Lesson 20a

Every believer on this earth has been given a limited time on this earth to fulfill God's calling on his life.
When a believer's work is done, it is time for him to leave this earth.

Therefore, every believer must receive from God the wisdom to use his limited time on this earth (Psalm 90:12; Colossians 4:5).
If we walk in God's will, we will spend our time wisely and bear fruit for eternity.
If we spend our time foolishly, we will have bouts of regret and shame just before we die.
If the latter be the case, we would have wasted our life on this earth.

Teach us to number our days aright,
     that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
(Psalm 90:12)

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
(Colossians 4:5)

When most believers were asked about their feelings just before they died, most say these words:

"How I wished I had spent more time serving God!"

(None say: "How I wished I had spent more time doing business!")
     OR
(How I wish I had spent more time with my dogs / flowers / comics / video /  stock market!)

"If I have the change to live my life all over again, I will want to spend more time with my children."

Unless we think through the implications of our limited time on this earth, we will not use our time wisely.

We therefore need to seek the word of God for His wisdom concerning time and eternity and live accordingly.
In this way, at the end of our life on this earth, we would have the assurance that we have pleased God with our time and service.

The words of God through Moses in Psalm 90 are pertinent at this point.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
     throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
     or you brought forth the earth and the world
     from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn men back to dust
     saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
For a thousand years in your sight
     are like a day that has just gone by
     or like a watch in the night.

You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
     they are like the new grass of the morning --
though in the morning its springs up new
     by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger
     and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
     our secret sins in the light of your presence.

All our days pass away under your wrath;
     we finish our years with a moan.
The length of our days is seventy years --
     or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
     for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger?
     For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
Teach us to number our days aright,
     that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
     Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
     that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
     for as many years as we have been trouble.
May your deed be shown to your servants,
     your splendor to their children.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
     establish the work of our hands for us --
     yes, establish the work of our hands.
(Psalm 90:1-17)

To have a heart of wisdom concerning our days, we must know the following:

We have been bought with a price -- the price of the precious blood of Jesus.
We do not belong to ourselves.
We belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Our life no longer belongs to us.
We can no longer live our life any way we want to.

We have become children of God when we believed in Jesus.
Therefore, we are to live our life in total agreement with God's will and plan for us.

God has placed us here on this earth to represent Him, to be an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).
We are here to build God's kingdom on this earth.
We do this by telling others about Jesus, and by allowing the Spirit of Jesus to touch others through us.

To live a life in which we do only "our own thing" and not "God's thing" is to live a life of rebellion.
Such a life will be totally meaningless, miserable and fruitless.
With such a life, a person may have fame, glamour, acclaim and wealth.
However, all these achievement, out of God's will, represent self-deception and self-delusion.
They are absolutely useless and worthless in bring pleasure to God.
Only obedience, daily obedience, brings joy to the Father's heart (Matthew 3:17; Hebrews 10:5-7).

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said:

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
     but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
     you were not pleased.
Then I said, 'Here I am -- it is written about me in the scroll --
     I have come to do your will.'"
(Hebrews 10:5-7)

God has given man an average of 70 years to fulfill God's calling upon his life on this earth.
It is a very short time, if we really want to serve God.

The more we serve, the more mature in service we become.
Therefore, we must start serving God as soon as we enter into God's kingdom.
Tomorrow is too late.

Today is the day to learn how to pray and talk to God, building His kingdom through our prayers.
Today is the day to learn God's will through His word and walk in righteousness.
Today is the day to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit and do what God wants us to do specially.

Today is the day to begin serving others, building up the kingdom of God with the gifts God has given to each of us.
Today is the day to build God's kingdom in your family, church, nation, etc, through
     the ministry of prayer,
     the ministry of helps (transport, ushering, cleaning, accounting, singing, dancing,
          music, PA system, library, etc),

     the ministry of encouragement (one-to-one, small care groups, visitation, etc),
     the ministry of giving (of our surplus income),
     the ministry of mercy (visiting and looking after the sic, the poor, the needy, the
          oppressed, the ages, the widows and fatherless, the drug-addicted, the
          outcasts of society, the foreigners, those in prison, etc),
     the ministry of teaching (children, youth, adult, one-to-one or in groups),
     the ministry of pastoring (caring for the younger believers),
     the ministry of prophesying (bring God's specific word to encourage and strengthen
          others),
     the ministry of church planting (going on cross-cultural missions, etc).

Many believers live as if they are going to be alive forever on this earth.
Many do not care about serving God.
They do not want to know God's will and they do not want to begin.
Others are satisfied doing only a token ministry to ease their conscience.

