Last Sunday we spoke on Making the Most of the Time We Have.
Time is precious. We really are not here on this earth for very long. We are like when you go to turn the light switch on, and the bulb is shot. One day it will eventually happen. So, how can we make the most of the time we have? We can make the most of the time we have left on earth by making the most of our walk with God. Many people live carelessly not giving much thought about their relationship with God. One day we will all have to stand before the Creator of this universe. The question that demands an answer is this: Will this God be your Heavenly Father who will receive you as a forgiven child? Or will this God be your Judge who will expel you to an eternal punishment?
To make the most of your walk with God, it is essential that you know Christ as your Lord and Savior. Apart from Christ there is no walk with God. Apart from Christ there is no saving relationship with God. To the person who is outside of God’s saving grace, I urge you to go to Jesus. He is ready to receive you. I pray you will find Jesus to be your Savior this very day.
To the child of God I urge you to make the most of your walk with the Lord! Don’t be a careless Christian who lives day by day with no thought of a deeper walk with Christ. Don’t settle for a “I know-nothing; I feel-nothing; I want-nothing; I desire-nothing”.
I would seriously question whether I was a believer if I did not want to know more of Christ. I would seriously question my salvation if I did not feel and sense God’s presence from time to time. It’s not that our faith is based on feelings, but I should have some sense of God at work in my life. I would seriously question my salvation if I did not want anything at all from the Lord. I would seriously question where I stand with God if I did not desire anything of the Lord.
In Psalm 1 we have a plea for a deeper, more solid, more productive walk with God.
The person who has a close walk with God is called Blessed!
So, how can we make the most of our walk with God? How can it become a blessed Walk?
To make the most of our walk with God, we will need to look carefully in three directions and answer three important questions.
1. LOOK AROUND. How are you being influenced? (vv.1,2)
There are only two possible ways we can be influenced. Either we are influenced with godly influence, or with ungodly influence. We need to look around and ask ourselves the question: How are we being influenced? We are surrounded by all kinds of influence. What are we allowing to influence us? To shape us? To mold us?
(a) The Ungodly Influence v.1 You don’t have to teach kids to be bad. They learn that quite well. We were by nature the children of wrath. We must be delivered from wrath. Thank God, in Christ, He has rescued us, and made us a child of God. Yet, we must beware of ungodly influences. It gets worse and worse. Note the stages of ungodliness:
(1) Walking in the counsel of the ungodly. Walk speaks of the direction we are going. Turn from ungodly counsel. Don’t go that direction. Some folks start each day by reading their horoscope. That’s the counsel they get each day. It’s ungodly counsel. Some people will consult some psychic they heard on TV. Some folks will listen to a “talk show” and get counsel on how to deal with everyday life. Some folks will buy a magazine just to read some ungodly counsel that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.
When we go in the direction of worldly wisdom, and forsaking godly wisdom, we are under ungodly influences. The next step is…
(2) Standing in the way of sinners. After we go in the direction of seeking advice from the ungodly, we move from consulting the ungodly to identifying with the ungodly. Standing speaks of how we are now identifying with the way of sinners. We are not opposing their viewpoint, we are embracing what they say. At first we walk to the ungodly to listen to what they say, now we don’t walk back to where we should be, we stand where they stand. We identify with their position. There’s only one position that’s worth having----that’s God’s position. There’s only one viewpoint that’s worth having---that’s God’s viewpoint. Everything else must go to the TRASH CAN!!!
(3) Sitting in the seat of the scornful. Sitting speaks of a resting place. We have landed on a position that we feel very comfortable with. We first just walked around some ungodly counsel, then we began to stand around in ungodly counsel, finally we adopt it for our very own. We now sit down and take our seats. We sit in the seat of the scornful. SCOFFERS! MOCKERS! We now embrace ungodliness and scoff and mock at everything that is holy and godly.
We need to look around us and ask this question, How are we being influenced? Television has helped to make a nation of scoffers! Oh, but preacher, TV doesn’t influence me. Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn’t….I do know this….there are millions and millions of dollars spent on advertisement. Why? Advertising has influence on what kind of cereal you eat, what kind of toothpaste you buy, and what kind of truck you’ll drive. We are influenced by what we see on television.
Look around…How are you being influenced?
(b) Godly Influence v.2
The Blessed Man…the Person who makes much of His Walk with God will surround himself with godly influence. He does that by…
1- Delighting in the Word of God. How do you come to delight in God’s Word? It is because there was a time when you found delight in Jesus. SEE 1Peter 2:2,3 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” Your appetite for the Lord and His Word will become dull when you have tasted too much of this world. Get back in God’s Word and keep on allowing the Word of God to speak to you. Pray and ask the Lord to give you a hunger for His Word.
If we are to be exposed to godly influence, it will be found in the Bible.
2- Meditating on God’s Word.
