PASTOR’S NOTES
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
This week will be a hard message for many. The Easter message is rarely a hard message. The message of God’s forgiveness and salvation through His Son is nothing but a freeing and overwhelming message of peace to those who hear and believe. However, what comes after Easter can be a different story. In the new life we have been given, comes the death of the life we have been living. Even though the new life that God offers, and Jesus paid for is filled with joy and fulfillment, its often hard to say bye to all that we know and were comfortable with for so long. Most also try to hold on to their old lives while running towards the new life. This never works well.
This week’s scripture calls us to “redeem the time” we have lost in our old lives. All the time wasted in sin and foolishness, walking the way of the world, make up for that time lost. Paul calls us to live daily in the will of the Lord and make the best use of the time we now have.
This week’s word calls us to live dedicated to God’s word and serving His people. To live encouraging other believers and living faithfully to the Great Commission. This is a struggle for many though. What we need to realize is that it’s impossible to make up for lost time when still wasting time. The only way to “redeem the time” is to treat time differently. To put to death idols that we use to worship and stop chasing things that were not glorying God. We have to stop giving the world our best and begin to reprioritize all aspects of our life.
To redeem time means to change the way you live. That’s what makes this week’s message so challenging. Whenever the message challenges how a person lives, we often become defensive and ready to rage war. The reason for this is because the word is attacking our old gods. The new life is attacking all that we know and worshipped for so long. It’s hard to leave the old behind.
God’s word encourages us though to let the past go. To let the old gods fall and submit to the God who freed us. Embrace the new life. Jesus is always better and the new life He calls us to will always be more fulfilling than the life you chose to leave.
SCRIPTURE TO GO ALONG WITH THE MESSAGE
Read Mark 8:34-38 on the subject of the cost of following Jesus.
HIGHLIGHT IN YOUR BIBLES
Highlight it all this week!!