It Is Written

Time Well Spent

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: IIW

00:00 ♪[dramatic theme music]♪
00:16 ♪[music ends]♪♪
00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written.
00:21 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me.
00:24 His father was a famous actor, and by the time he was 20,
00:27 it was clear that he, too, was gonna carve out
00:30 a successful career in show business.
00:33 After starring in the musical television program
00:35 "The Partridge Family," David Cassidy became
00:38 a global sensation, a teen idol,
00:42 selling out Madison Square Garden in hours,
00:45 playing to crowds of 56,000 at the Astrodome in Houston.
00:49 He sold out Wembley Stadium in England and ignited
00:53 mass hysteria at many of his shows.
00:57 But in spite of his enormous success in television,
01:00 music, stage shows, and more,
01:03 not everything went perfectly in his life.
01:06 He battled alcoholism, faced bankruptcy,
01:09 and died from liver failure in 2017 at the age of 67,
01:15 a sad end for a man who was greatly loved,
01:17 immensely talented, and had legions of fans.
01:20 According to his daughter, his last words were,
01:24 "So much wasted time."
01:27 ♪[soft music]♪
01:28 Think about that: "So much wasted time."
01:32 I can't be sure what David Cassidy was referring to
01:35 when he said that, but there's no doubt
01:37 he's not the only person to have felt that way.
01:41 Everyone is given the same amount of time.
01:44 No matter who you are, every day contains 24 hours;
01:49 every week is made up of seven days;
01:51 every year is roughly 365 days long.
01:56 Life expectancy in the United States is about 78.5 years.
01:59 That's more than 28,500 days.
02:02 In Canada it's a little less than 82 years,
02:06 almost 30,000 days.
02:08 And no matter what you're doing, no matter where you are,
02:11 the clock keeps ticking.
02:14 Time marches inexorably on.
02:18 As the Latin phrase states, adapted from a poem
02:20 written by Virgil just before Jesus was born,
02:24 "Tempus fugit." "Times flies."
02:28 Which means that right now you and I are getting older.
02:31 Your next birthday is getting closer.
02:33 The return of Jesus is getting nearer.
02:36 French novelist Victor Hugo said, "Short as life is,
02:40 we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time."
02:44 Every second that ticks away into the past is gone forever.
02:50 Charles Darwin wrote, "A man who dares to waste
02:53 one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."
02:58 According to Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity,
03:01 which explains how speed affects mass, time, and space,
03:05 time would slow down if you were to travel
03:08 at the speed of light, 186,000 miles a second.
03:12 And that's fast enough for someone going that fast
03:14 to circle the globe seven and a half times
03:17 in one second--pretty fast.
03:19 Einstein also theorized that as you get closer to a black hole,
03:24 the flow of time slows down.
03:26 And he said that time ticks faster or slower
03:29 at different elevations on earth.
03:32 Life is absolutely governed by time.
03:36 Without a standardized system for measuring time,
03:40 society just wouldn't work.
03:41 ♪[soft music]♪
03:43 Generations ago, the rhythms of life were guided by nature.
03:47 Farmer Brown rose when the rooster crowed,
03:49 and once it got dark, the day was essentially done.
03:53 There were no time zones in the United States
03:55 until railroads implemented them in the 1800s
03:58 to standardize times for train schedules.
04:01 Communities used to set their clocks to noon
04:04 based on when the sun reached the highest position in the sky.
04:08 So, the time in Washington, DC, for example,
04:11 would be different to the time in New York City.
04:14 The United States today has six time zones.
04:18 Don't forget Hawaii and Alaska.
04:20 Canada has six.
04:22 Russia has 11 time zones,
04:24 while China, a little bigger in area than the United States,
04:28 has...just one.
04:32 Time regulates our lives.
04:34 Your job starts at, let's say, 8:00 a.m.,
04:36 not whenever you feel like it.
04:38 A production line could never work if people rolled
04:41 in and out of the factory whenever they felt inclined.
04:44 You take the 7:15 bus because that's the one
04:47 that gets you to work on time.
