The Bible tells us that at creation we were made in the very image of God Himself. God’s imprint is upon each of us. In creation God set forth the way this world was to work, ergo we have the laws of physics, of nature, of biology, of astronomy, and the natural laws by which this world functions. The moral and spiritual laws also had their genesis at this point. Murder is sin because we bear the image of God. We do not bear false witness nor curse another person because we are made in God’s image. Even though we are fallen in sin, we still bear God’s likeness even though it is sullied and stained.

In Romans Paul is looking at God’s salvation for both the Jew and the Gentile—how they are similar and how they are different.

Paul emphasizes that as transformed people by the Spirit of God, the law of God is firmly planted and written on our hearts and we now have a new nature. The created image once blurred by sin is now cleansed and redeemed. We discover that God’s law is written on our hearts both at creation and at redemption.

What then is our response to this great saving sacrifice of Jesus? We respond by keeping in trust that which He has given us. In John 14:23, we read Jesus’ saying this: “If anyone loves me, he will obey My teaching.” Note that the motivation for obedience to Jesus’ words and teaching is love, not the law. Keeping the law does not save us. We are saved by faith in Jesus. Keeping the law is an outgrowth of that relationship. I don’t keep God’s law to become a Christian. I keep God’s law because I am a Christian. This is a very important distinction that many people have a difficult time comprehending. Later Jesus said, “You are my friends, if you do what I command.” (John 15:14)

This law that Paul speaks of here in Romans 2 that is written on our hearts does 2 things: 1. It lays claim to God’s ownership of all that there is and 2. It reveals our shortcomings and failures in how we use all that God has given us. Here we see the overarching purpose to God’s law: it lays before us the standard by which we are to live, and it reveals where we fall short.

So then this begs the question: How then shall I live? Do I live as heathen and pagan, or as Christian, or a combination of pagan and Christian? Do I believe what I believe is really true? If so, then my lifestyle lines up with my beliefs. If I don’t believe what I say I believe, then it doesn’t really matter. Remember it was Jesus who said, “If you love me you will obey my commandments.”

Take the issue of time. Time is our most precious commodity in this day. Time is more valuable than anything else. How do I know that? Let me ask this question: how many of you, in preparing your meals, use fresh vegetables and actually peel the potatoes and carrots, and cut the string beans, or do you go to your freezer? Do you wash your own car or go to the car wash? Do you cut your lawn or pay someone else to do it? Do you eat more meals at home or in restaurants? More and more, others are doing the work for us. We would rather pay them to do it than do it ourselves because we don’t have the time. We are simply very busy people.

Every one of us has 24 hours per day. We cannot save it nor can we bank it. Once time is gone it is gone and we cannot retrieve it. For the most part we can divide each day into 8-hour segments: 8 to sleep, 8 to work and 8 for other stuff. On weekends (or days off) we have 16 hours for other stuff. The issue that confronts us as Christians is how do we use the time for ‘other stuff?’ If you want to find out how you use your time, do a personal time study over a week or even a month. Keep a log of what you do and how long it takes you to do what you do—whether that is sleeping, working, eating, watching television, time on the computer, playing video games, exercising, hobbies, etc. This exercise will give you a snap shot of where you put your time and how much time you put into it.

In Ephesians 5: 15-17 Paul writes, “Be very careful then how you live—not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” The KJV translates this as “redeeming the time.” It seems to me that much of our precious time slips through our fingers, often frittered away on non-essential, and even meaningless activity. God has given us precious time. As Christians our challenge is to use our time wisely, purposefully, redemptively and not foolishly nor wastefully.

I believe this to be one of our greatest challenges for Christians today and for our church because we live in such a high time demand era. There is much that we have to do, much that we need to do, and much that we want to do. Simply juggling our schedules and time demands is a full-time job in and of itself. So often it seems that we are merely hanging onto the tail of the time-monster as it whips us all around having not mercy on us as all. Rather than letting this monster control us we need to cage this monster, tame it, and get it under control. Even at a young age, Jesus said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” Later in life Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work.” We are very careful in how we invest our money, but how are we doing when it comes to investing our time? Life is short and time speeds up the longer we live. In fact the Bible says that our lives are but a vapor—here today and gone tomorrow. How are you investing your time? On those things that last for eternity or those things that rust and decay? As Christians we are called to give time to the business of God’s Kingdom and His Church. As believers all that we do is to bring glory to Jesus and our lives are to be a great witness for Christ. It is also true that a certain amount of our time is to be spent directly and specifically for Him through the local church. This time comes not from our working nor sleeping hours but from those ‘extra’ hours that we have.

Many of us are tithing our incomes, ie setting aside 10% of our financial gain specifically for the Lord’s work. As a rule of thumb you might consider using the “tithe” concept and apply that to your time in serving the Lord. This would equal about 1.5 hours per day or 10.5 hours per week serving the Lord, His Kingdom and the work He has laid before us as SUMC. Think for a minute what a difference in our world, community, and church if each one of us tithed our time to do God’s work. Keep in mind that it is only that which we do for Jesus that will last for eternity. Everything else stops at the end of this life. But you may say, “I am simply too busy.” As your pastor my response to you would be, “Then you are simply too busy….and you need to re-order your priorities.”

Living in the most prosperous time in the world’s history as well as living in the most prosperous nation this world has ever seen, it is tempting to use money to “get things done for Jesus” and to pay someone else to do what each of us has been called by God to do ourselves. I thoroughly understand the tension between “what ought to be” and “what is.” The concern I am raising before you is that paying someone to do the work we are called to do can be easy, convenient and a quick fix, but it is also a cop-out.

Jesus called each one of us not only to follow Him, but to be involved in the work of His kingdom on earth. Paying someone else to do what we are suppose to do is not God’s idea of being His disciple.

During WW II a churchyard in England was badly bombed out with everything destroyed except a marble statue of Jesus. The statue remained standing but the hands lay in the dust of the ruins. When the church membership met to begin the overwhelming task of rebuilding, one member suggested that the best place to begin would be to replace the hands of Jesus. One insightful member responded, “Oh, no! We are his hands and this statue will always be a reminder to us that Christ’s work in the world depends on us.”

You simply cannot buy the blessing that comes from serving the Lord and doing it yourself. Where are you spending your time?

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.