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And so Ecclesiastes chapter three. Now, I just want to start off by saying just because it says there's a time to dance doesn't mean that Mike and Rick start dancing, all right? You guys need to pay attention. So anyways, I thought because today was a daylight saving time, it'd be appropriate to preach about time, right? What does the Bible say about time? The Bible has a lot to say about time. And so this sermon here has a very long introduction and then a very short applicable sermon to go along with it. And I wrote this with the intent to let people out here somewhat early so you can get some of your time back, right? Because obviously we know that the Uncle Sam's not really saving us any time or money for that fact. So somebody corrected me a while back saying it's not daylight savings time, it's daylight saving time. So hopefully I grew up saying daylight savings time, but it's saving and we all know we're not really saving much of anything. So if you look down there at Ecclesiastes chapter three, look at verse number one, keep something here though. We're gonna read a few verses and then we're gonna come back to this neighborhood in the Psalms and stuff. So just make sure you can find your way back to this part of the Bible. So look down there at verse number one, it says, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. So if you can think of a thing that's on earth, the Bible says that there's a season for it, right? And it says, if you could think of a purpose that there is a time to that purpose under heaven. And when you hear the word season, what do you think of? Maybe like fall, what winter, spring, summertime, right? All the different seasons that we have, they come to an end, right? And then they come to an end and they begin a new one and it comes to an end and begins a new one. And that's what Solomon starts off by comparing time like here. Now look down at verse two, cause he starts giving us these comparisons to opposites. He says in verse two, he says, there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up, a time to weep, any time to laugh, a time to mourn, any time to dance, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to get, a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away, a time to rend, and the word rend there means to tear, right? So he's saying a time to rend and a time to sow, a time to keep silence and a time to speak. And then finally in verse eight, he says, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. Now, most Christians today will say, well, that shouldn't say that. There's never a time to hate. We should never hate anyone or anything. And that really is a subject for another day. But according to the Bible, it says that there is a time to hate and I don't want to get off on a tangent about that. The important thing for you to remember is verse number one, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. Remember that as I preached this sermon, under heaven, because the first thing you got to realize about time is that God is not bound by time. So you're there in Ecclesiastes, go back in your Bible to Psalm chapter 90, go to Psalm chapter 90. You know, the more you go out soul-winding, you talk with your friends, you tell them you believe in God, they're going to eventually, you know, you run into your atheist neighbor. They're eventually going to bring up the, you know, God. And as far as his existence and his operation in time, they'll say things like, well, you know, who created God or, you know, what time is it in heaven? Stupid junk like that. But what you got to understand is God is not bound by time. It is a created thing. The very nature of time, however, is restricted to created things. And you have to understand that. That's what Solomon's teaching us here in verse number one. God is outside of the realm and rule of time. You got to remember that. Anytime somebody challenges you on this, you got to understand and you got to be able to explain to them that God is outside of the realm and rule of time. If you can remember those two R's there, it should be very helpful. I'm going to read for you 2 Peter 3, verse eight, which says, but beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. So God is not bound by time, though he does operate in time, you know, with us, here we could see that through the Bible. He is not bound by it. He actually created it. Psalm chapter, yeah, so you're there in Psalm chapter 90. I'm going to read for you Psalms. Actually, why don't you just turn there. Turn to Psalm chapter 102 real quick. So just go forward in your Bible. Turn to Psalm chapter 102. We'll take a look at this here. So Psalm chapter 102, look at verse number 26. It says, they shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment. As a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed. But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end. So if somebody were to maybe have a question or challenge you, you could bring them to this verse here and say, hey, look, the Bible says that God's years have no end. He lives in eternity. He lives outside of the boundary of time and God created time. So go back to Psalm chapter, go over to Psalm chapter 93, actually. Go to Psalm chapter 93. But like I said, keep your place here because we are going to come back to it. So Psalm chapter 93, look at verse number two. Psalm 93 verse two says thy throne is established of old, thou art from everlasting. So if somebody were to ask you, where is God from? Where is God from? Who created God? You could say God has always been. Remember when you read the Old Testament, what did he, by what name did he appear to Moses? He said, I am that I am, I am, right? Verse two says thy throne is established of old, thou art from everlasting. God has always existed. God is from everlasting. So like I said, keep your place there, but go to Revelation chapter four. Revelation chapter four. We'll take a look at this idea because people just don't seem to get it, right? That God is not bound by time. He created time. And we'll take a look at why God created time as well. But it's important for us to understand this because the title of my sermon is Redeeming the Time. If