James Merritt - Some Other Time
If you've ever been to Washington D.C., or if you haven't and you ever get to go, one of the most important buildings in the world sits in this perfectly circular, well-guarded park in Northwest Washington, D.C. Now, you wouldn't know it if you drove by there, because it's really kind of a pretty nondescript concrete building. It sits on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory, and it houses the nerve center of the U.S. Directorate of Time. And the only thing that would let you know that the building must be a pretty big deal, is because the windows are barred and it's very heavily guarded. And behind those windows there are 28 clocks.
Four of those clocks hold hydrogen atoms, and 24 of them hold cesium atoms. And those clocks are constantly bombarded by laser beams and microwave beans, and it causes those atoms to oscillate in an extremely incredible regular vibration. The results are measured by a computer, and every second they're fed into America's master clock. Now those measurements in turn become the basis for all timekeeping in the United States, and they are sent to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures just outside Paris, which keeps the entire world on the same time. The reason why it's such a big deal is because there's one thing everybody in the world knows now, and we all know that time matters.
Now, it was not always that way. Believe it or not, there was a time in our country when time didn't matter, people really didn't care about time. Before the locomotive and the invention of the railroad, time really didn't matter to anybody. But when the railroads were built, all of a sudden, trains had to run on time. And so all of a sudden, time was moved to the top of people's priority list, and phrases began to be used that had never been used before in this country. Phrases like time's wasting, or time's up, or the train's leaving the station began to be heard all over the country. What we now call Standard Time came around, came about because of the railroads.
Now this is fascinating to me, before the railroad came into existence, everybody set their own time. So for example, in Snellville, they would say it's four o'clock. In Lawrenceville, they would say it's 4:30. Downtown Atlanta, they might say it was five o'clock. Everybody just kind of kept their own time. But then the railroads began to publish schedules, and for the first time in 1883, our country was divided into the four time zones. So now we've got Eastern and Central and Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast time. Did not have that for almost 150 years before we came into existence. As a matter of fact, this was also interesting, in 1790 90% of Americans didn't even have a clock in their home. And of the 10% that had a clock, it didn't have a minute hand.
When you looked at the clock, you knew it was somewhere between eight and nine or nine and 10. You just didn't know exactly what time that it was, because it just wasn't a big deal. Until the end of the 19th century, nobody even knew what an alarm clock was. Until the end of the 19th century, nobody knew what a wristwatch was. And yet today, computers and satellites and global positioning systems and telephone switching systems, they're all dependent on a precise, down-to-the-second nature of time just to operate. And we've never lived in a culture where time has been more of a hotter commodity than it is right now, because we all know something about time, it is a limited resource.
There are 24 hours in a day, but there are only 24 hours in a day. And the truth of the matter is, most of us struggle to fit all we need to do in time in a given day to do what we need to do in our work and in our family and with our hobbies and with our leisure. It's just tough to get it done. As a matter of fact, we like to prove to other people they're important because we'll say I'll find time for you. Or I'll make time for you. And it's our way of saying, you know, you're kind of a big deal for me. As a matter of fact, one of the most famous statements about time ever made was just developed about 25 years ago. We know what it is, time is money. Nobody said that a hundred years ago. You know what they would have said? Money is money. But today we say time is money. And so we try to be sensitive to other people's times. We will, you know, we don't want to monopolize your time, or we don't wanna waste your time.
I mean, there's some of you out there, you're retired, you don't even know what to do with your time. You can't even fill up your time. You're just, you're totally bored, you're just totally lost. And the sad thing, is there are a lot of us that, frankly, don't really understand how important time is, until we're just about out of it. You go to the doctor, the doctor sits down, very grave look on his face and he says, "Look, I don't know how to tell you this, I'm just gonna cut to the chase, you have a terminal illness. You're not going to live very long".
Now, what is the first question that pops into your mind? How much time do I have left? Didn't think about it till we walked into the doctor's office. Didn't give it a second thought. How much time do I have left? Now, let me tell you something about time, and just being honest, if you're a husband, if you're a husband, time is like your wife. You don't tell time, time tells you. You don't tell time, time tells you, time tells you when something needs to be done. Time tells you where you need to be for a certain appointment. Time even tells you when time is up. You don't tell time, time tells you. And this, all of this is to say there's something that a man by the name of Paul wrote 2000 years ago that is so true and so very important. And I want you to listen to what he wrote. He said this, he said, "Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is".
