to rise from your dead christianity you know we have a very lively church we don't have a dead
church but you know we can have dead church members and pastor just preached about this
maybe a couple of months ago about having revival in your personal life you know and
anybody can have that at any point just by you know reading the bible and praying and getting
a hold of god and of course i'm not um you know thinking of anybody in particular i'm just saying
hey you know we all go through times where we're backslidden and stuff but listen you need to wake
out of your sleep you need to rise from the dead and then look at what it says in christ shall give
the light and that is a wonderful promise there because here's the thing about it and we're going
to take a look at how the light in the bible is is very good and of course it's necessary to do
the work that we need to do and so we have this principle here that you know if we're doing what
god wants us to do if we are serving him and we're walking in the light then he's going to
give us more light and he's going to give us more opportunities and more time to do the work
that we need to do for him so so let's look at verse 15 now so verse 15 it says see then that
you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise and verse 16 it says redeeming the time because
the days are evil you know what this is such a true statement that you know the days our days
truly can be evil i'm not talking about you know you doing something super evil or wicked or
something like that but you know just letting your time just wasting your time right just letting
your day go by or you wake up in the morning and then you go to sleep at night and you didn't
really get anything accomplished you didn't any get anything accomplished of any eternal value
or or anything like that and you know all of us experience those days where we get literally
nothing done where it just feels like man it's just it would have just been better than i just
you know just stayed in bed all day or something you know and then and then god forbid that we're
even worse at the end of our day than we were at the beginning those are really bad days but you
know let me let me tell you this the bible tells us how to avoid these these bad days these evil
days i should say and look down at verse 17 right afterward it says wherefore be not unwise but
understanding what the will of the lord is so see if we follow the will of the lord if we follow his
commandments and we're working for him then hey that's how we can avoid these evil days where we
get nothing done for the lord and we can get something uh eternal done for him you know some
yeah so so we need to do the will of the lord to avoid those bad days and here's the thing about
it you know the little things it's the little things right now i want to talk about the little
things in life what do i mean by that i mean the little things that take up all your time that
distract you little things like i don't know driving to work or waiting in line or making phone
calls whatever you know all those things are good they need to be done they kind of have to get done
in order for you to live just that normal life or whatever but don't let your life just be about the
the necessities of life right the bare necessities the things that you have to do to get through your
day but rather you know do things that have eternal value value for the rest of your life
things for the lord things that you can get done for him and i heard this illustration one time of
maybe you know think about like a like a wealthy businessman for example right you know he has a
lot of people who you know give him phone calls trying to take up all of his time maybe he has
a lot of appointments or meetings or whatever and those things need to get done but you know think
about that big client that he may want you know he's not the one that's calling him every five
minutes or whatever he's the one that he has to make an appointment with right he's got to make
it a point hey i'm going to go meet with this guy in the same way the big things in life you know
have to have an appointment if you think about it like this i mean do you have an appointment
with your prayer time like a place and a time where you get together with the lord and you're
just praying to him do you have an appointment you know with your bible reading or your soul
wanting time or whatever you know the thing is that you have to really plan for these things
the little things in life they happen by accident they happen because they have to happen but the
big things in life you have to plan for those because you know it's just it's just so important
you can't let your life just be about the little things there are literally millions and millions
of people in this world today who just go through life just kind of skating through life not getting
anything done not really building anything worthwhile not really serving the lord at all
and and i'm just saying don't be like that you know if you have one thing from that you take away
from my sermon it is to not let your days go by where you're not serving the lord in some way shape
or form so turn if you would to jeremiah chapter 15 jeremiah chapter 15 i'm going to read to you
another another verse it says in john 12 then jesus said unto them yet a little while is the
light with you and there's that light that we were talking about walk while you have the light
lest darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth so listen
hey we need to be walking we need to be working while we have that light so i'm taking kind of a
secondary application of that verse so let's read in jeremiah 15 look down if you would at verse
number nine this is a very obscure passage basically pronouncing god's judgment but i'm
going to take again another more spiritual application here but look down if you would
at verse number nine it says she that hath borne seven languishes she has given up the ghost here's
the part i want to focus on her son has gone down while it was yet day she hath been ashamed
and confounded so here's the thing about it this proverbial woman that it's talking about here
her son has gone down while it was yet day how's that possible how can you look at your clock
and be like oh man it's two o'clock in the afternoon but it's dark out here let me tell
you something it's all about your perception see she thought she had more time to do whatever she