we're going to redeem the time that God's given us, it's important to understand the purpose of time, how it came here. What is it for? What is going to happen to it? Because that's going to produce a sense of urgency that we need to use our time correctly. So if you're there in Revelation chapter four, let's take a look at a real time example of eternity. So we just talked a little bit about time, but now let's take a look at eternity. What is eternity? What's eternity like? So Revelation chapter four, verse eight. It says, and the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within. And they rest not day and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty. Now this is very important, listen to this. Which was, and is, and is to come. Those three things, you've got to remember those three things. That is the definition of eternity. Which was, and is, and is to come. The Bible says that God has always existed. He exists now and he always will. He's not bound by time. But I think it's interesting here that you'll find these three things to describe the nature in which God dwells, right? Which was, is number one, and is, and is to come, right? What does that remind you of? That should remind you of the Trinity, right? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. God oftentimes operates in threes. And I think it's just an interesting fact here that he mentions these three things, which was, and is, and is to come. And if you put those together, you have one thing. You have eternity, that's what you have. Just a little piece there to maybe strengthen your faith in the Trinity as we go along. But even God's creation, even God's very nature, even where God dwells in eternity, proves the Trinity as well. So look at verse nine. It says, and when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth, look, notice this, notice these next four words. It says, forever and ever. Verse 10, the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. So that would also apply to the doctrine of time, to this thing that we know as time. God created it, God created it for a purpose, and it is for a season. Now, go back to Psalm chapter 90. Go to Psalm chapter 90. Hopefully you kept your place there, Psalm chapter 90. So what have we learned so far? That God created time, it's for a season, and it is for his pleasure. God has a purpose for time. It's very important that we understand that God has a purpose for time because it is gonna end someday. So if you're there in Psalm chapter 90, look at verse four. Again, it says, for a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. You know, I often think about Job when I read this verse. I mean, Job went through some pretty horrific things, right? I mean, he lost all his kids, he lost his wealth, he lost his health, and God's responses to him at the end is like, hey, man up. Hey, don't forget that you're a created being. And sometimes I wonder like, man, that seems pretty harsh, but you gotta understand this verse right here. It says, for a thousand years in thy sight are as but yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. So God looks at us through the perspective of eternity, and so he's looking at Job and he's saying, look, I already know I'm gonna give you back everything that you lost plus some, right? And not to mention, you know, he looks at us from eternity. He's looking at you who do a lot of work and you who are gonna receive crowns because you go out and knock people's doors. And when you're going through trials and tribulations, you know, he's like, just hang on. Just stay strong, keep going on because he can see the end from the beginning. And we can't, right? We don't always have that perspective. So when we run into trials and tribulations, a lot of times it can be really depressing. It can cause anxiety and it can cause us to falter and waver and just really have a hard time. But you know, when you go to God and you understand that he operates outside of that boundary, you know, it should shed some light. It should give you some hope. It should give you some encouragement to keep moving on because God says, hey, look, rest is coming, right? Your trials, your tribulations, they are for a season, they are but for a time. So keep your place there. I'm gonna read for you Colossians 1, verse 16 and 17. So if time has no influence or no set boundary over God, then it has to, like I already said, right? It must exist only because God created it. So Colossians 1, verse 16 through 17 says, for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities of powers, all things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things and by him, all things consist. So again, we already read Revelation verse, I'm sorry, chapter four, verse 11, which says, thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they were created. I know I keep hammering that home, but it's important for us to understand that God created time. He is not bound by time. It's important to explain that because you might be at somebody's door someday or talking with a family member or a neighbor that has a genuine question about time. You know, they don't, sometimes people just can't separate what eternity is. It's beneficial for you as a believer, for you as a Christian to have these verses in the back of your mind and be able to turn to them and go to them so that you can explain to them because that helps people see the difference between God and eternity and us here and his creation. So here's another verse, Job chapter 41, verse 11 says, who hath prevented me that I should repay him whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. And keep your place there in Revelation cause we will come back to it. But turn to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, verse three, real popular verse. It says, this is the great faith chapter, right? If you're familiar with Hebrews chapter 11, you know that you can find the definition of faith. What exactly is faith in verse one, right? It says faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And that not seen there is very key, very important for us to understand. And then verse three, Hebrews chapter 11, verse three, it says, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. So we can experience time, right? We go through time, we understand what time is, but we don't see who made it and that's because we just believe it by faith. I mean, nobody in here is gonna deny the fact that we live on a clock, we live by a clock. I mean, it's often been said that, you know, I either have more money or more time. You know, it seems like when I have more money, I don't have enough time. When I have more time, I don't have enough money. And that's true, but we just have to understand that through faith, we understand that that is set by God. That's created by him and for him. Now I'm just gonna give you four quick facts about time that I learned from the Bible. There's a lot of stuff. I could have made a whole series about this subject of time but I just wanna give you four quick facts here about time. And number one is time is a real created thing that has a beginning. Time is a real created thing that has a beginning. So you gotta understand that. Time in itself has a beginning. So real popular verse, everybody should know this one. Genesis 1, one, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That would mean time has a beginning. And like I've been saying, you know, I just believe it's necessary to establish in our minds that as, or rather that time is an actual thing, just like money, just like materials, just like water, just like anything you could think of. And it has a beginning. Because what did we read at the beginning of the sermon in Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse one? To every season, you know, every season has an end, every purpose has a time, right? And it's the same thing with the concept of time. All right, so point number one, was time is a real created thing that has a beginning. Number two, if you're there in Revelation, go to chapter 10, Revelation chapter 10. So like I said, number one is time is a real created thing and it has a beginning. So if it has a beginning, then it's gonna have an end. So number two is time is a real thing under heaven that has an end. So if you're there in Revelation chapter 10, look at verse six. Revelation chapter 10, verse six says, and swear by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are there in, I'm sorry, and the things that there in are, and the earth, and the things that are, and the sea, and the things which are there in. Now notice this last phrase here, that there should be time no longer. So the beginning of the Bible, the book of Genesis, we learned that time begins. At the end of the Bible in Revelation, we learned that there will become a time where there is time no longer, right? And that's the whole point of the subject. When we understand that there will be time no longer, it should motivate us to use the time that God has given us for the better. So point number two is that time has an end to it. Number three, time was created to help us understand the difference between our realm and the realm of eternity. In Genesis chapter one, verse 14, it says, and God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. So number three, time was created to help us understand the difference between our realm and eternity. God's not bound by time. God doesn't go through fall, winter, spring, summer, and all that. God always is, he's always existed, and he always will exist, and it's important to understand that. So number four, time is generally predetermined toward us. So go back, hopefully you kept your place in Psalm. Go back to Psalm chapter 90, Psalm chapter 90. Psalm chapter 90 in verse 10 says, the days of our years are three score years in 10, and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is there strength, labor, and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. If you look at the verse before it, it says, for all our days are passed away in thy wrath, we spend our years as a tale that is told. And actually, go back up to verse six. This is interesting here. We're gonna read this verse in the New Testament later on, but Psalm 90 verse six says, in the morning it flourishes, talking about grass, he's comparing our lives to grass. He says, in the morning it flourishes and growth up, in the evening it is cut down and withereth. So what am I doing? I'm just trying to build a foundation here for you to understand that your life is compared to grass. The lawnmower man is coming, and it's important to understand that. So number four was, time is generally predetermined toward us. What did we learn in verse 10? It says the days of our years are three score years in 10. Now we understand that that could be cut short, right? We general, people generally live, nowadays, three score. And what's a score? A score is 20, right? But he's saying, your years are three score years and 10. Right, so he's saying, you're generally gonna live about 70 years. And if by reason of strength, they be four score years, so if you live by, you know, to be 80 or older, yet is their strength, labor, and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away. Your life is like a vapor, the Bible says. It's here for a moment and then it's gone. So why am I saying this? Why cover this? Look at verse 12, Psalm 90, verse 12. There's a reason for this. Psalm 90, verse 12 says, so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Teach us to number our days. That's what I'm doing. I'm trying to teach you to number your days so that you can apply your hearts to wisdom. If you're alive today, which most of you look like you're alive, even though it's daylight saving time, you know, God has a plan for you. God has wisdom that is calling out in the streets for you and it's your job to grab it up and apply it and to use it in your life. So here we see in this verse that wisdom is regarding, that wisdom is there. It's available, it's for us. It's for us to use and to grab. So go to the New Testament. Go to Ephesians chapter five, Ephesians chapter five. So, so far, what did we learn? We learned some facts about time, right? We learned that God is not bound by time. We learned that God created time. We learned that time is someday going to come to an end. We learned that God is, God was, and God is to come. And finally, we learned that we need to understand what time is and then how pressured it is, how short it is so that we can apply our days onto wisdom. So Ephesians chapter five. So you're gonna go past Corinthians, go past Galatians, Ephesians, Ephesians chapter five. All right, Ephesians chapter five. We're gonna take a look at God's purpose for us in time. So we've got a little bit of a foundation, right? We've got a little bit of a basic understanding of what time is, when it's gonna end, what that means for us. Now let's take a look at God's purpose for time for us. Ephesians chapter five, look at verse 14. Ephesians chapter five, verse 14. It says, wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Now, here's the verse that really should sum up the sermon for all of us. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Go to Colossians chapter four. Go to Colossians chapter four. So he says in verse 16, he says, redeeming the time because the days are evil. And then the next verse he says, wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. So he tells us that we need to redeem our time. We'll talk about the definition of redeem. It means to recover or to compensate. But he says, we need to redeem the time because the days are evil. The word evil in the King James Bible means to hurt, right? He's saying that the days are generally evil. They're generally capable of hurting every single one of us. So there's a formula, there's a recipe that we need to follow so that we can redeem the time that we have because each day has enough trouble of its own. So if you're there in Colossians chapter four, look at verse two. This is a parallel passage and I love how the Bible is like this. You know, you'll read a lot of the same concepts in different books and different chapters and you can learn a lot by comparing the two. So this is the same teaching that Paul's giving to the Colossians here. So let's take a look at this. So Colossians four, look at verse two. Colossians four, two, it says, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. With all praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in bonds. So Paul here, he's saying, hey, don't forget to pray for me that I can continue to effectively preach the gospel to people, even though I'm in prison. Verse four, that I may make, yeah, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Then verse five, look at this. He says, walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. Let your speech always with grace seasoned with salt that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. So here he's telling the Colossians that we need to redeem the time by walking in wisdom toward them that are without. What does that mean? When you read that word without, or you see like without the camp, that means outside. So he's talking about people that are outside of the faith, people that are not saved. And we should walk wisely among them. And why, what's the whole point? The whole point is so that they will get saved so that we won't become a reproach unto Christ so that we can get them saved and soften them up to the gospel. That's what he's saying there. So we can see that one way by we can redeem the time that we have is by walking in wisdom towards them that are without. It's very effective. And what do we read in Ephesians chapter five? He says, redeem the time because the days are evil. And we've learned that, right? The Bible says that our lives are like grass. You never know when it's gonna get cut down. But one thing you can be assured of is it will get cut down. I often tell people this when they get snappy at work or, how do you know that God's true? How do you know that there's truth? How do you know that you're pretty arrogant? You're pretty judgmental saying that, you can say anything for certain. It's like, look, man, it's certain you're gonna die someday, right? You will die. One thing that is certain in this life is you will die and midnight's coming, and that always gets them. It's like, look, are you really gonna sit here and deny the fact that you're gonna die? Everybody dies, and that proves what? What does that prove? That proves a lot of stuff. That proves Romans 3.10. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. That proves Romans 3.23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That proves Romans chapter six, which says for the wages of sin is death. The more time ticks, you can see that on people's faces. That's why we age for the wages of sin is death. We bear the marks of sin. We bear that on our own bodies. That is why we die, and so it's really a foolish thing to sit here and say that you can't say anything for certain. You know, they just don't want to admit it, but one thing is for sure, you will die someday, and that's why we need to go out there and get people saved. So what did we learn here in Colossians chapter four, verse five? It says walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. So what's God's plan? What's God's purpose for us in time? It's to redeem the time. Now it's obvious that we can't go back in time, right? That's not what he's saying. We can't go back in time. We can't make up for a time that we've lost. Oftentimes you'll hear people say that, you know, oh, you gotta make up for time that you lost. You can't. Once you lose it, it's gone. But don't worry, there is hope because you can move forward. So what does it mean to redeem? It means to compensate for faults or bad aspects of something. Another definition is it's to gain or regain possession of something in exchange for payment. I mean, how many have ever redeemed a coupon or redeemed a gift card, right? Somebody went and put $50 on a gift card or something and you went down and you redeemed that, right? That's what he's talking about. We can redeem the time that we have. We can use the time that we have left correctly for God's purpose. So here's an example. So here's just a few quick examples on why we need to redeem the time. And number one, because there is a season to everything on earth, right? Isn't that what we not read or just read at the beginning of the sermon? Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse one. What do we learn? It's a time to every purpose under heaven. So why do we need to redeem the time? It's because there is a season, because it's going to end, because it's short, because we need to do God's will. So number two, I'm sorry, number three, the days are evil, right? Which means to hurt. Every day there is a potential for hurt, for evil. And then in 1 Peter chapter one, verse 24, it says, for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower therefore falleth away. And we read the equivalent to that in Psalm chapter 90. That's where Peter got that doctrine from. So I just got three quick points here that I'm going to leave you with on how to redeem your time. Cause you're sitting here saying, okay, I understand a little bit more now about time itself. I understand a little bit more about eternity. I understand the importance of redeeming the time. Now, how do you do that? What are some tips? How can we apply this to our lives? And number one, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter seven, 1 Corinthians chapter seven. So number one is we need to realize each and every one of us realize that you are not your own and that you were bought with a price. Realize that you are not your own and that you were bought with a price. And so with that being said, it's obvious. If we were bought with a price as Christians, if God did something for us, that there was miraculous, he paid our wages, right? He paid the sin debt for us so that we don't have to go to hell. We need to realize that that was a price that God paid for us. And so we should be willing to redeem the time that he's given us. So 1 Corinthians chapter seven, look at verse 22. It says, for he that is called in the Lord, being a servant is the Lord's free man. Likewise, also he that is called being free is Christ's servant. So it's important for us to understand if you're saved today, you're in here, you are Christ's servant. Now look at verse 23. Ye are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. Verse 24, brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. I think that's important for each and every one of us to understand that we are bought with a price. And he says, be ye, be not ye the servants of men. That would include the old man, right? We should wake up every day, understanding that we have this battle between the new man and the old man. But remember, you have a choice. You know, when you wake up and it's like, oh man, I'm so tired. I don't know if I can make it to church. You know, it's daylight saving time. You know, you've got to fight that battle. You've got to understand that you woke up, God gave you breath, and you need to redeem the time and do what's right. Why? Because you're bought with a price. There's a lot of things that we should do in the Bible, right? And obviously there's only one thing that we must do to go to heaven, but the Bible says there's a lot of things that we should do, right? And one of the things we should do is understand that we are bought with a price. So point number one is realize that you are bought with a price. We are not our own. I think it's important to understand that because that also helps with our sense of urgency. That's going to help us to want to redeem the time that God's given us. Colossians chapter one, verse 18 says, and he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. That means the superiority. What Paul's telling the Colossians here is that we need to not only understand that we are about with a price, like he told the Corinthians, but we need to understand that we should give Christ the preeminence, the first fruits of everything in our lives, right? And that would include our time. That would include our minds, our hearts, our souls. Everything that we do, we should always have the Lord Jesus Christ at the front of our minds. So turn to Matthew chapter six, Matthew chapter six. So point number one was realize that you are bought with a price, that we are all bought with a price. Now point number two would be put God first in your life. You wanna learn how to redeem your time, you've gotta first of all have some motivation. I mean, I think that's pretty obvious, right? We gotta have some motivation. There's gotta be something that motivates you. And one thing that should motivate you is to understand that time is short. We don't have a lot of it. None of us are promised tomorrow. So realize that you're bought with a price. Realize that God has given you breath today so that you could serve him. And point number two is to put God first in your life. Put God first in your life. That's what we learned here in Colossians chapter one, verse 18. In all things, he might have the preeminence. Preeminence means the fact of surpassing all others or superiority. So you're there in Matthew chapter six. Let's understand that God commands us, commands to be put first, God wants to be put first and God blesses people when he's put first. You wanna get blessed by God? You wanna use your time more effectively? Maybe you're sitting here this morning, you're like, man, I've got more tasks to do than I have time for. I promise you, if you put God first, you will be more able to get those tasks done. God's gonna bless you, he's gonna give you wisdom so that you can use the time that you have effectively, making things go smoother for you. So I mean, if the first thing you do when you wake up is just turn the TV on or goofing around, things like that, that's not really the best use of time. The first thing you should do when you wake up is read the Bible, get something spiritual in you. Oh, I don't have time, I gotta go straight to work, there's an emergency, that's fine. Maybe listen to some preaching. Get something spiritual in your soul to start the day off. I think that is very important, put God first. So Matthew chapter six, look at verse 25. Matthew chapter six, verse 25 says, "'Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life. "'What ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, "'nor yet for your body what ye shall put on, "'is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment.'" So this is a good chapter here if you struggle with anxiety. You know, what is he saying here? Hey, don't worry about tomorrow, don't worry about food, don't worry about your clothing, don't worry about going to Abercrombie & Fitch and paying all the money