Time Waits For No One!

Psalm 90:10 -12 says, "The days of our years are three-score years and ten.
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.
Who knoweth 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."

Verse 12 says, "So teach us to number our days that we may apply our heart unto wisdom."
This verse reminds us that the days of our years are threescore and ten.
A score is twenty.
So, three score and ten would be seventy.

Do you know how many days there are in seventy years?
I don't think many of you would take the time to calculate that.
There are 25,567 days in seventy years. .

God has given us our life.
Most of us will live an average of 75 years, and that is roughly about 27,375 days.
So, if you are 20 years old, and you live to be 75, you will have about 20,000 days to live.
If you are 30 years old, you have 16,425 days to live.
If you are 40 years old, that's about 12,775 days to live.
If you are 50 years old, you only have about 9,125 days to live.
If you happen to be extra healthy you may live to be eighty or older.

We are growing older.

From the moment we are born to the moment we die, we are growing older.
We are fighting and losing a battle with aging.
We can't stop the physical effects of the ever ticking clock of time.
We try to prolong our lives and to protect ourselves against aging.
We exercise.
We get plenty of sleep.
We take our vitamins.
We try to eat right.
We take our medicine.

Here is how one person has described aging.
A man is walking down the street with his friend.
And He says to his friend, "I'm a walking economy."
His friend replies, "What do you mean?"
"It's like this: My hair line is in recession, my stomach is a victim of inflation,
and the combination of these factors is putting me into a deep depression."

Some years ago Julie Andrews sang the song "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music.
Someone changed the words for older people to say these words:

"Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then, I don't feel so bad.

When the joints ache, when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then, I don't feel so bad."
-- Source Unknown

Did you know that older adults also have their own hymns:
It Is Well With My Soul (But My Back Aches a Lot)
Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing
There's Something About That Name (But I Can't Remember What It Is at the Moment)
Just a Slower Walk with Thee
Count Your Many Birthdays, Name Them One by One
Give Me That Old Timer's Religion
Blessed Insurance
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (I've Forgotten Where I Parked)
And the favorite hymn for people of older age is,"Nearer, My God, to Thee".

How do we know we are growing older?
Someone has said it like this:
"Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.
You feel like the morning after the night before and you haven't been anywhere.
Your little black book only contains names ending in MD.
You decide to procrastinate, but you never get around to it.
You know you're getting older when most of your dreams are re-runs.

You know you're getting older when for you the best part of the day is over
....when your alarm clock goes off...your back goes out more than you do.
You know you're getting older when you say, " Forget the health food,
I need all the preservatives I can get. "
If God wanted me to touch my toes, He would have put them on my knees.
I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top."

We can grow older without growing old.

The sign of oldness in a Christian is a person who behaves as if he has never known Jesus.
The old people in the church are not just the people who are 90 or 100 years old.
Old people can be 16 or 36 or 56 or 96.
Old people are those who refuse to let Christ enter their life And become a new creation.

People grow old by deserting their dreams.
People grow old when they allow their minds to be filled with pessimism and cynicism.
Someone has said that the 5 "C's" are five emotional cancers:
They are comparing, competing, criticizing, complaining, and contention.

Years wrinkle the skin, but not to have enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
The way to keep young is to keep our faith young, to keep our self-confidence young,
and to keep our hope young.
We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

I believe that aging is largely a matter of our mind, not of our age.
We're only as old as that little mental picture of ourselves that we carry around in our head.
It is attitude, not arteries, that determines our age.

To all who are younger, I want to remind you that your parents, your grandparents
and other older adults are those to whom you can and should give your love and trust.
They will always be a part of your life.
They value and enjoy being in your presence more than you know.
They enjoy your enthusiasm for life.
Older adults need you who are young adults.
They need you who are middle-aged adults.
They need you to be near them and to value them.

I would also say to older people, there are younger people who need your prayers,
your blessings, and your encouragement.
Older adults must not deprive young people with their wisdom when it is sought and needed.
So, just as I have urged the younger to respect all their elders,
I urge all of us who are older to meet the challenges of life and give back what you have gained.

We who are growing older should listen, and consider innovative ideas of the younger,
and young people should listen to the wisdom and concerns of those who are older.
When that happens there will be an amazing give and take that will build bridges
between the age gaps, and incredible blessings will result.