Now, Paul said there are only two ways you can spend your time. You can spend it wisely, or you can spend it foolishly. You can use it, or you can misuse it. You can manage it, or you can mismanage it. Now, that's why we're in a series, we started last week, that we're calling "Otherwise" because there are three key areas I've learned in my own life, there are three key areas in life where we all need wise advice. We really need to know how to handle these areas wisely. And I'm gonna tell you why. When I put these up on the screen, you're gonna know this. When you look back at your life, either show me the greatest regrets that you have in your life, or show me the greatest successes you've had in your life. Either way, it will come down because you made a good decision or a bad decision in one of these three areas.
The first one is how we allocate our time. Very, very important. The second is how we manage our money, and the third one is how we handle temptation. You take those three areas and look back in your life, every time you blew it, you blew it in one of those three areas. Every time you did good, you did good in one of those three areas. So what we're going to do over the next three weeks, beginning today, is I'm gonna share with you how to live otherwise in every one of those areas. And here's what I will promise you, when it comes to your time and it comes to your money, and it comes to relationships and it comes to temptation, if you will live otherwise, that is, if you will live by godly wisdom, if you'll do it God's way, I'll make a promise, you'll live smarter, you'll make better decisions, you'll have fewer regrets, you'll have a lot more sweeter memories. So we're going to be dealing with those things over the next several weeks.
Now today, we're gonna talk about time. Now, here's the good news, God has not left us on our own to try to figure out how to use our time. God has not said, "Okay, I'm gonna give you the time that you've got every day, it's up to you to decide how to use it". God says, "No, look, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I am going to give you godly advice on how to live your days out on this earth. I'm gonna specifically tell you the best way to use every day". And let me tell you where God does this, this is why I love the Bible, there is one sentence in the Bible. It's just a sentence, it's just a statement. And when I studied that statement, I realized there was an encyclopedia full of wisdom on how to manage time wisely.
So, if you are like me and you brought a Bible, you're a little old-fashioned, or you're hip, you're with it, you got an iPhone or an iPad or a tablet, or whatever you might have, I want you to turn to the biggest book in the Bible, it's the Book of Psalms. I want you to turn to Psalm 118. There's a verse of scripture in Psalm 118 and it is amazing how much truth there is in this one verse of how to manage our time wisely. Here's what the verse says, very familiar verse. "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it". A lot of us have memorized that verse. If you can't, you can do it right now. Let's just say it together right now. Ready? This is the day the Lord has made, I'll rejoice and be glad in it. It is a fantastic verse, because, believe it or not, in that one simple, single statement, there's this principle on how to get the most out of life. You ready?
Here's the principle. The most important use of your time is spending most of your time on what is most important. The most important use of your time is spending most of your time on what is most important. Let me tell you what I'm going to do, we're gonna just dissect that one statement of scripture right now, this morning, and I'm gonna give you three simple steps to take every day of your life, and I guarantee you, if you'll take these steps when you go to bed at night, you'll be able to look back and you'll be able to say, "I got the most out of this day I possibly could. I got the most productivity, I got the most pleasure, I got the most joy, I got the most happiness. I made this day the best day that I could". Three things, you ready? Here we go. Number one, approach every day thankfully. Approach every day thankfully.
Now listen to what the Psalmist begins by saying, he says, "This is the day that the Lord has made". Now, let me just stop right there. That's true of every single day of your life. Doesn't matter whether it's a rainy day or a sunny day, doesn't matter whether it's a cold day or a hot day, doesn't matter whether it's a good day or a bad day, every day is a day the Lord has made. By the way, tell you what's interesting, the word there for made, that Hebrew word, is the same word that's used in Genesis one and two that was used for create. So really it says, "This is the day that the Lord has created". What the Psalmist is saying is, just as God created a world for us to live in, God also created the time for us to live in that world on a daily basis. So in other words, every single day that you and I live is a God-given day, it is a God-made day, it is a God-created day. It is a gift of God and we ought to be thankful for that day.
