Out of Time.

24 Hours.

1,440 minutes.

86,400 seconds.

We always seem to run out of time.

Time to do our devotions. Time to spend time with friends and family. Time to do our jobs and fulfill our responsibilities.

We’ve all been there. High School. Did you ever not do your homework and when the time comes to turn the homework in we frantically grasp for an excuse? You would be lying if you’ve never told your teacher you ran out of time you do your homework.

We all have priorities: school, friends, relationships, family obligations, work, etc.

But here’s the question: where does God fit in that equation? How big of a part does God play in your life? ”

I have this tendency to get overwhelmed and disappointed in myself because I always feel like I am failing God. Whether it be not getting to my devotions some days or just feeling like I am not living up to my potential. I’ve said it a billion times here before, God doesn’t expect perfection from us.

That’s why He died for us.

Maybe it’s my self-determination, I tend to rely on myself, my strength, my pure human will, and not necessarily on God.

I’m getting off track.

I heard someone say once:

“How big is your God? The bigger your God, the bigger the part He plays in your life.”

Of course, God doesn’t have a physical size and He cannot be measured but the question remains: How big is He to you?

If your God is big, then you have a thriving relationship with Him and He consequently is a bigger part of your life. Vice Versa: If your God isn’t big then He consequently won’t be a big part of your life.

How much of your time is given to God?

15 mins a day when you rush through your devotions?

3 mins a day? 1-minute prayer before each meal?

Maybe God gets 3 hours of your week? Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night church services…?

Maybe you don’t give God the time of day. Maybe God is completely non-existent from your life.

You are running out of time. Jesus is coming again.

For me the feeling of excitement, joy, anticipation, nervousness – the good kind.

I cannot wait for the day to stand before Jesus and present Him with what I’ve done with my life. Hold up, before you get the wrong idea. I cannot wait to stand before God and say “God, I didn’t deserve a life, I didn’t deserve your son and His sacrifice for me.

God, I didn’t deserve my family, my friends and all that you blessed me with, but since you did that for me as a result of your love for me and as a result of using my life to glorify you here is what I have. I am not working towards heaven, I already have a home in heaven because of Jesus’s sacrifice.

But because I have been given a second chance I want to use the life I’ve been given to bring glory to God. Here’s the catch:

It’s not about what I can do for God, he doesn’t want anything from me because He is God and needs nothing, but if I can use what he gave me to glorify Him then that is what I carry to the great white throne room in heaven. I want to serve God not out of merit and achievement but out of love for my heavenly father.

Joshua 24:15 says: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The backstory on that verse: Joshua stood before the people of Israel who were living among the Amorites and challeged them to make their relationship with God a deliberate choice and to adhere to it.

One of my favorite verses of all time is John 12:25-26 – “Whoever loses his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (26) If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

First of all, obviously God isn’t commanding us to just hate our lives on earth and live worthless, lonely, hateful and spiteful lives. But, He is commanding us to focus more on eternity than life on earth.

Eternal Perspective.

That is the key. I know that if on earth I face the persecution, whether severe or minor if I cling to that eternal perspective and stay focused on Christ then Jesus will claim me before his father in heaven.

This is getting long and I promise, I’m wrapping up. I can not wait to get to heaven and hear two things:

“Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

“Father, this is my child. I died for his sins so he could spend eternity with me”

That’s it.

Time is limited.

What are you focused on?

Are you living with an eternal perspective?

Who/What are you living for?