Galatians 6:7-10
"Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked, A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life Let us become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
Time Bandits was one of the messages that was shared at Bigstuf camp this summer. I couldn't help but follow up to this message with a synopsis of what we learned followed by some thoughts of my own. In life we all have the same amount of time. No one has any more time than anyone else or any more than anyone else. Time is a unique thing in that there is only so much of it in any one given day. What we do with our time while we are hear on earth says in many respects where we are going in eternity. If we are thinking about heaven and the reality that people will die and go to an eternal punishment apart from God it will motivate us to be proactive in sharing our faith with the time we have.
I never really listened to the 'older people' in my life as a teenager that said you only have so much time and that I had better enjoy my teenage years because it will be here and gone in an instant. Wow, were they right, and now looking back on my time in high school I realize how much time I wasted. One of those things that helps us waste our time are "Time Bandits." Things that steal our time away and take our story of who we are in a direction we really don't want to go. A specific time bandit are foolish decisions. Teenagers often make these and even as adults we continue with some of the ignorant decisions we made as youth. Some of those foolish decisions include, sex before marriage, drugs, alcohol, etc. One of those bandits specifically is the time bandit in dating.
Today we have guys and girls relationships that are so pressure filled that they are much like 'mini marriages,' and then consequentially their are mini divorces when they break up. Allow me to elaborate. The classic couple found in every youth group tends to be two people that are really involved and then at a summer camp or a trip to six flags they all the sudden find love. It starts out innocent and full of flirting and what seems to be innocent puppy love.... I hate that phrase but I will use it anyway. On the way back home from camp they decide to date and make it official. Pretty soon they are talking on the phone till the wee hours of the morning and are constantly with each other. They find themselves so into each other that their friends don't even know who they are anymore because they are shutting them out of their life. In fact things get so serious they take things to far physically and then have not only shut out their friends, family and youth group they have built their relationship on a foundation that will crumble.
Their are six areas of relationships... Emotional, Physical, Social, Intellectual, Spiritual, and Commitment. Most relationships at any age today are started with the Emotional and Physical aspect. I cant tell you how many times I have watched guys and girls put their entire heart and soul and energy into a boy or girl for their high school days, only to look back at the time they wasted and not only the friendships they burned but the precious things they can never get back. The scripture says that a man will reap what he sows. If you spend your time sowing into things that waste your time, you will reap what you have sown. However if you spend your time seeking to please the Spirit you will 'reap eternal life.' What are you giving your time to? Is it money, materialism, your ipod, your boyfriend or girlfriend, worry, gossip, etc? You can never ever get back today.
I encourage you to take the time that God has given you today and spend it wisely. Be proactive in doing things that glorify God and don't waste your life away on things that will burn. Jesus said it himself to not store up treasures on earth but in heaven. Everything here will eventually go to the dump or will sit somewhere and rust. Everything we own and will own will be someone else's one day anyways. You cant take your ipod to the grave. There is no Myspace and facebook in eternity. Besides, the rest of your TIME in eternity if your in heaven will be worshiping God.... so get an early start and devote your time that you have left here on earth to the one who made you.
Dave