for their skinny jeans and all this garbage, right? That's not gonna help you out, that's not gonna do any good for you. He's saying take no thought for your life. Now look at verse 26. "'Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, "'neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, "'yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. "'Are ye not much better than they?'" You know what, we would be much better off memorizing this verse, understanding this verse, and applying it to our lives. When we understand that the Bible's saying that we're, hey, we're better than these birds, we're better than the fowls, and God takes care of them, right? You don't see them begging for bread or standing on the line for government cheese. You know, they understand that God is gonna take care of them, right? And we need to have that same understanding. Because what does he say? Are ye not much better than they? So what's God saying, what's Jesus saying here? Hey, you're better than that, you're better than them, why are you worried about all these earthly materials and all these earthly things? We need to put him first. Look at verse 27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? And that is the key there, right? You wanna redeem your time, you need to have faith. You need to increase your faith, and how do you do that? You do that by coming to church, you do that by doing God's will, by doing his work, by your own study time, by your own meditation, by your own prayer. That increases faith, right? That's what he's saying there. That is the key to anxiety is increasing your faith. Now look at verse 31. Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat, what shall we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. And what he means there by Gentiles is those that are without, those that are without the camp. Hey, all the heathen people worry about this stuff. They're consumed by this stuff. They're preoccupied with the materialistic goods of this world. That's all they can think about. They have no concept. They don't have any idea what God can do for them because they don't believe in him. And Jesus is saying, hey, don't be like them. They don't have faith. And that's why they're always anxious. That's why they're filled with anxiety. That's why they're all on meds. That's why they have so many problems is because they don't have faith. So listen to me, if you want to redeem your time, you need to put God first, but you need to have faith. You need to have patience and understand that, hey, you have more value than the fowls. You have more value than the chickens that are out there, more value than the turkeys, more value than the animals of this world. And God takes care of them. Why wouldn't he take care of you? So point number three, point number three, realize that you need to focus on your tasks at hand. Oftentimes we get this lesson and say, okay, I'm going to get all this stuff done. And then we get distracted. Look at Matthew 6 34. It says, therefore take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. So we need to understand that, you know, the days are going to have their problems. They're going to have their drama. They're going to have their hurt. They're going to have their evil. They're going to have the things that distract us. And we need to understand if you want to redeem the time that God has given you, if you want to get stuff done, you have to learn how to prioritize your time. So real quick, just three things. And like I said, I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on how to do this, but I just want to give you three tips, three things. If you do these, I really think they'll help you prioritize your time. They'll help you redeem your time. We already talked about understanding time. We talked about the importance of time, right? We talked about how it's short, right? None of us are promised tomorrow. If you're alive, you have breath. God's given that to you. That means he has a plan for you. He has something he wants you to do. He has something that he wants us to do. And that is obvious through serving him, right? Christ should have the preeminence. But number one, if you can remember this, prioritize your time, right? So you're a homeschooling mom. You've got a million things going on. You've got kids all over the place, right? You and you're like, man, I'm just pulling my hair out. How am I going to get all this stuff done? My husband is crazy. You know, there's a couple examples in here, you know, that we could probably talk about, but I don't want to embarrass these guys anymore, you know? So look, look, wives, you got to listen to this. You got to understand this, right? You need to learn how to prioritize your time. And I think one of the great things that you could do is to write your priorities down. Sit there and say, okay, I've got a lot of different things that I've got going on that I want to accomplish. Write them down. I've been given a lot of different planners. Jessica's bought me a lot of different planners. Sometimes people will give them to me. And I'll try to use them. But the only thing for me personally that works is I've got this camouflage notebook. It's got camouflage gorilla duct tape on it, right? I was going to bring it for an example, but it looks like just chicken scratch everywhere. You know what? That, if you, if I were to give that to you and tell you to do all these tasks, you'd be like, you're crazy. I can't read that. It's not an order, but that's what works for me. That right, if I've got stuff written down in there and there's like stuff from the last three weeks on one page, I'll get it done. If I write it somewhere else, it's not going to happen. Like I got this new planner and I wrote all these tasks that I was going to get done on Friday. And I didn't do like, I think I had like eight things I needed to do. I did like two of them. And it's because I didn't write them in that camo book. So for me, you know, I'm good at prioritizing my time, but I have to do it personally, right? There's a thing that works for me. And it's that camo notebook. Now I don't know what it is about that camo notebook, but for me, I have to use that camouflage notebook. And for you, you've