            Life is too short…to important to waste.
            Be careful how you live.
            Don’t be careless.
            Don’t stumble through it.
            Know what your life is about.
            Know what matters and know what will truly last.

And then as Paul says, “make the most of every opportunity. Be wise. Try to understand what God wants you to do.”

Who has asked the QUESTION: What does God want with my life?

What Does God Want From My Life?

You can summarize the Bible’s teaching on this question in just a few short words.

He wants your whole life!

There is no verse in the Bible – and I have read it all – that says you can follow Christ and live your life – any part of it – any way that you want to. God wants all of you…

            -not 10%
            -not 20%
            -not 50%.

Romans 6:13 says… [read passage]

C.S. Lewis once said, “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.”

If Christ is for real – if faith is for real – then it deserves everything we have got. The hard truth is our faith is either true, life changing and should determine the rest of our lives…

…it should be chucked out. It was never intended to be lived so-so.

Deut 10:12 says [read passage]

We often try to sit on the fence. We often try to follow God in our spare time. Here we have our social life…here’s our career life…our family life…sex life…retirement life….and over here I have my spiritual life. Our spiritual life is not one piece of the pie. God wants the whole pie!

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Jesus is simply saying it is impossible to have two # 1 priorities in life. You and I will have a #1 priority in life and everything else will be by default…priority 2,3,4 or 5. There are a lot of things that will seek your attention for first priority in your life –

Money
Work
Sports & Hobbies
Friends
School
Dating
Family

And God has no problem with any of these things – except when they become first priority in our lives.
Jesus is simply saying that you and I don’t have the capacity or strength to serve two masters. Only one will have the highest priority.
So the question is simple: What is going to be first place in your life? Are you saying – does your life say…

Career is number one?
Saving for retirement is number one?
Raising good children…is that going to be number one?
The maintenance of great health and physical condition is going to be #1?

Each of these things is good. God created them. God desires them to be a part of your life. But he doesn’t want them taking first place. Why?

Because each of these things can fail us. Everything that takes first place in our life can leave us disappointed – unless it is God.

This I so true! Even good things disappoint…

[GIVE A PERSONAL ILLUSTRATION OF A GOOD THING THAT DISAPPOINTED]

Where in your life has something taken first place over God? What has first place in your heart? What needs to be relegated to its proper place in your life?

What reason do you keep giving God for putting your wants and desires first?

Where are you saying, “God, first this and then I will sell out to you?”

Where are you saying, “God, let me have this, reach this, see this happen, accomplish this, meet this person, let me do this and then you will have my heart”?

The truth is if you put God first place in your heart – if God was promoted to first in everything – he would and he will take care of the rest. It is his promise.

Proverbs 3:6 says, “In everything you do put God first and He will direct your paths and crown your efforts with success.” He will!

2. What Does It Take To Place God First?

The question is simply another way of asking… What would it take to become all that God wants me to become? What would it take to develop to my fullest potential? To live life with God in the center – and every part of my life related to Christ in its proper way?

The answer is a simple word…but a word we don’t like. DISCIPLINE!

In I Timothy 4:7 Paul says, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”

Discipline is making the tough choices now in order to enjoy the benefit tomorrow.

We know this. In fact most of us live our lives in a way that respects the value of discipline. Some of us – most of us – are very disciplined in our work or our career. Others of us are disciplined in our time management. Others of us are disciplined in our physical work outs. Some of us – hopefully all of us – are disciplined in paying our bills on time.

Some of us never miss our favorite TV show. All of us are disciplined in our eating – we never miss an opportunity for a big fat juicy burger.

We are disciplined in the areas where we choose to be.

What if you and I were as disciplined in having a daily quiet time as we were in never missing a meal?
What if we were as disciplined in our worship and study of God’s word as we are in getting up and going to work each day?
What if we were as disciplined in our serving of one another and others as we are about our favorite TV show?