Paul wrote: "So, if anyone is in Christ, he s a new creation: everything old has passed away;
and everything has become new! ... Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16).
As believers in Jesus Christ, a part of us is forever new and we will live throughout all eternity.

We can grow older without getting old when we stay focused on what God is doing in our lives.
We must make every day count.
Every day we should say, "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

We can grow older without growing old by keeping a positive attitude.

A great attitude is seen in the "Senility Prayer."
Now many have heard of the wonderful "Serenity Prayer" which says,
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."

But, the "Senility Prayer" goes like this:
"God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked any way,
the good fortune to run into the ones that I do,
and the eye sight to tell the difference."
-- Copied

Now, that's a positive attitude!
Attitude makes all the difference in life; but especially at this stage in life.
And maintaining a good attitude in this stage may be more difficult than in any other season of life.

Life has hit us with some terrible, hard blows.
There is hardship and there is sickness.
There are accidents, and there are other setbacks.
Those things can make us bitter or they can make us better.
The choice is ours.
Somebody said that suffering is inevitable, but misery is optional.

I have read that "Life is ten-percent of what you make it and ninety-percent of how you take it."
There are two kinds of pain in life.
You can have pain or you can be one.
And it is extremely important that you and I not be a pain to anyone.

We must not allow the years and the tears and the fears of life rob us of our excitement
and our enthusiasm and our joy for living.
And that happens to so many people as they grow older..

The late George Vanier, Governor-General of Canada, once said:
"People do not really age by living a number of years.
I am convinced that we grow old only by deserting our ideals.
We are, in fact, as old as our doubts and despair...we are as young as our faith and hope."
And this is from a man who became Governor-General of Canada at the age of seventy-one!

We grow old by living in a past that is past and cannot be changed.
"So, teach us ...remind us to number our days," so that we may live wisely.

I read of a professor who walked into his classroom carrying a large-mouth gallon jar.
Without saying a word to the class, he filled that jar with golf balls, and when he finished,
he asked the class, "Is the jar full?"
They looked at it, and said, "Yes."

Then, he reached under the counter and brought up box of gravel.
He poured the gravel into that jar, and shook it around so it filtered down between the spaces around
the golf balls, and then, he asked the class: "Now is the jar full?"
And they said, "Yes, it's full now."

Again, he reached under the counter and brought up a box of sand.
Then he poured the sand into the the jar.
Then, he shook it around so that it sifted down between the spaces, and then, he asked:
"Now is the jar full?"
They said, "Yes, now the jar is full."

Again, he reached under the counter and this time brought up two cups of coffee
and poured the coffee into the jar, and then he said, "Now the jar is full."

Then he explained, "I want you to know this jar represents your life
and the golf balls represent the important things in your life such as your family, your faith, and your friends.
The gravel represents other things, such as your job, your car, your house.
And the sand, represents everything else which is the small stuff.
So, if you fill the jar with the sand first, there won't be room for the golf balls and the gravel.

The same thing is true with your life.
If you spend all your time and the energy on the small stuff, there won't be time
for the things that really count — the things that really are important in your life.
So, make sure that you take care of those things first.

So, take time to play with your children or your grandchildren, take time for your husband or wife.
Take time to develop friendships and take time each day to spend time with God.
Everything else is just sand.

When he got through, one of the students in the class asked, "Yes, but what about the cups of coffee."
He said, "I'm glad you asked.
For no matter how full your life, may be there's always room for a cup of coffee with your loved ones
and to visit with a friend."

He was teaching his students that the most important things in life are not things.
The most important things is life are your relationships with your family and your friends.
And most of all, be sure and certain of your relationship with God which is the most important.

Whatever else you do, or leave undone, make sure that God has first place in your life.
And we must love God with all our heart and mind and soul and with all of our strength.
If we are not doing this, we are breaking His greatest commandment.
Jesus said: "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

TIME IS Short

Time is very short and that makes it very precious.
"Time waits for no one!

To realize
The value of four years;
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year;
Ask a student who Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months;
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize
The value of one month;
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize
The value of one minute;
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one-second;
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
You will treasure it even more when
you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member;
LOSE ONE.

