Time for an Evaluation

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This is a sermon that was given on January 3, 2016 at Wayside Community Church. It is a New Year's sermon based on passages from Psalm 80:18-19.

Written Excerpts:

Psalm 80:18-19 (NKJV) Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. ¹⁹ Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

Introduction:

Well, here we are on the first Sunday of a new year. I suppose that most people are inclined to think soberly about the start of a new year as we anticipate what all the year may have in store for us.

I wanted to start off with some interesting quotes about life that have been made by various people in the past and present.

(Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World)

·     God has given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends. (Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667)

·     Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. (Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855)

·     Life was a funny thing that happened to me on the way to the grave. (Quentin Crisp, 1908- )

·     Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. (Mark Twain, 1835-1910)

·     Why wish for the privilege of living your past life again? You begin a new one every morning. (Robert Quillen, 1887-1948)

·     You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. (Evan Esar)

As we prepare to embark on another calendar year, I felt impressed to bring a message that hopefully will motivate each of us to evaluate our lives and make any adjustments that we believe God may be leading us to make.

Some of you here today may have had some experience working in retail stores at some time in your life. I had a brief stint while I was in high school, working in grocery store. One of the experiences that I remember is the time for taking inventory after the end of the year. I’m sure I have very little understanding of all that goes into the process of performing an inventory for a large store. I know Bill Giesler could shed some light on that subject. When it is time to take inventory, the current stock is counted, sales are evaluated and the bottom line of net profit is assessed as the owners and managers of the business try to make sure they are keeping their operation afloat.

As we embark on a new calendar year, I believe is it a good opportunity for each one of us to “take inventory” and do our own evaluation of our lives, especially from a spiritual or biblical perspective.

When a business fails to take inventory or engage in serious evaluation of goals, assets and operations, it may find itself faltering and possibly even dying because no one was alert to the prevailing trends and made the necessary adjustments to stay alive. The same can be said about our spiritual lives. If we just coast along in a “status quo” mode and fail to take seriously the need to evaluate our current condition, we may find that we have strayed far away from the practice of genuine biblical faith.

There are a number of subjects or areas in which a person should evaluate his / her life, but I want to focus on just a few of them today.

I.    The Brevity of Life

Psalm 39:4-6 (NKJV) ⁴ “LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. ⁵ Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly very man at his best state is but vapor. Selah ⁶ Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.

Psalm 103:15-16 (NKJV) As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. ¹⁶ For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.

James 4:13-15 (NKJV) Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

These are just a few of the passages in the Bible that stress the fact that life at its longest is very brief and short. In comparison to eternity… well, there is no comparison. Whenever we pass from one year to the next it is a good time to remember that time is passing by and our life is one year closer to its end. It is a good time to evaluate how we are doing. Is our life making any difference in our world? Are we prepared to meet God and give an account of the life He has given us?

None of us knows how long we have to live. Each year I usually take a look back over the funeral records of the previous year and think about the fact that none of those who passed away were told at the beginning of the year, “This will be you last year on earth.”

What changes would you make if you knew this year was your last?

·     I will not just live my life. I will not just spend my life. I will invest my life. (Helen Keller)

II.  The Important Things in Life

For most people here today this probably will not be our last year. Does that mean there is no need for evaluation or inventory? No. Taking inventory also includes taking a hard look at the things that we place the most value on and give the highest priority to in our day-to-day lives.

There are several different areas in our lives that probably need to be reorganized into higher priorities, but the most important area is our spiritual priorities.

I want to read a passage that we studied a while ago in our series of messages on Romans.

Romans 13:11-14 (NKJV) And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The Apostle Paul, who is the author of this passage, reminds his readers that any person who desires to follow Christ must always view time as quickly passing and to remember that there is a constant conflict between the desires of the flesh and our commitment to the Lord. He urges them and us to keep evaluating our priorities and make sure that we are putting spiritual pursuits ahead of material and fleshly desires.

A man by the name of C.T. Studd said, “Only one life ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

There are so many legitimate earthly pursuits that can rob us of time and energy, but we must evaluate the spiritual priorities of our lives and place the right focus on the things that will matter for eternity. When we come to the end of our lives, it won’t matter how big our bank account is, or any of the normal things we often use to measure success. All of that will be left behind and, as CT Studd said, “…only what’s done for Christ” is going to retain its value beyond this life.

Speaking of spiritual priorities, listen to this passage from Isaiah.

Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

The Lord is reminding us in this passage that He is higher and more transcendent than we can comprehend, but in His position of sovereignty and majesty, He specializes in renewing and reviving the spirits and hearts of His people.

Every believer, every follower of Christ, every person who professes to know God needs to be revived in our spirit every once in a while. It is the natural tendency for us to get weary in our spiritual life. If we don’t purposely take steps to keep fresh and vital in our relationship with God, we will become dull, lifeless and careless. Many people have said this over the years, “The only thing you need to do to become lifeless and spiritually dead is nothing!” It requires effort and purpose to stay connected to the Lord.

Someone once said, “Anytime the going seems easy, you better check to see if you're going downhill.”

God’s Word informs us that it is not only important for us to periodically be revived, but it is God’s will and desire to perform that reviving in our hearts. At the beginning of a new year, when we are taking inventory and evaluating our needs and condition, it is a good time to seek the Lord for a spiritual revival. There is not a single person here today who doesn’t need a fresh filling of God’s Spirit in reviving our hearts. What can be said about each one of us individually, can also be said about this church collectively.

There are different factors that we could list to indicate our need of spiritual revival, but I want to mention just one that has been on my heart for several weeks now.

I think there is a clear indication we need revival when we can easily get over 100 people to come out for a Christmas dinner and musical entertainment like we had a month ago, but we can only get about 25-30 people to come to a dinner back in October where a some missionaries are talking about reaching the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This has been weighing on my heart, and I realize that as the spiritual leader and pastor of this church it is my responsibility to point us in the right direction.

This is just one example. The same can be said about prayer meetings, personal devotional time with the Lord, sharing the love of Jesus with the lost around us. I know I need the Holy Spirit to revive me and energize me to be a better follower of Christ this year. I trust that you feel the same way.

I hope that all of us will not just think about it and wish for better days, but that we will purposely take the steps necessary for God to work in our lives. The very first step we need to take in order for that to happen is to humble ourselves and acknowledge our need.

Looking back at the verse in Isaiah again we read that God not only dwells in the “high and holy place” but He also dwells with “him who has a contrite and humble spirit.”

Let’s close the service by singing the song that is listed in our bulletin:

In Times Like These, # 577

Let us use this as a reminder that we need more of God than ever before in order to be what He wants us to be in 2016.