It’s not enough to just read words from the Bible, but there must be some passages that we allow to get into our thinking and to shape our thoughts into the mind of Christ. I think of a verse in Romans….Romans 12:2 “be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect, will of God.” This is more than just reading casually through the Bible. There are truths that must be internalized. There are some verses that must be memorized, or at least become so familiar that we know where they are in the Bible and we can say the verse almost word by word.
How can we stay clean while in a world that influences us in the wrong way? Meditate on this verse….Psalm 119:9 “wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Meditate on this verse John 15:3
“Now are you clean through the word which I have spoken unto you”
John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth”
WE CAN MAKE THE MOST OF OUR WALK WITH GOD BY MAKING MUCH OF HIS WORD!
2. LOOK INSIDE. What are you becoming? Vv.3,4
How we are influenced will reflect in what we become in character.
Look Inside your heart. Look inside where you really live. Ask yourself, “what kind of person am I becoming?”
The person who delights in God’s Word, and He, or She meditates on God’s Word will become like a tree planted by the rivers of water. You have found the source of true happiness. You are refreshed and nourished. It shows. It shows in three ways:
1- Fruitful. Bringeth forth his fruit in his season. You will be a fruitful person. What is a fruitful person? John Piper describes them this way, “They are refreshing and nourishing to be around. You go away from them fed. You go away strengthened. You go away with your taste for spiritual things awakened. Their words are healing and convicting and encouraging and deepening and enlightening. Being around them is like a meal.”
2- Durable. His leaf also shall not wither. The hot winds may blow, and the rain does not fall, this person is planted by the rivers of water. He is planted in God’s Word and while other people are withering away, he remains nourished, strong and vibrant in faith. Regardless of which way the winds blow, he is planted in the Word. He delights and meditates in the Word day and night. He is durable.
3—Prosperous. Whatsoever he does shall prosper.
Does that mean if you delight in God’s Word and meditate in God’s Word you will be like a tree…..and you will prosper? Yes. What about Psalm 34:19 many are the afflictions of the righteous... You’ve got to see this one…Psalm 73.
Psalm 73:3 “for I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked”
Psalm 73:12 “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.”
It looks like the wicked are the ones who are filthy rich. The good person is the one suffering. But don’t forget Psalm 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
God gave the writer some insight. You haven’t seen their end. Psalm 1:4 the ungodly are not so…the wind drives them away….last 4 words of Psalm 1 says the ungodly shall perish
In this world….For the Believer…this is the only Hell you will see and experience.
For the unbeliever..this is the only Heaven they will ever know…
v.4 The ungodly are not so….
LOOK INSIDE….WHAT ARE YOU BECOMING? Are you like a tree planted? Are you like the chaff that the wind blows away? You might fool people, but what’s inside will be revealed in given time.
3. LOOK AHEAD. How will you be judged? Vv. 5,6
There is a destiny we will all be a part of. Up ahead….judgment day is coming!
(a) Will you be judged among the ungodly? The ungodly will not be able to stand on judgment day. V.5 the ungodly shall not stand They will not have a leg to stand on. They will not have an excuse to stand on. They’ve made all kinds of excuses why they can’t come to church; why they can’t be saved today; Excuses…Excuses…but on that day they will not be able to stand on any excuse. They won’t be able to stand on their own self-righteousness. They won’t be able to stand and look God in the eye.
In Heaven there will only be one congregation. V.5 “the congregation of the righteous” There will be no sinners in that congregation. Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. There will be one pure, holy, godly congregation. The congregation of the redeemed; the congregation of the those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb! A Holy Congregation! If I wasn’t in that congregation…I would do business today with the Lord!
Look Ahead-------How will you be judged?
v.6 The Lord knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Jesus knows the way of the righteous. He knows His own. He knows their ways. It is the way of the cross. It is the way of repentance and faith in Christ. It is the ONLY way!
The ungodly has their own way. The way of their own. The way of do as you please. The way of the world. The way of self-righteousness. The way of works. The way of man-made religion.
Look ahead….how will you be judged?
To make the most of your walk with God….it begins by godly influences. Godly influence will result in what you become on the inside…godly character. Godly character is what God is looking for…He’s looking for His own. Ungodly ways will not stand on judgment day.
A certain courthouse in Ohio stands in a unique location. Raindrops that fall on the north side of the building go into Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while those falling on the south side go into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. At precisely the point of the peak of the roof, just a gentle puff of wind can determine the destiny of many raindrops. It will make a difference of more than 2,000 miles as to their final destination. The spiritual application is clear. By the smallest deed or choice of words we might set in motion influences that could change the course of others’ lives here and now and could also affect their eternal destiny.
Our Daily Bread, June 12, 1994.
Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
- Charles Reade
In a British cemetery:
Pause my friend, as you walk by
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now so you will be
Prepare my friend, to follow me.
A visitor added,
To follow you is not my intent
Until I know which way you went!
Destiny is determined not by chances but by choices.