needed to get done before that night came but you know what the sun came down while she thought it
was still day and this we should not be like her we should not be like oh well i can just do that
tomorrow i can serve the lord later you know we're we are not promised tomorrow and we don't know
when our time will be up when that uh sun will go down proverbially for proverbially speaking um
but so let's not be like her because notice what it says it says that she is ashamed and confounded
and i don't want you to be like that i don't want to be like that we have to redeem our time
and do what the lord wants us to do you know soul winning reading our bible praying we need
to do these things while it is yet day we can't let that that sun coming down down upon us so
turn if you would to psalm chapter 90 i want you to check that out but
turn if you would to psalm chapter 90 and i'll read to you some more familiar verses
psalm chapter 90 look down if you would have verse number nine it says for all our days are
passed away in thy wrath we spend our years watch this we spend our years as a tale that is told
the days of our years are three score years and ten and if by reason of strength they be four
year four score years yet is their strength labor and sorrow for to soon cut off and we fly away
who know what the power of thine anger even according to thy fear so is thy wrath so teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom now let me tell you something about
myself i love audiobooks i love stories i love to to listen to good stories of adventure exploration
or conquest or whatever i like a really good story whether it's fictional or non-fiction
whatever i like stories but let me tell you something what the bible's saying here is that
our lives are as a tale that is told it's not just the big name guys like these famous explorers
like david livingstone or whatever that no it's our lives are as a tale that is told and let me
ask you this i think that we've all been asked this question at some point in our lives but if
someone was telling the story of your life what would they say and what would you want them to say
right you know would they tell a story that you could be proud of or whatever you know i've
oftentimes found it helpful to think about like the end of my life right what do i want people to
say about me whenever i end my life right and i can kind of work back from there and of course
god knows what's going to happen in my life and god is kind of directing you know my steps but
you know it's good to think about that that way you can keep your life on a good course and you're
not just going to go all crazy directions and we can serve the lord together for many years to come
but think about the kings in the bible right so the kings in first and second kings first and
second chronicles you know they're very important people they're some of the most important people
in the world at that time and the bible sums up their their lives in just a few verses most of
the time just a few verses either they started off really good ended up bad they were bad all
the way through they were good all the way through maybe they started off bad and ended good i mean
we don't know but here's the thing about it is that the bible condenses it just in a few verses
so if the bible is telling your story of your life in just a few verses what would you want them to
say you know would you want to be someone good like king asa or something or would you want to
be someone bad like king ahab like you know obviously nobody wants to be bad hopefully but
but you know some did great things others did very little and the thing is that we need to think
about our lives as we're living them we need to think about okay you know this is my action this
is what's going to happen and we need to serve the lord with our lives while we still can and look
down if you would at verse number 10 it says the days of our years are three score years and 10
and if by reason of strength they be four score years yet is their strength labor and sorrow
for it is soon cut off and we fly away see it soon cut off and it's talking about you know
70 years 80 years and you know to me 70 years seems like a really far far off the thing you
know it feels like it's a long way off but you know that's kind of a kind of a silly thing to
think about because of the fact i'm already a third of the way there and it's going to be here
before i know it and really i need to be thinking about okay i need to be serving the lord with my
life every single day i need to be putting on that new man and serving the lord because i don't
want my son to go down while i was yet day like this lady that we talked about because here's the
thing about is that the night cometh when no man can work all of us have a time when we can work
for the lord and whenever we can't do it anymore so turn if you would to ecclesiastes chapter 11
ecclesiastes chapter 11 while you're turning there i'm going to read to you a couple other
verses it says in psalm 74 it says that the day is thine the night also is thine thou has prepared
the light and the sun see god is control is in control of these things he's in control of hey
you have this amount of time to do some some work for him and then this is whenever your night is
coming or whatever but he has prepared the light and the sun so he's prepared it for us to be able
to do the work that he wants us to do evangelizing the world preaching the gospel you know going
soul-winning things like that so we need to take advantage of the time that god has given us
while it is yet day while we have that chance and i'm not just talking about whenever we die
but really there's a lot of different things think about it like this you know while we have
our our feet you know we can go preaching the gospel while we can speak we can go preach the
gospel while we can read you know maybe yeah so there's lots of different ways to look at this
but really at any point any of these things can just god can take it away from us so we
need to use what we have while we still can now ecclesiastes chapter 11 look down if you would
have verse number six it says in the morning so thy seed and in the evening withhold not thine
hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall
be a light good truly the light is sweet and the pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the
sun so in verse number six this guy he's working he's working in the morning he's working in the