A major goal of What’s It All About? is to help you and me develop some spiritual habits. Some spiritual disciplines.

In I Timothy, notice what Paul says, “Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit. (Living Bible)

He is saying there are things to do that will help keep you fit spiritually. Just like the body needs a regular routine of exercise to stay in optimal shape, so does your spiritual life.

Let me suggest two disciplines that could help you…

Disciple of Letting Go!

That means you can’t keep adding to your schedule without letting something go.
Hebrews 12:1 “Let us strip off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.”
“Everything” means a lot of stuff – not just sin – hinders our progress spiritually.
Sin will hinder your progress spiritually…let it go.
But you know what else will hinder your spiritual life – stuff that isn’t wrong but is just not necessary.
In your life – it could be a relationship – it could be an expectation – it could be a sport – it could be an activity – it could be a fear – it could be a desire – it could be a club – it could be an attitude.
The Bible is clear…to grow I will need to say no.
There are times that I have to say no to good things in order to say yes to God’s best for my life.
Next 5 weeks we are trying to add some habits to your life…

A daily devotional reading that will help you understand the higher life God desires for you
A weekly care group meeting where you can discuss and learn more about the higher life God desires for you in a setting where you can discuss and lear.
Regular attendance at a Church Service

Friends, to make that happen, something will have to give. You need to decide what to cut from your life to make these next 5 weeks really count for your life.

What are you going to let go? You can’t just keep adding.

Would you consider letting something fall to the wayside for 5 weeks as we look at the What’s It All About and how we handle our money?

Discipline of First Things First

Luke 10:40-42 says… [read passage]

Text says, “Martha was distracted by her many tasks.”

Ever feel that way…I do at times.

The key to overcoming that sense of too much to do is to determine what must be done. To focus on the most significant first and then deal with the rest as the time permits.

Average person lives 25,550 days (approximately).

Wouldn’t it be smart to invest the next 30 of them to figure out what God says about the higher life and how to live the rest of the days we (you and I) have left?

ILLUSTRATION: My To Do List(run the congregation through your to do list from the past week)

In light of eternity what is the most important activity on that to do list?

The truth is the most important thing on my list, and I didn’t even write down to discover what God says about my life!

But that is going to mean that some stuff just doesn’t get done. And that means I must make a choice.

Nobody’s holding a gun to my head saying I must do everything. God doesn’t expect me to do everything. He does expect me to do the most important things.

And a lot of stuff that I fill my life with are important only because I say they are important. They really aren’t mandatory.

The truth is that everyone in this room – me included – everyone in this room has the time in the next 5 weeks for intense spiritual development. The question is, do I and do you want to carve out the time to make it happen.

Psalm 39:6 [read passage]

Will you ask God to help you in this venture of putting first things first?

What Does God want from me?

This is the first question all over again.

ANSWER: He wants all of you, every part of you.

And it’s going to take discipline and a lot of effort to become the person Christ wants us to be.

It costs to be the person Christ wants us to be. It hurts at times.

But we do it because of the benefits in this life and in the life to come.

We do it because of the cross. Christ gave his life completely for us and in return he expects all of us.

He died to give us a new beginning.

He died to give us hope.

He died that we could be free from our sin.

He died that we could experience life – as it’s meant to be lived.

He knows you and me better than we know ourselves. And in the depth of his love and care for us he has a design for our lives surpasses match anything we ever dream of. He desires us to live every part of our lives to honor him – and that includes our finances.

And He knows that nothing else we commit our lives to will ever bring the kind of fulfillment and joy and peace that he can bring to our lives. And that is why you and I should commit the next 30 days or so to passionately exploring what God says about money and resources through the What’s It All About series.

Conclusion

Commitment Card

Listen to all 5 pastoral messages in the series What’s It All About?

Participate in 5 weekly small group sessions

Participate in 5 daily devotionals each week

Prayerfully open self up to the work of the Holy Spirit

WELCOME