Remember to hold on tight to the ones you love!"
-- Author: Vyanjha

Most of us would highly value our time if we if we knew that we only had a few few months,
or only a few days to live.
And certainly a wise person will prize his or her time, even if he has good health,
and even if there is no indication of his or her approaching death.

The truth is that many who think that death is years away may die the next day or next month.
I could tell you of many adults, young people, and children that I have know through the years
who left their house one morning and death finds them that day.

It could be that there is someone here who may face death before nightfall.
Yet most of those who will die today have not even thought of dying.

Two months ago a Christian lady in her seventies (that I have known all my life) went on a trip to the mountains
with other senior adults from her church.
They had a great day together and time came for them to return to the church.
They boarded their chartered bus, and she and her husband found their seats.
She laid her head on her husband's shoulder and died.
No one thought that day would be her last day on this earth.

A mother I knew left one morning on a short trip with her two young children,
and on the way home that night on a foggy road, and unable to see through the fog,
she ran into a truck in front of her car.
That truck had a long pole on the back and that pole came through the windshield
and killed her five year old son.
She never thought that morning that her son would die that day.

A 13 year-old young lady who was our neighbor and one that had been in our home,
got in a Trans Am with another young lady and two young men.
She didn't want to go, but the other girl persuaded her to go.
They were speeding on a long straight road, and when they came to a sharp curve,
the car left the road and was airborne for 250 feet in the air cutting off many trees in its path,
and this young lady suffered a horrible death.

Neither she nor her parents thought when she left home that morning that
would be her last day on this earth.

This should remind us that we ought to prize our time, and make thew most of every
moment that we have of every day.

3. Time is Also Running Out!

What has happened to the time we have had?
"When I was a child I laughed and wept, time crept.
When I was a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked.
When I became a full grown man, time ran.
And later as I older grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone."
-- Source Unknown

We must live each day as if could be our last.
Living this way will transform our lives.
Each day will become a wonderful gift from God for which we should be grateful.
"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

When we decide to live each day fully, God will bless us and enable us to see
what truly matters and what doesn't matter at all.
Each day becomes a second chance at life.

Some years ago my wife and I would visit my aunt, and as her health was declining, she would say,
"I have lived my three score and ten, and I am ready to meet my Lord."
Well, I have also lived my three score and ten and I am also ready to meet my Lord
And I am aware that there is many more miles behind me than there is in front of me.

But I still have a vision for the future.
I'm still excited about what's going to happen tomorrow.
I also know that the best is yet to be!

Wherever the Christian stands, in any day of his life, in any age, in any circumstance,
there is always a better day tomorrow.
The best song has yet to be sung.
The best sermon has yet to be preached.
The best race has yet to be run.
The best game has yet to be played.
The best work is yet to be done.
As Christians, our best days are yet to come.

God has prepared better things for us.
Day by day, we're getting nearer home.
Day by day, we're drawing closer to Jesus.
The best is yet to be!

1 John 3:1-2: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
The best is yet to be!

Rev.21:1-5: "...And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

" And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new."
The best is yet to be!

"There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye;
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore --
What a day, glorious day that will be!

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face -- the One who saved me by His grace;
What a day, glorious day that will be."
The best is yet to be!

"I have heard of a land on the faraway strand,
'Tis a beautiful home of the soul;
Built by Jesus on high, where we never shall die,
'Tis a land where we never grow old."
The best is yet to be!

"Friends will be there I have loved long ago,
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet, just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will thru the ages be glory for me."
The best is yet to be!


For the Christian the best is yet to be!

But for the person who is not a Christian that is not true.
For that person the worst is yet to be.
They are already condemned, already judged.
John 3:18: "He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."
To anyone who is here without Jesus this is the day for you to receive Jesus as your Saviour.
It would be terrible if you went away without Jesus and this was your last day on this earth,
and you went out into eternity to die forever in an everlasting hell.

And today is the day when every Christian should thank God for all the days that God has given us.
And we should dedicate ourselves to be all that God would have us to be.
And we should commit ourselves to be the witnesses that God has commanded us to be.
We must witness to those who are lost and dying without Jesus as their Saviour for we don't know
how long they have before death takes them.

Sermon compiled by Dr. Harold L. White