evening he's got two different things going on he's got his side hustle or whatever and then
and so he really understands you what it says in verse number seven that the that the light is
sweet the light to work by right he wants that that time so he can get all of his work done and
he and he could prosper from that and in the same way we need to count it a very pleasant thing to
to have this opportunity and this time to serve the lord and just flip over a couple of pages
backwards to ecclesiastes chapter 9 and i'll read to you another verse that talks about this
same subject verse number 10 ecclesiastes 9 10 it says whatsoever thy hand find it to do
do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave
whither thou goest so just so that god makes it clear he says hey you're going there you're going
to the grave and there's no work in the grave there's no work there so we need to to work while
we still can we got to whatever our hand find it to do we got to do it with our might so and and
and nothing else really matters you know just serving the lord that's what we got to do with
our lives so turn if you would to matthew chapter 25 matthew chapter 25 while you're turning there
i'm going to read to you some more verses i got a lot of verses here in james chapter 4 it says in
verse 13 it says go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue
there a year and buy and sell and get gain whereas ye know not what shall be on tomorrow
for what is your life it is even a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanishes
away so see notice god's telling us here that we have a little bit of time not a lot of time a
little bit of time again 70 years seems like a long time right and we could live even longer
than that or shorter than that but you know what in god's sight it's it's a little bit of time once
we get there it's like man my life went by like that went away like a vapor you know and so you
know we we got to be careful with that we don't get to the end of our lives we don't regret what
we did with our lives right man i should have served the lord more i should have gone to church
more i should have read my bible more i should have gotten more people saved i should have gone
out so many more you know that's kind of what why i'm preaching this tonight because i want everyone
to have the sense of urgency hey i need to do something for the lord and hopefully everybody
in here you know is is doing that but you know again we we got to be reminded of these things
of course so you're there in matthew chapter 25 i'm going to move on to my second point we talked
about how we have limited time on this earth but you know what we also have limited resources to
serve the lord as well let me tell you what i'm talking about here uh matthew 25 look down if you
would at verse number one it says then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins which
took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and five of them were wise and five
were foolish they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took
oil in their vessels with their lamps while the bride while the bridegroom tarried they all
slumbered and slept and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom cometh go ye out to
meet him then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said unto the wise
give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out notice they didn't have enough oil verse 9 but
the wise answered saying not so let there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them
that sell and buy for yourselves and while they went to buy the bridegroom came and they that were
ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut afterward came also the 10 the
other virgins saying lord lord open to us but he answered and said verily i say unto you i know you
not watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh so
notice these five foolish virgins they were not prepared they were low on their oil they were low
on these resources as we'll talk about you know and it wasn't that they didn't have the opportunity
to get some they had plenty of time they could have gone out and bought more oil and been smart
about it but rather they were foolish they were dumb they were stupid and they didn't get their
oil and you know what they they had a terrible punishment for that and so here's the thing about
it you know maybe they were lazy maybe they were thoughtless maybe they were careless maybe they
just didn't think about it they didn't think ahead they didn't plan and they didn't take these
resources why or they didn't use it wisely i should say they let this precious resource of
this oil they let it just burn away as they were just sleeping and slumbering or whatever and they
ended up regretting it in the end very severely and obviously you know there's a spiritual
application and we're not really getting into that right now but you know there will be a time
whenever you have all the resources that you need to serve the lord effectively in your life and
then there may be a time whenever you don't have those anymore what what type of resources i'm
talking about i'm talking about a great church like where you're at right now you know i mean
i hope all of us stay here for forever but you know it's not it not everybody's going to be here
20 years from now 30 years from now 40 years from now and so you need to serve the lord why you got
this great church you need to serve the lord while you have a great bible the king james bible
you know i don't know you know what the future is going to hold or whatever you know pastors talked
about whenever he went to jail one time you know he didn't have a bible there with him so he wasn't
able to read the bible and things like that so here's the thing about it we have the resources
to serve the lord right now and we need to serve him now while we have all of those resources all
those great resources that we got so so let's see here because not everyone has the same resources
not everybody has a great church to go to like what we have not everybody has the bible to read
in their language or in their country or whatever but we are so blessed to have the resources that
we have right now and so we need to utilize those we need to think about this and not just take it
for granted that we have it so it's so good right here in arizona so and we need to serve the lord