04:49 You work back from there to calculate what time you have
04:52 to get out of bed, what time you have to set your alarm clock.
04:56 But how do time and a person's spiritual life intersect?
05:02 In every way and at every moment.
05:08 Think of this: Life is the time you spend on earth
05:12 between two points in time.
05:15 When you're born, time begins for you.
05:18 When you die, time is done. The clock stops ticking for you.
05:24 Life is that dash you see on gravestones.
05:27 "Here lies Joan Citizen," 1940-dash-2020.
05:31 Joan lived for 80 years. That was that.
05:35 Life is a very finite amount of time.
05:40 The Bible speaks about our time on this earth
05:41 being only so long.
05:43 Psalm 90: "For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath:
05:47 "we spend our years as a tale that is told.
05:50 "The days of our years are threescore years and ten;
05:54 "and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
05:57 yet is their strength labour and sorrow."
06:00 The Bible writer says our time on earth is limited
06:03 and then says, "So teach us to number our days,
06:08 that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
06:12 It's vital to be cognizant of the very limited amount of time
06:17 we have on this mortal coil and to use that time wisely.
06:23 So, what would your life look like
06:25 if you gathered up the fragments of time
06:27 and utilized them for your advantage?
06:30 While one person is frittering away time on social media,
06:33 another person is practicing guitar.
06:35 After a year or two of this, you can expect that one person
06:38 has consumed a whole lot of social media,
06:42 while the other has learned some pretty decent guitar skills--
06:45 might not yet be a virtuoso
06:47 but certainly at the point of competence.
06:50 Let's say you have a 45-minute or an hour-long commute
06:53 on the subway every day.
06:54 You could play Candy Crush or listen to music.
06:58 Or you could read.
06:59 The average reader can get through a 300-page book
07:02 in about eight hours.
07:03 That's four days commuting in this scenario.
07:06 Let's call it a book a week.
07:09 Imagine: a video game? Or a book a week?
07:12 Fifty books a year, 100 books in two years.
07:17 The Bible urges us to make the most of the time we have.
07:21 Proverbs 20:13 says,
07:23 "Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
07:26 open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread."
07:28 That's an injunction against laziness, and it's God saying,
07:33 "Use your time wisely."
07:35 While you're wasting time, the clock is ticking.
07:38 And moments frittered away are time you've traded
07:41 for little or nothing.
07:43 And that's not to say a person shouldn't enjoy downtime.
07:46 That's important, too.
07:47 Sometimes that's the very best way to spend your time.
07:50 But time is precious,
07:52 and wasting it can set you back spiritually.
07:57 So, how can you use the time you have
07:58 to grow your relationship with God,
08:01 to prepare yourself for heaven?
08:03 A saved person and a lost person both have
08:05 the same amount of time, but one person invests their time
08:08 in something that matters most, while the other person does not.
08:13 So how do we make sure our lives are time well spent?
08:17 We'll find that out in just a moment.
08:20 ♪[music swells, then ends]♪♪
08:29 >>Announcer: "The Hope of Glory" is a new devotional book
08:31 written by John Bradshaw.
08:32 Written with you in mind, the 365 Bible-based daily readings
08:36 cover a wide range of important topics
08:38 to fuel your spiritual journey.
08:40 To order "The Hope of Glory,"
08:41 call 800-253-3000
08:43 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop.
08:46 It Is Written viewers can use the promo code "HOPE"
08:49 when ordering "The Hope of Glory"
08:50 to get $5 off the purchase price.
08:52 "The Hope of Glory,"
08:54 call 800-253-3000
08:56 or visit itiswritten.shop.
09:00 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written.
09:02 For most people life is busy.
09:05 There's work and home life and obligations
09:08 and responsibilities that occur outside of all of that.
09:12 And you've got to take personal time
09:14 and time for friends and family.
09:15 It's not uncommon for students to be carrying
09:18 a heavy class load, as well as working
09:20 and maintaining friendships and so forth,
09:22 and then finding out there's very little time left over.
