Preached @ Metro 27th November 2005 by Jeff Williams

Did you know that the average person SPENDS in his life time:

• 35,000 hours eating
• 30,000 hours in traffic
• 2,508 hours brushing his teeth
• 870,000 hours doing things like paying bills, getting dressed, getting undressed, filling out forms, and repairing things.
• 217,000 hours at work

When you add all that up it doesn’t leave much time left over for the important things in life.

What are you doing with those few remaining hours in your life? How are you spending your life between the times you eat, sleep and brush your teeth?

How are you getting the most out of life?

Ephesians 5:15-21

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Verse 15 - Be very careful how you live

1. Make the most of every opportunity

HOW? With wisdom! Wisdom helps us to understand what success really is.

Success is not what everyone else says, but what is locked up within you coming out.

1. Being the unique person God made you to be.
2. Don’t just go for the quick fix solution.
3. Don’t procrastinate.
4. Failing is part of the package

2. Know God’s will – God’s will starts with settling the ownership issue.

We are bought at a price, the blood of Jesus.
It is no longer I that lives, but Christ within me.

It’s not all about me! MY WILL BUT GOD’S WILL.

3. Be filled with the spirit

Don’t be drunk with wine, filled with wine, BUT filled with the Spirit.

Don't just live from one momentary high to the next - it's a false sense of happiness. Don't get drunk with wine - it's a momentary high.

Many people’s lives are ruined because of a moment.

4. Thankfulness

Ps 103:2-5

Praise the Lord , O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins, and heals all my diseases. He ransoms me from death, and surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagles.

Why did only one cleansed leper return to thank Jesus?  The following are nine suggested reasons why the nine did not return:

• One waited to see if the cure was real.
• One waited to see if it would last.
• One said he would see Jesus later.
• One decided that he had never had leprosy.
• One said he would have gotten well anyway.
• One gave the glory to the priests.
• One said, "O, well, Jesus didn't really do anything."
• One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."
• One said, "I was already much improved."

A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he'd like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother's hand."

Let’s be thankful for what we have!!