now while we still have those resources to tell other people how to be safe and and just you know
do that so what are we doing with what we have right now right we've got these resources we
need to use them while we still have them now proverbs chapter 6 kind of talks about this as
well it says in verse 6 go to the ant thou sluggard consider her ways and be wise which having no
guide overseer or ruler provided her meat in the summer and gathered her food and the harvest so
see look this ant is showing us what those virgins should have known what those virgins should have
done and you know what he's gathering his food while he still can't right he has the the
opportunity has the time and he's gathering the resources that he needs for the winter because
you know it's implied he's not going to be able to have any food during the winter so during the
summer during the harvest he's getting what he needs and these virgins should have done that
with their oil they should have gotten it whenever they had the opportunity and then they would have
had plenty of resources but again they just squandered it they just didn't count it as
something that was important and they just wasted it and you know what so many of us you know i
think that we'll have that same attitude sometimes where we just take all these things for granted
all these great gifts that god has given us the bible says for every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above and coming down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness
neither shadow of turning see every good gift it comes from god you know it it's like no my mom
gave me that good gift no god gave me that gift you know uh you know my resume got me this great
job no god gave me that great job you know god gives us everything every good gift comes from
him and so we don't need to waste all of these precious resources that he's given us so i think
i told you to turn to matthew 25 if you're there in matthew chapter 25 i don't know if you are or
not but get there if you're not and look at verse number 14 and we'll begin reading verse number 14
matthew 25 14 the bible reads for the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country
who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods and unto one he gave five talents
to another two and to another one to every man according to his several ability and straightway
took took his journey so notice not everyone is given the same amount of resources right here
it's called talents we're gonna apply to resources um you know i've i've heard it said that god
chooses the cards that are in your deck and then it's up to you how you play them you know i've
heard that said before and it's true you know we have it so much better we have so many more
resources here than maybe somebody in some other crazy country over there on the side of the world
or whatever and so we should be praising god for that and we should be uh using those talents or
those resources that god has given us wisely so let's keep reading in verse number 16 it says
then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five
talents and likewise he that had received two he also gained other two but he that had received
one went and digged in the earth and hid his lord's money after a long time the lord of those
servants cometh and reckoneth with them and so he that had received five talents came and brought
other five talents saying lord thou deliver it's unto me five talents behold i have gained beside
them five towns more his lord said unto him well done thou good and faithful servant thou has been
faithful over a few things i will make the ruler over many things enter thou into the joy thy lord
he also that had received two talents came and said lord thou deliver it's unto me two talents
behold i have gained two other talents beside them his lord said unto him well done good and
faithful servant thou has been faithful over a few things i will make the ruler over many things
enter thou into the joy of thy lord then he which had received the one talent came and said lord i
knew thee that thou art a hard man reaping where thou has not sown and gathering where thou has not
strawed and i was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth lo there thou hast that is
thine his lord answered and said unto him thou wicked and thoughtful servant thou knewest i reap
where i sowed not and gather where i have not strawed thou oughtest therefore to have put my
money to the exchangers and then at my coming i should have received mine own with usury take
therefore that the talent from him and give it unto him which hath 10 talents for unto everyone
that hath that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance but from him that hath not shall
be taken away even that which he hath and cassie the unprofitable servant into outer darkness there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth so notice this steward here he did not use his talent wisely
right he squandered it he didn't take advantage of the resource that had been given him and as a
result result he had it taken away you know that old adage if you don't use it you lose it right
and here's the thing about it is and i want you to focus on the fact that he he didn't lose it he
literally had it taken from him right and so in our lives if we don't take advantage of what god
has given to us you know he may very well take it away from us and i hope that doesn't happen
but in lots of different ways i mean you can use your imagination here maybe if we don't go
soul winning the god will just make it hey i'm not going to make it to where you can't even walk
anymore and obviously we don't want things like that to happen and and maybe that's a um you know
negative thing to think about of course but here's the thing about it we have to you know use these
resources that god has given to us and not just take it for granted like it's always going to be
available to us because there will come a time whenever hey you know the night cometh whenever
no man can work and so even if it's not something as tragic as that you know someday on this earth
we're going to die and we're going to be able to go to heaven praise the lord for that but you know
we need to use our time and resources wisely while we're on this earth and so let's take a look at
another verse um just flip the page over to matthew chapter 26 please and i'm going to read
to you from another scripture luke 19 it says basically the same thing for i say to you that
