Making Your Life Count
Today is a very special day for our church. One reason is because yesterday was our five year anniversary as a church. We began The Bridge on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005. In the coming weeks there will be some more information about how we’re going to celebrate so stay tuned. Today is also an important day on the religious calendar because it’s Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the day Jesus rode triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem and the people hailed him as their king. Then one week later they crucified him.
Do you think Jesus knew He only had one more week to live? If you were told that you only had one week to live, how would your life change? How would you spend your time? How would you prepare for eternity? What would you do that you’ve never done before? How would you to live those last seven days? Even more important, how would God want us to live them?
That’s what were going to look at this morning. During the last seven days of his life Jesus said and did many very important things but I’d like us to look at five that show us the kind of life we need to live every day of our life. The truth is, we’re all “terminal”. The death rate in our congregation is 100%. None of us are exempt and none of us will escape death.
(ER) Ecclesiastes 8:8 None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation... (NLT)
So, the question isn’t “if”, but “when” are we going to die. The Bible says that the Lord has numbered our days. Your one and only life had a beginning and it will have an ending. Your death certificate is as certain as your birth certificate. And compared to eternity, life on earth is just a blip on the screen of time.
Psalm 90:5-6 You bring our lives to an end just like a dream. We are merely tender grass 6 that sprouts and grows in the morning, but dries up by evening. (CEV)
The Bible also teaches that the choices and decisions we make in this life have a defining impact on our future in eternity. There is an unbreakable link between this life and eternity. That means what I do in this life will have a rippling effect in eternity.
Ephesians 5:15-17 Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. (NLT)
God doesn’t want you to be careless about your life. The Greek word for “thoughtlessly” means “don’t just drift through life”. There’s a bumper sticker that says, “Life is too precious to waste”. How do you keep from wasting your life? How do you make your life count? The first way to make your life count is to...