09:26 ♪[music]♪
09:27 Sometimes it seems life is too busy for exercise.
09:30 Families strain because it can be hard to find enough time
09:33 to invest in a marriage or to dedicate to children.
09:36 Some people feel they don't have enough time to eat well.
09:39 Fast food is such an easy option,
09:42 and ultimately your health suffers as a result.
09:47 So we don't have enough time.
09:49 Except maybe we do.
09:52 The Washington Post reported on a study from the CDC
09:56 that revealed people have, on average,
09:58 "more than five hours of leisure time each day."
10:01 Between 1965 and 2003, "the average American workweek
10:06 "actually declined by three hours,
10:08 while leisure time increased."
10:11 "In one study of more than 7,000 working Australians,
10:15 researchers declared that time pressure is an 'illusion.'"
10:19 The research demonstrated people had more free time
10:22 in their schedules than they thought.
10:25 Studies show that TV is the leisure activity of choice,
10:28 taking up almost half of people's leisure time,
10:32 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
10:35 A report from the CDC suggested devoting 20 or 30 minutes
10:38 of that time to exercising.
10:41 And surely that would be a good thing.
10:43 But the question I want to ask is,
10:46 how much time are people devoting to God?
10:50 What about devotional time?
10:53 No question, it's important to be healthy physically.
10:57 But how important is it to be healthy spiritually?
11:01 Your relationship with God is the most important relationship
11:04 you have, bar none, by a million miles.
11:08 But relationships are made of time.
11:11 If you're not putting time into a connection with God,
11:14 then, more than likely, there's no real connection with God.
11:18 Now, there are some people-- mothers of young children,
11:21 for example, maybe medical students--
11:23 simply struggle to find time for anything at all.
11:26 And that's to be understood.
11:28 These time pressures are real, but they're typically temporary
11:32 because little children become bigger children
11:34 and over time require a little less time.
11:37 And after graduation or maybe after year two,
11:40 medical students have it a little better.
11:42 But the vast majority of the rest of us simply do have
11:46 the time to invest in spiritual growth, in experiencing God,
11:50 in character development,
11:52 in getting to know Jesus as He wants us to know Him.
11:56 Jesus invites us again and again:
11:59 "Come to me, ... and I will give you rest."
12:04 "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
12:09 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
12:11 whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee."
12:14 That's Isaiah 26:3.
12:15 Those verses are speaking of a connection,
12:19 a connection built on time.
12:23 So how do you establish and maintain
12:25 that connection with God?
12:26 Listen to what David wrote in Psalm 63, verse 1:
12:29 "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You."
12:36 Notice that David put God first--"early."
12:41 Before the day consumes your time and attention,
12:45 the key is to put God first.
12:48 Pray before you check your email or texts or social media.
12:53 Read the Bible before you read the news.
12:56 Don't turn on the TV until after you've spent time with God.
13:01 Life is busy, and if you allow it to,
13:04 it'll overwhelm your spiritual life.
13:07 I'm hearing somebody say, "I leave for work at 6:00 a.m.,
13:10 "and that means I'd have to get out of bed earlier than I do
13:12 so that I can spend time with God."
13:14 Now, just a minute,
13:16 you know what you're talking about here, right?
13:18 A saving connection with God--
13:20 it's the most important thing in your life.
13:23 You just can't afford to say, "My schedule doesn't allow it,"
13:26 or "I'm too busy,"
13:27 or "I can't be bothered getting out of bed."
13:30 If you have an early start, make it earlier.
13:33 Go to bed half an hour or an hour earlier.
13:36 You won't regret it. It's what everyone needs.
13:40 Better to miss a TV program than to not spend time with God.
13:46 What's actually happening is that people are putting
13:48 Facebook and Instagram and YouTube or whatever
13:51 ahead of God--which just makes no sense at all.
13:55 Now, the person who really does have a jam-packed schedule
13:58 might need to get creative.
14:00 It might be that you pray at home and then read your Bible
14:03 on the train. Or if you can't find as much time as you want,
14:06 read your Bible when you're waiting for an appointment
14:08 or at the doctor's office.