every that unto everyone which hath shall be given and from him that hath not even that he has shall
be taken away now let's look at a good example there in matthew chapter 26 look down if you
were to verse number seven matthew 26 verse 7 it says there came unto him a woman having an alabaster
box of very precious ointment and poured it on his head the the his there is referring to jesus
as he sat at me but when his disciples saw it they had indignation saying to what purpose is
this waste for this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor when jesus
understood it he said unto them why trouble ye the woman for she hath wrought a good work upon being
for he for ye have the poor always with you but me ye have not always so see this is a this woman
is a great example of someone who used her resources wisely she used it to literally we're
talking about you know serving the lord and everything but she literally served the lord
physically while he was on this earth while he was in her house or whatever she literally served him
while he was on this earth and you know what if there's ever a good way to use your resources it's
to serve the lord you know and that's kind of the the whole point of my sermon tonight and so
notice what it said here jesus said uh me ye have not always he's hinting at the fact that
we're limited right and he there wasn't uh they weren't gonna have jesus on this earth forever
you know maybe he went there to her house like all the time or maybe it was just once you know
we don't know but in that one one instance you know she used her resources very wisely whenever
he she anointed his head with oil and so here's the thing about it is we won't have these resources
for very long just like her maybe five years down the road she doesn't have that ointment anymore
maybe times got tough and she had to sell the ointment and just to make rent or whatever you
know we don't know but you know what she had it and she used it while she had it and she used it
in the best way possible to serve the lord and so we need to be just like her and use our resources
that god has given us to to of course serve him and then uh first corinthian chapter seven says
this but this i say brethren the time is short it remaineth that both they that have wives be
as though they had not and they that weep as though they web not and they that rejoice as
though they rejoice not and they that buy as though they possess not and they they use this
world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away right so again the good things
that god has given us here it talks about a wife it talks about the the ability to rejoice the
ability to buy hey we need to use those things while we got the chance because it says at the
end of that it says that the fashion of this world passeth away it passes away it won't be
here forever right so turn if you would to mark chapter six mark chapter six we're going to move
on to my last point for you tonight we talked about how we have limited time on this earth
we also talked about how we have limited resources to serve the lord with and finally i want to talk
about how we have limited opportunities to serve the lord right and so let's take a look at that
mark chapter six look down if you would have verse 47 this is a great passage i love this it says in
verse 47 and when even was come the ship was in the midst of the sea and he referring to jesus
alone on the land and he saw them toiling and rowing and for the wind was contrary unto them
and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them walking upon the sea and watch this don't
miss this and would have passed by them but when they saw him walking upon the sea they supposed
to have been a spirit and look at this and cried out for they all saw him and were troubled and
immediately he talked with them and sayeth unto them be of good cheer it is i be not afraid this
is a wonderful passage talking about jesus and it gets us more of a glimpse into his ministry and
everything but listen the disciples here had a very fleeting opportunity right jesus would have
passed by he would have kept walking he would have just kept walking while they're just struggling
maybe their boat's going to capsize you know they're in this this tempestuous wind here
and everything and they're really struggling here and you know what jesus was walking by and guess
what they did they didn't hesitate they didn't wait they cried out and jesus saved them and of
course this is a great picture of salvation because jesus literally physically saved them
from the storm but you know what whenever hey whenever we have the opportunity to to hear the
gospel to get saved hey we need to grab hold of that we need to cry out to god we need to call
upon the name of the lord while we have that chance and hopefully everyone here has already
done that but you know in the same way while we're serving the lord hey there's only so many
opportunities to to to serve the lord and you know think about it like this think about the
soul winning times here at church right you got i saw in the bulletin you guys got two
soul winning times per week hey that's great opportunities right there but you know we don't
know i mean obviously hopefully it's there forever but we again we don't know and we don't know what
a day is going to bring forth as i keep mentioning but then not only that we have mission trips all
around the world and it's like oh i'll get the next one i'll get the next one i'll get the next
one but they're not going to be here forever you know and maybe yeah so so you take advantage of
that not only that we have the weekend trips hey they happen every single weekend oh i'll
go in the next one i'll go in the next one well listen we have a very limited amount of
opportunities on this earth they they seem like they're going to go forever we have this this
illusion that we have an abundance of resources and time and opportunities but it's just an
illusion everything all these things are going to go away someday none of these things are going to
last only the things that we've done for christ those are the things that are going to last
so these opportunities they may go in the future we don't know but um turn if you would to luke
chapter 10 luke chapter number 10 okay here we go so i'm going to read to you another verse it
says in philippians chapter 4 and verse 10 it says but i rejoiced in the lord greatly that now
