Center Point - Time

Life is short! This past Sunday we explored what it would look like if Jesus was at the center of how we spend our time.

We gained a huge insight from one of the most popular characters in the Bible. Moses, who lived to be 120 years old, prayed and asked God to teach him to number his days, that he might gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Counting our days is not a foreign concept. We've all counted down the days leading up to some big event in our life. Soon-to-be brides can tell you down to the minute, or even seconds, when their big day will be.

While we can't know when our final day will be, it's healthy for us to consider the brevity of our time on earth.

King David, taking his lead from Moses, prayed...

“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. (Psalm 39:4-5)

Our time is shorter than we think. So often we act and live like we'll live forever. Or that there will be time one day to do the things that we really want to do. But as Bronnie Ware's patients discovered, that may not be true.

Bronnie was a nurse who worked with patients in their final weeks of life. As she engaged them in conversation, she observed some recurring common themes: specifically regrets. On her website, bronnieware.com, you'll find what she discovered.

Unless we learn to count our days so that our days will count, we may end up like so many whose final days are filled with avoidable regrets.

I adapted an exercise from Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church, as a way to consider how we might make our days count and, in the end, avoid the regrets that so many have failed to avoid.

Take some time and work through the following questions:

+ What is something I need to add to my life?

We all have things we wish we were doing that we're not doing.

-  What do I need to subtract from my life?

We also have things we're doing that we need to stop doing. We may even have people in our lives that we shouldn't any longer.

< What is something I need to do more of?

We may be doing things that are good for us that we need to do more often.

> What is something I need to do less of?

There may be things we can't stop doing all together but we can limit the amount of time we do them.

This is a good exercise to work through. Ask God to give you some insight into to each of them.

One final note for celebration: by show of hands we had 23 people place their faith in Jesus Christ between all our campuses and services! That's a blessing!!!

This week we're going to hear the personal story of one of Atlee's staff members that we don't get to hear from often. I promise his story will inspire you as we look at the influence Jesus could have in our lives if he were at the center of it all.