14:10 Gather up the fragments of time
14:13 and you'll find that they add up to something significant.
14:17 It's imperative we work this out.
14:19 Devote time to praying and reading the Bible regularly,
14:22 daily, and you're investing in the very best that there is.
14:26 You're doing yourself the biggest favor you could,
14:30 and you're honoring God and drawing near to His heart.
14:35 Jesus said,
14:36 "Seek...first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness;
14:40 and all these things [will] be added unto you."
14:43 That's Matthew 6:33.
14:45 You want to put God first.
14:48 Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice" in John 10:27.
14:53 But without making time for God, you won't hear His voice.
14:58 In Mark 1, you read that Jesus healed people
15:01 and cast out demons. Where did the power to do that come from?
15:05 Verse 35: "And in the morning, rising up a great while
15:09 "before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place,
15:14 and there prayed."
15:17 Even Jesus recognized the absolute necessity
15:21 of quality, uninterrupted time with His Father.
15:25 If it was necessary for Jesus,
15:29 then you know it's necessary for us.
15:32 Daniel prayed three times a day.
15:35 You don't want to let anything keep you from connecting
15:38 with the heart of God.
15:39 Remember, we're in a spiritual war.
15:43 There's an enemy doing battle against the people of God.
15:46 Paul wrote, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
15:50 "but against principalities, against powers,
15:53 "against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
15:56 against spiritual wickedness in high places."
15:59 Ephesians 6:12.
16:00 John wrote in Revelation that the devil is making war
16:04 against God's people.
16:06 Your defense is the presence of God,
16:09 which you'll experience when you take time with Him.
16:14 And keep in mind:
16:16 A devotional life isn't just a duty.
16:19 It's a privilege. It's a joy.
16:22 You pray so you can know God. You read the Bible,
16:25 and you grow closer to God as His thoughts fill your mind.
16:29 Not having enough time shouldn't ever keep you from God.
16:33 One of the devil's most effective tactics
16:35 is to make people so busy
16:37 that they feel that they don't have time for God.
16:40 He'll distract you so that your life is filled up
16:43 by other things, many of them good things.
16:45 And as a result, there's less and less room
16:48 for the God of heaven.
16:51 Coming up: Long ago God saw the world as busy as it is,
16:56 and He intentionally made plans for us to get enough time
17:00 with Him. How did He do that?
17:03 I'll tell you in just a moment.
17:05 ♪[music swells, then ends]♪♪
17:14 >>Announcer: "The Hope of Glory" is a new devotional book
17:17 written by John Bradshaw.
17:18 Written with you in mind, the 365 Bible-based daily readings
17:22 cover a wide range of important topics
17:23 to fuel your spiritual journey.
17:25 To order "The Hope of Glory,"
17:26 call 800-253-3000
17:29 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop.
17:32 It Is Written viewers can use the promo code "HOPE"
17:34 when ordering "The Hope of Glory"
17:36 to get $5 off the purchase price.
17:38 "The Hope of Glory,"
17:39 call 800-253-3000
17:42 or visit itiswritten.shop.
17:45 >>John Bradshaw: There are some things
17:47 you don't want to forget, and there are some things
17:50 God specifically tells us to remember.
17:53 At the dawn of time, the Creator of the universe
17:56 gifted to the human family a divine prescription
17:59 for combating stress, busyness, and the pressures of daily life,
18:04 a regular blessing of time spent in the heart of God.
18:07 ♪[soft music]♪
18:08 Don't miss "A Day to Remember."
18:11 We'll travel to the largest Ten Commandments in the world
18:14 and rediscover heaven's purpose for your life.
18:17 "A Day to Remember,"
18:18 a personal God seeking a meaningful connection
18:21 with His children, a way forward for spiritual renewal.
18:25 We'll open the Bible together and learn that God has blessings
18:29 for His children that are being overlooked and neglected.
18:33 Get more from God; go deeper in your faith.
18:36 "A Day to Remember,"
18:38 watch now on It Is Written TV.