They have lost their sense of time and eternity and their purpose on this earth.
As a result, they are not eager to fulfill God's calling upon their lives.
They therefore waste their time doing useless and vain things.

But God keeps reminding us that our life and this earth is a short one.
In the blink of an eye, it will be all over (Psalm 90:5-6, 9-10; James 4:14).
Therefore a wise believer will use his short life on earth to find out God's call upon his life and fulfill it with all his strength.

You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
     they are like the new grass of the morning --
though in the morning it springs up new
     by evening it is dry and withered.

All our days pass away under your wrath;
     we finish our years with a moan.
The length of our days is seventy years --
     or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
     for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
(Psalm 90:5-6, 9-10)

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
(James 4:14)

God does not want tokenism from his children.
He desires whole-hearted commitment to His divine purpose from every one of us.

The All-Knowing (Omniscient) God knows all our sins, hidden and open.
We cannot hide from Him.
Sooner or later we have to give an accounting of all that we have done in this life.

And Moses had seen how God in His anger at the sins of His children has destroyed many of them after many warnings in the journey of the Israelites to the Promised land (Psalm 90:7-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-12).
Likewise, children of God today who live outside of God's divine purposes will incur God's judgment even while on this earth.

Therefore it is to our own good to have a deep reverent fear of our Father God and live a life that is pleasing to Him (Philippians 2:12-13).
In this way we will not come under God's judgment and be destroyed by the devil, but rather live under an open heaven.

We are consumed by your anger
     and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
     our secret sins in the light of your presence.
(Psalm 90:7-8)

Therefore, my dear friends, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.
(Philippians 2:12-13)

Many believers think that the things of this world will bring them security, satisfaction and meaning to their lives.
Like the unbelievers, we also chase after status symbols, fame, wealth, luxuries, positions and honor.

However, all these worldly attractions will never satisfy the human soul and spirit.
They may given superficial pleasure for a few moments, but never permanent joy to the soul.
Thus many believers will soon find that they have spent their time on this earth chasing useless pursuits and goals.
Seeking after wrong goals and false gods will ultimately lead us to a bleak and meaningless future and a wasted life.

Man has been made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27).
And only God's love can truly satisfy him (Psalm 90:14-15).
And it is the duty and honor of every child of God to know how to enjoy the love of the Father God by waking close to Him.
And we can only do that by spending time seeking God and His will for our life through His word and his Spirit.

Satisfy us in the morning with your UNFAILING LOVE.
     that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
     for as many years as we have seen trouble.
(Psalm 90:14-15)

If we do things that are not of God, they will not bear fruit for eternity.
Whatever we have done on this earth will not last in the light of God's evaluation if it is not done in line with God's will.

Men may acclaim us, the world may adore us, strangers may call us saints.
However, if we have not done God's will, we have wasted our time and effort.
We may have built the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon," or "The Pyramids of Egypt." or "The Fastest Car or Earth," or "The Tallest Building" in our country.
However, these works will all be destroyed on the Last Days.

Only works done through the leading of the Spirit of Jesus will bear fruit that will last for eternity (John 15:7-8, 16).
Any other work will be destroyed by God's judgment (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much FRUIT, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

You did not choose me, but I have chosen you to go and bear FRUIT -- FRUIT that will last.
(John 15:7-8, 16)

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burnt up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
(1 Corinthians 3:10-15) 

Our reward on the Day of Judgment is determined solely by our faithfulness to our calling.
On the Last Days, each of us will appear before Christ to receive His evaluation of our earthly work, and how we have used the giftings He has placed in our life.

For those who have been faithful to their calling. Jesus will say:

"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"
(Matthew 25:21,23)

However, for those who have wasted their time and talents and have not been faithful in their calling, Jesus will say:

"You wicked, lazy servant!"
(Matthew 25:26)

This is a fearful thing to hear from our Lord Himself on the Day of Judgment.
Children of God who knowingly, willfully and blatantly reject God's calling and purpose upon their life on this earth have every right to be fearful on that Day.

However, for those who have serve God willingly and faithfully, in the ministry God has given them, a great reward awaits them.

If what he has built survives, he will receive his REWARD. If it is burnt up, he will suffer loss; he himself ill be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
(1 Corinthians 3:14-15)

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:58)

Your thought

1. Why is there such a lack of urgency or rather why is there so much complacency concerning the purpose of God in our individual and corporate life?
   Give at least one specific reason.
   

2. How can we deal with such a complacent attitude?
   List some small, concrete, specific steps that can be easily taken by anyone in order than we may begin to fulfill God's purposes for our life on this earth.
   E.g. Pray for God's people 5 minutes everyday.
   E.g. Get to know and encourage at least one young believer this year by bringing him to a Care Group / Cell Group, etc.

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