at the last your care of me hath flourished again wherein you were also careful but but listen to
this but you lacked opportunity so you know we're not going to go into everything that's talking
about here but i just wanted to point out hey here's a group of people who lacked an opportunity
so you may say oh well all these opportunities are always going to be there no these people
lacked an opportunity right and so we can be lacking an opportunity in the future so that's
why we need to just grab a hold of it we need to grab a hold of it while we have the chance while
you have the opportunity to do these things for the lord now look down if you would at luke
chapter 10 look down at verse number 38 verse number 38 the bible says now it came to pass
as they went that he entered into a certain village and a certain woman named martha received
him into her house and she had a sister called mary which also sat at jesus feet and heard his
word but martha was cumbered about much serving and came to him and said lord does thou not care
that my sister had left me to serve alone bid her therefore that she helped me and jesus answered
and said unto her martha martha thou are careful and troubled about many things but one thing is
needful and mary had chosen that good part but shall not be taken away from her you know it
baffles me it probably does all of us that you know martha here she literally had jesus in her
literal house and she just wanted to clean now look if jesus was coming over to my house i would
want to clean too but you know what i would do it before he got there that way i could just hang
out with him and stuff and again just like with the other story we don't know how often jesus came
to her house maybe he came every single day we don't know maybe this was the only time we don't
know but you know what if he came every single day of his entire ministry that's still only three
three and a half years and pretty soon hey those opportunities are going to just be gone and so
what a wasted opportunity here you know mary she picked the good part but then martha she was just
she was just being dumb you know she was just out there just cleaning doing whatever so she
was not wise with this opportunity that she had been given what an opportunity to sit down and
just talk to jesus you know face to face on this earth while he was here such a great opportunity
and i'm sure she regretted it later now proverbs chapter 10 let me give you another example
it says he that gathered in summer is a wise son but he that sleepeth and harvest is a son that
causes shame so once again we have these two people here the son that causes shame and the
wise son one is gathering in summer while he has that opportunity and then the other one is sleeping
during the same time and so maybe the winter is coming and they don't have enough that that white
or that foolish son doesn't have enough food to eat we don't know but you know the one is foolish
one is is wise because the wise one took the opportunity that he had at that moment again you
may have that opportunity to serve the lord hey don't let it go by don't let it be wasted it's
just a wasted opportunity you know now uh flip back one page to luke chapter nine we're just
about done here luke chapter nine i'll just read to you a couple more i'm gonna read to you two
more really bad examples here luke chapter nine look down if you would have verse 59 luke 9 59 it
says and he referring to jesus and he said unto another follow me but he said lord suffer me first
to go and bury my father jesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach
the kingdom of god and another also said lord i will follow thee but let me first go bid them
farewell which are at my at home at my house and jesus said unto him no man having put his hand to
the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god see they didn't realize what an opportunity
they had here because here's the thing about it they got some really good excuses you know
what i mean like these are really good excuses but you know what really no excuse is good enough
to not serve the lord and i don't care what type of excuse you have for not serving the lord
not walking not following jesus as as they they're literally trying to do here you know there's
there's no excuse good enough for not doing that and so they they didn't realize they just wasted
their opportunity and you know they should have just let these worldly problems you know they
just should have let them let them pass and you know oftentimes we do the exact same thing where
we have so many opportunities to do the things that god has commanded us to do and we just decide
to do something else right and this is just common for all of us and all i'm saying is that we need
to try and minimize these right because we have so many opportunities and we just need to take
advantage of them while we can now turn if you would to revelation chapter 22 and that's where
we're going to end the last chapter in the entire bible so here's the thing we should learn from
these examples as i mentioned a minute ago there's this illusion that we're always going to have
enough time enough resources enough opportunities but you know that those those opportunities those
time that that those resources they're fleeting they're going to go away someday and so we need
to take advantage of this don't be like that proverbial woman that we saw in jeremiah whose
son went down while it was yet day you know don't be like those five foolish virgins who wanted the
oil and then they didn't have it because they didn't use those resources while they had the
chance don't be like martha who wasted her opportunity just cleaning and doing housework
while she could have been spending that time with jesus on this earth use your time wisely you make
the most of these gifts that god has given to us a good church a good a great bible the the only
word of god you know the things great fellowship great friends great great great everything right
he's given us so many wonderful things and we need to use those things for him so use it wisely
use your time resources opportunities use them wisely revelation chapter 22 look down if you
would at verse number 12 it says and behold i come look at this i come quickly and my reward is with
me to give every man according as his work shall be so let us work let us work while is yet day
for the night cometh when no man can work so let's pray