got to figure out what works for you. But the important thing is to prioritize what is important. What absolutely cannot not get done. If you can do that, you're going to have success. You're going to get the stuff that's important done. And you know what? You need to realize you're not, there's just not enough time in the day to get everything done that you want to do. You're going to sit here, you're going to make a list. Okay, I'm going to homeschool the kids. You know, I got to get this lesson for this one, this lesson for this one, or whatever the case may be, or men you're at work and you've got all these tasks that your boss has given you. You need to write those things down, right? And if you don't have enough time and you're at work, you know, you need to go to your boss and say, here's where I'm at, here's the problems, here's the things that held me up and why I can't finish them. But the important thing is to prioritize. Men, when you're at work, ask your boss, okay, what cannot not get done today? What absolutely has to happen today? And then write that down, make sure that's in the forefront of your mind and do everything in your power to get that done, right? So number one, learn how to prioritize your time and you're going to have to do it in a personal way. You're going to have to do it in a way that works for you. For me, my camouflage notebook is the blood, man. That's the life. I have to have that. If I don't have it in that camo book, it's not going to happen. For you, it might be your phone. For you, some of you are pretty smart. It might just be up here. It might just be in your brain. You might be the type of person that can just say, okay, you can just take a few minutes every morning and think and just do it, right? There's not very many people like that. I'm not like that, but that may be for you. So point number one is learn how to prioritize your time. I know it sounds simple, it sounds easy, but look, if you're struggling with getting things done, you have got to learn how to prioritize your time and get the things done that need to get done. Because look, when you do that, you're going to be like, okay, you're going to be able to check those things off on your list, right? Check them off and that's going to motivate you and that's going to get that steam rolling so that you can get more tasks done. One thing I learned that was valuable in the military was the first thing they would have us do is make our beds when we got up. And the lesson there is that as soon as you make your bed, right when you got up, you've accomplished something, right? And then you can go on and you put your shoes on and you do all these other things, you know? Now, obviously for some of you, you know, different, you know, mom and dad are waking up at different times, you're not going to be able to do that. But I think if you're a young person, I think you should get in the habit of making your bed right when you wake up. Wake up, you know, as soon as you roll out of bed, you know, grab your Bible or whatever you have to do, but make your bed because then you will have accomplished the first task of the day. You will have gotten something done and you can move forward with the rest of your day, with the rest of your priorities. So number one, learn how to prioritize your time and do it in a personal way, whatever works for you. Number two is plan your time. Somebody once said, if you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail. I'm sure you've all heard that, right? And it's true, if you have these goals, you have these priorities, you have these things that you want to get done, but you don't come up with a plan, you're gonna fail, right? That's why I believe it's important to write these things down, come up with a way to keep track of your priorities so that you can check them off one by one and get things done. And number three is pretty simple. Calendar your time. Learn how to calendar your time. Before I got sent here, Pastor Mendez gave me a class about how to manage time. And one of the things that he does is he has a preaching calendar. I have one in my briefcase back there and I took his advice. I knew I was gonna preach this like three, four weeks ago, right? What I do is I sit down, this is what he taught me to do. Take a calendar, get three months worth of calendars, right? And go through there and mark down every subject that you wanna preach about because what that does is it takes stress off me. I don't have to worry about what I'm gonna preach Wednesday. I know I'm preaching Galatians three. I don't have to worry about what I'm preaching tonight. I already knew I'm preaching about church. You see what I'm saying? I've got that planned out. And so that takes stress off of me. So I'm not anxious, I don't have that anxiety anymore. I can just go about and do my tasks. And then we write other things down there like I have written down, I think Monday to start passing out the new invitations, right? I have when to order the invitations. I have when to go buy the donuts, when to go do certain things. You see what I'm saying? And you can write reminders on this calendar. So if you know you need to do something every 15th of the month, and it's something that you're forgetting, right? It's something you're, maybe it's a bill or it's sending a note, calling mom, calling dad, something like that, write yourself a reminder on that calendar and just get some discipline and learn how to live by that calendar. I really think that you'll be blessed by that and that that's gonna help you. You know, a long time ago, you know, our family made up our minds that we're just gonna write church on the calendar of our hearts. We're just gonna block out in our hearts Sunday, totally forgot, right? We're gonna go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night. We're gonna go to church Wednesday and we're gonna make at least one soul winning time. That's something that I think everybody should do as well. You all have a calendar on your heart. You have a calendar in your mind and you need to just block out those times and say, you know what, that's for God. I wanna grow as a Christian. I wanna get better at redeeming my time and apply that to your life. And I think