Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. Psalm 119:37

Have you ever thought about what you spend a lot of your time doing. One study says that the average     person spends 41% of their time staring at some screen, be it a smartphone, tablet, laptop or TV.  That’s 41%.  Ok, your thinking that is high and that’s not me. But  the truth is we all waste time on worthless things. The writer of Psalm 119 was well aware of the danger of wasted time. Paul urged the believers in Philippi to   focus on, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

It is easy to get caught up with the things of the world. Like the psalmist we need to guard our hearts and  mind from worthless things. The King James translates the word for worthless as vanity. John Lange writes  the following about this vanity, “The outward senses present to the heart the objects of forbidden desire,   and excite pleasure in and desire for them (Is. 33:15:  Job 31:1–7); men must therefore shut their ears and eyes against them and let them pass unheeded.”

What we expose our minds to will affect our hearts. The old adage, “garbage in garbage out” applies to    our Christian walk. Wasting time on worthless things is time that we could be using serving one another, sharing the Gospel, studying Gods Word, and praying.

As we move forward with Build the Body, I am excited to see many of our church family serving on the teams to get it up and running. I commend you for dedicated service. I thank each and every one of you who serve   in other areas to our church family.

However, we all must take heed of the warning that we do not waste the time that God has given us. The day you were born you began to die. It is if an hourglass was turned over and only God knows when that sand will run out (Psalm 139:16). John Piper said, “You are immortal until God’s purpose for you is complete”. So,  I ask you my brothers and sisters in Christ, will you join me along with the psalmist and pray that God, Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark