. Learn how to make the best use of your time, so that you experience the joy and contentment of the blessed life. In Paul\u2019s letter to the Colossians, he instructed them how to make the best use of the time that God had given them. As Christ-followers, we can make the best use of the time that God had given us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8745,"template":"","tags":[2035],"series":[2745],"scripture-book":[1318],"scripture-chapter":[1337],"speaker":[2007],"class_list":["post-8752","message","type-message","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-generosity","series-more-blessed","scripture-book-colossians","scripture-chapter-1337","speaker-gary-combs"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/8752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/message"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/8752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8752"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=8752"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=8752"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=8752"},{"taxonomy":"speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker?post=8752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}