you're gonna find that you become blessed by doing that. So if you can remember those three things, right? Prioritize your time and do it in a personal way. Plan your time, right? Plan your time. When are you gonna do these things? What time are you gonna do these? Set some deadlines. You know, come up with a way for some accountability. And number three, calendar your time. Actually make the decision to write it down on paper, on your phone. I mean, smartphones have all sorts of calendars on them these days. It's not that hard. The hardest part is actually making up your mind to do it. That's the hard part. So number four, we're almost done. Turn to Philippians chapter three. Point number four. So point number four is very simple. And it's a statement that I think is gonna help you. So point number four is redeeming the time is not buying back time that we've wasted, but making the best out of the time that we have left moving forward. So I'm gonna read that again. You turn to Philippians chapter three. Redeeming the time is not buying back time that we have wasted, because that's impossible. But making the best out of the time that we have left moving forward. So you might be sitting here this morning thinking, man, I've wasted a lot of my life doing X, Y, and Z, right? You know what? You need to put that behind you because that will become a hindrance unto you. And you just need to understand that redeeming the time is not buying back time. You can't buy it back. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. And we've all wasted time, but we need to learn how to make the best out of the time that God's given us. So Philippians chapter three, look at verse 13. I'm almost done. Philippians 3, 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. So you can tell that Paul's a preacher here, right? He says, hey, there's one thing that I do. And then he goes on and mentions a whole list of things. You know, it's kind of like when the preacher's like, I'm almost done, I got five minutes. And then like a half hour later, the sermon's over. But he says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. This is important, right? When I was in the military, I used to hear Green Berets and ranger type people, special forces people, they would have this mentality, right? We would take classes with them and they would often basically teach this doctrine. He says, I count not myself to have apprehended. One thing I noticed about their mentality is when they would accomplish a task, when they would do something, when they would get their Green Beret, when they would get their ranger tab, when they would do something great, accomplish some great mission, they would say, you know what? I don't care about that, that's behind, you know. When I'm on that stage and I receive that trophy or I receive that award, that's the time to glory. As soon as I get off, they would say, now it's time to get back to work and go to the next task. And they would just completely disregard anything great that they've done. And I think that's a great mentality to have. He says, I count myself not to have apprehended. So when you have a victory, when you capture something, when you have apprehended something, I believe it is important to say, hey, you know, don't let that temporary success slow you down because I'm telling you it's just for a season, right? The right way to have our mindset is what he says here. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. Look, it's not over yet until it's over. And then he says, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, you need to forget your past. Oh, I did all these sins in my past. I spent most of my life wasting time. Hey, forget about it. That's what he's saying, forget about it. And reach forth unto those things which are before. Put it behind you, forget about it and just move forward. Look at verse 14, he says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. And if anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. So what he's saying is, hey, as many as be perfect, he's not talking about like a self-righteous type perfect. The word perfect in the Bible means complete. Hey, you're reading your Bible, you're soul winning, you're doing the will of God. You know, if he says, if you're perfect, then have this mindset. Don't count your, don't dwell and gloat on the temporary success that you have. Okay, let's say you go out today and you get five people saved. Don't be like, okay, I'm done. You know, I did, I got my five people saved and keep talking about that forever and ever and then never do any more great works for God, right? We wanna count not ourselves to have apprehended, but keep pressing forward, right? Get that victory, do those tasks and then just keep moving forward until you're dead, right? You ever heard the term, I'm gonna go down swinging? That's basically what he's saying here. We need to have that same mentality to go down swinging. In verse 15, he says, let us therefore as many as be perfect. So if you're complete, perfect, have this mind. He says, be thus minded. And if in anything you be otherwise minded, God will reveal even this unto you. So if you have a different mindset this morning, you know, if you have a different mindset than what he's talking about here, when you come to church, when you read the Bible, when you hear preaching, it's gonna reveal that unto you. The word of God is quick and powerful and it will cut you to the heart. That's what basically what he's saying here. Hey, if you think that you have this mindset but you really don't, God is gonna reveal that to you. And why? Because he wants us to redeem the time because the days are evil, time is short. And so we just need to understand that. So if I could sum up this one, this whole sermon in just one sentence, I would say, hey, you know, you can't buy back your time but we can use the time that we have left to go forward for God. We can redeem our time. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for this church. I thank you for all these people that showed up. I just pray you fill us with wisdom and knowledge, Lord, and that you bring us back safely tonight, motivated and ready to learn. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.