18:41 ♪[music ends]♪♪
18:45 >>John Bradshaw: Several years ago, construction began
18:47 inside a mountain in west Texas on a 10,000-year clock.
18:53 That is, the clock is intended to keep time for 10,000 years.
18:57 It'll tick once a year and chime once every 1,000 years.
19:03 The purpose of the clock-- ah, well, who knows.
19:06 Funded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, when it's completed,
19:09 it's going to be 500 feet tall.
19:11 It'll be powered by the earth's thermal cycles,
19:15 and it'll cost tens of millions of dollars...
19:17 to mark time almost 2,000 feet above the valley floor
19:22 inside a mountain, hours from the nearest airport.
19:26 On the campus of the University of Colorado Boulder,
19:29 there's a strontium optical atomic clock.
19:33 It's one of the most accurate clocks on the planet.
19:36 It's said to be accurate to within a second
19:40 over 15 billion years.
19:43 That's a long way from obelisks and sundials.
19:45 And it demonstrates, in some sense,
19:47 humanity's fascination with time.
19:50 There have been oodles of books written on time management.
19:54 Some of them have probably been somewhat useful.
19:56 But real time management is more than likely
19:58 real project management or self-management.
20:03 You can learn to be efficient.
20:04 You can't stop time. You can't pause time.
20:06 You can't delay time.
20:08 And even when you're managing your time,
20:11 the clock is still ticking.
20:15 So what's so important that you'd allow it to keep you
20:18 from spending time with God?
20:21 Between work and sleep and TV and the internet and shopping
20:24 and eating and drinking and household responsibilities,
20:28 you need to find time for God.
20:30 God said long ago, "And you will seek me and find me,
20:35 when you search for me with all your heart."
20:38 But if you're spending a day a week online
20:40 and several hours a day in front of the TV,
20:43 it's hard to imagine there's a whole lot of time left
20:47 to seek for God.
20:48 But, nothing takes God by surprise.
20:51 At the very foundation of this world,
20:54 God took steps to help us prioritize time with Him.
20:59 He gave us a regular reminder of how important it is
21:02 to spend time in His presence.
21:05 What did He do?
21:06 We go way back to Genesis, chapter 2, to find out:
21:10 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
21:13 "and all the host of them. And on the seventh day
21:16 "God ended His work which He had made; and He rested
21:20 "on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
21:24 "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:
21:27 "because that in it He had rested from all His work
21:30 which God created and made."
21:32 And knowing humans might just forget to take this time out
21:36 for God, He went so far as to write it down
21:40 in the Ten Commandments:
21:41 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
21:44 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
21:46 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."
21:50 At the foundation of the world,
21:52 God impressed upon the human family
21:55 the importance of taking time for Him.
21:58 Knowing we'd be pressed, He carved a day
22:02 out of the rock of time and told us it was imperative
22:04 that we connect with Him.
22:06 But fewer people than ever are taking this seriously.
22:10 God actually gives you a day out each week, a day off,
22:14 a release valve-- time, time with Him.
22:19 Who wouldn't want that?
22:20 He set it aside as a blessing, telling us the weekly rest day
22:25 was made for the human family, made with you in mind.
22:29 Now, many of our grandparents took that seriously,
22:33 but as the years have passed, we've kind of got away
22:36 from the importance of time set aside for God.
22:41 And what day is that, the Sabbath day?
22:43 The Bible says it's the seventh day,
22:45 the day that today we call Saturday.
22:48 Sunday is the first day of the week, not the Sabbath.
22:51 Jesus clearly recommended we keep the Sabbath day holy.
22:54 The early Christian church did so.
22:56 It's all through the book of Acts.
22:57 The book of Revelation says God's people in the end of time
23:01 will be keeping the commandments of God.
23:03 And Sabbath rest is so important
23:05 and so good for us and our relationship with God
23:08 that God included it in the Ten Commandments.
23:11 God commands us to rest, to take time out,
23:14 to pause and rest a while.
23:16 It's important to Him because He wants the best for you.
23:19 Instituted at Creation, it seems the Sabbath is one thing
23:23 that has become even more relevant as time has gone on,
23:26 as society has become busier,
23:28 as demands on families have increased.
23:31 God says, "Time matters. Be sure to take time every week,"
23:37 God says, "Sabbath rest on the seventh day."
23:41 You can think of time as a talent
23:44 that should be dedicated to God.
23:46 The value of time is greater than we can calculate,
23:49 and time is short. James wrote that life is
23:54 "a vapor" which appears for a moment "and then vanishes away."
23:58 We've barely begun living,
24:01 and we're facing the end of our time on earth.
24:03 We're on this earth to prepare for heaven.
24:05 That's why we're here.
24:07 In the parable in Luke 12,
24:09 a man's fields were very productive.
24:12 So he built bigger storehouses to store his wealth.
24:15 God said to him,
24:17 "This night your soul will be required of you."
24:21 He died a lost man.
24:23 He had the same amount of time as anyone else,
24:26 but he didn't put that time into what really mattered.
24:29 And when his time was up, it all came crumbling down.
24:33 Every moment we're given by God is preparatory time,
24:36 time that we're going to invest one way or another.
24:40 Think of the last 24 hours or maybe your last week.
24:44 How much of that time have you invested in eternity?
24:48 The Bible says we should "redeem the time,"
24:50 which means, make the most of the time we have.
24:53 You have time? Use it for good.
24:56 Use it to invest in yourself and in others.
24:58 Use it to better the world.
25:00 Use it to grow your relationship with God.
25:03 Time wasted is time you can't get back.
25:07 Like so many others,
25:09 David Cassidy understood that, too late.
25:13 Is it time for you to reassess the way you're using your time?
25:18 Are you spending adequate time with God?
25:20 Without that time, you'll fall when temptation comes,
25:23 and it'll be impossible to reflect the character of Jesus.
25:26 Without time in the presence of God,
25:28 transformation doesn't take place,
25:31 and your mind isn't anchored in the things of heaven.
25:34 Instead, it's all over the place.
25:37 God calls you to time with Him every day
25:41 and to weekly rest where the world takes a back seat
25:44 and you're liberated to focus on God and the things of heaven
25:47 and to enjoy His presence.
25:50 If you've not been taking time for God like you should,
25:53 we'll pray and ask that that will change.
25:56 We'll ask God to lead you in working it out
25:59 so that you're spending quality time with Him.
26:02 Through time in His presence, you can grow unto "the measure
26:06 of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
26:09 Only with Him, never without time with Him.
26:16 >>John: Thank you for remembering that It Is Written
26:18 exists because of the kindness of people just like you.
26:22 To support this international life-changing ministry,
26:25 please call us now at 800-253-3000.
26:29 You can send your tax-deductible gift
26:30 to the address on your screen,
26:32 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com.
26:36 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support.
26:39 Our number again is 800-253-3000,
26:43 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com.
26:47 >>John: Let me pray for you.
26:48 Let's pray together that your time on this earth
26:52 would be time well spent.
26:53 ♪[soft music]♪
26:54 Our Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of time.
26:57 We all have the same amount of time every day--
27:00 different responsibilities, different lives,
27:03 but the same amount of time.
27:05 Teach us, Lord, to invest our time wisely, putting You first,
27:09 not giving You the leftovers of our lives.
27:12 And we thank You that You always take time for us.
27:16 You're always present, always near, always listening.
27:20 And, Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to this earth
27:22 and gave all of His time for us.
27:26 Give us grace to honor His investment in us,
27:28 that we'll have an eternity of time to spend with You.
27:32 Friend, can you ask God now to guide you
27:36 so that you have time for Him?
27:38 Quality time.
27:41 Bless us to that end, Lord, we ask of You,
27:44 in Jesus' name, amen.
27:47 Thank you so much for joining me.
27:49 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time.
27:51 Until then, remember:
27:53 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
27:58 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
28:02 ♪[dramatic theme music]♪
28:25 ♪[music ends]♪♪

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Revised 2022-03-24