5. IT IS WIMPY TO BE UNDSCIPLINED WITH TIME

It is inexcusable for any man, who is out of work, to lounge around the house watching TV, playing video games, or just doing nothing, when his wife and family are suffering financial hardship. This type of conduct cannot be tolerated any longer. It is extreme wimpiness and must be stamped out immediately

Whiling away time for the sake of it will be one of our greatest regrets when we get to the other shore. For those who are disciplined, there is always something useful and profitable to do. As true disciples of Jesus Christ, we must come to the undeniable truth that time is not our own, for we are not our own. We have been bought with a price. Therefore we should glorify God with our time as much as anything.

When Paul got converted, he got truly converted. His first response to his newly discovered King was, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” (Acts 9:6) This is the essence of true discipleship. Where is our self-discipline? Are we fritting away time by serving ourselves? Discipleship includes what we do with our time and who we serve with our time. We should question today’s time-wasting Christianity. Does it really match up with New Testament discipleship?

Followers of Christ are called his disciples because they apply his teachings to their lives. The word disciple in the Greek is mathetes meaning “taught or trained one.” It also means “a learner.”

Jesus said in John 8:31, “If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.” He makes clear the terms of discipleship in Luke 15:26-27, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Surely something has to be said and done to bring about a change to this wimpy, weak, washy, lukewarm, undisciplined thing we call Christianity today.

Much needs to be said about the wimp and the undisciplined way he spends his money. Much needs to be said about the undisciplined way he uses his mouth. We need to apply Romans 13:11-12 to every area of our lives, “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. 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.”

Half the books of the Bible can be read in ten to forty-five minutes each. The entire Old and New Testaments can be read aloud slowly and with expression in less than seventy-one hours. Wilber M. Smith wrote, “It will probably astonish many to know that one single, normal issue of The Saturday Evening Post contains as much reading matter as the entire New Testament. Thousands of people read The Saturday Evening Post through every week."

“Improve Time in time, while the Time doth last,

For all Time is no time, when the Time is past.”

COLIN CAMPBELL

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Colin does not have time to dialogue on the computer, but is open to take phone calls. Phone: 615 948 5958