Now here's what I love about God, God does not play favorites. We do, but God doesn't. God doesn't play favorites. God gives the same type of day to everybody. Everybody has 24 hours in their day. If you're rich, you don't get 25 hours. If you're poor, you're not stuck with 23 hours. Everybody gets 24 hours in their day. We get the same amount of time. I'll tell you why that thought is really kind of cool to me, I met a buddy of mine about back in December. He came up for something that I was involved in, and I had seen him in a long time. He's a very successful businessman, one of my very best friends. Really, he's kind of like an adopted brother. And I hadn't seen him in a long time, and he had his sleeves rolled up and I noticed he had on this beautiful watch. It was a very unique watch.
And I said, "Hey, let me see that watch". And I looked at it, I didn't even recognize the name of that watch. And I said wow. I said, "Well, you know, where did you get that watch"? And he didn't really want to tell me about it. He said, well, he said, "It's really pretty special". I said, "Well, I can tell". He said, "They only make 12 of these a year". "Good grief," I said, "How much did it cost"? And he didn't say specifically, but it was six figures. Six figure watch. He's, "What do you think about that"? And I said, "Well, let me tell you a story". I said, "I was in Dr. Billy Graham's home about three years ago". And I said, "Dr. Graham was wearing a Timex watch that I bet didn't cost 10 bucks". Now I said, "You know what"? He said, "What"? I said, "You don't have any more time than he does". I says, "As a matter of fact, you're paying a hundred thousand dollars to find out what time it is, it's taken him 10".
Really, you think about that. Have you ever said to somebody, have you ever said this to somebody? I wish I had as much time as you did. If you did, you wouldn't have any more time than you got right now, right? We all have the same amount of time. All of us, exactly the same. Here's another one, have you ever had somebody say this to you? Hey, what is today? And you know, sometimes, you ever have just a brain freeze? 'Cause usually when they're asking what is today, they're either asking what day it is or what date it is. So when somebody says to you, "Hey, what is today"? They're either saying is it Tuesday or Wednesday? Is it the seventh or the eighth?
Now, if you're like me, sometimes you just get brain locked and you go, "Gosh, I don't even know what day it is". Listen, to keep from looking just stupid, always say this, "Oh, this is the day the Lord has made". You'll always be right, you'll always get it right. This is the day the Lord has made. Somebody put it this way, yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, today is all we've got and it is a gift from God. Listen, that's why we call today the present. We call yesterday the what? The past. We call tomorrow the what? Future. But we call today the present. You know why? Every day is a present God puts under the tree of your life every single day.
See, some of you got up this morning, or maybe you came even last Sunday, and you know, please don't do this anymore after this message, you get up and it's cold and it's rainy and it's dark. And you look up at God and you say, "I've got to go to church". You don't have to go to church, you get to go to church. This is the day the Lord has made. I don't care what kind of day it is. Lord, You made it, You created it, it is a gift from You, I am thankful for it. Because when you live otherwise, you'll approach every day thankfully. Moses prayed this prayer, listen to this. Moses said, "Lord, teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom".
Listen, when you've got a heart full of wisdom, you will number your days. You know why you'll number your days? Because your days are numbered. You're not gonna be here forever. And so, every day that you get, be thankful for that God-given day. Approach every day thankfully, step one. Step two, spend every day usefully. Now, listen again to the first half of this verse, there're two verbs in that verse. I'm gonna emphasize both of them. Ready? Here you go. This is what he said, he said, "This is the day that the Lord has made". So, he's not talking about yesterday. He didn't say this was the day the Lord did make. He wasn't talking about tomorrow. He didn't say this will be the day the Lord will make. He's talking about today.
Why is he talking about today? Because the only day you can ever enjoy is today. You can't enjoy yesterday, it's a memory. You can't enjoy tomorrow, it's just a possibility. The only day you get to enjoy is today. That's why we've gotta be careful how we spend every single day. Because the time we have today can only be used today. Hey, let me give you an example, we talk about saving time, or making time, or borrowing time. You can't do any of those things with time. I mean, when it comes to time, think about it, you can't borrow from Peter to pay Paul. If you waste time today, that time's gone forever. The time you don't use today, or don't use wisely, can't be carried over until tomorrow. If you're like me and you like sports, you know what this means, right? What does that mean? That means time out, right? Okay, that means time out.
Now, you can do that in a ball game, you can't do that in life. When I hit 50, when I had my 50th birthday, I wanted to do this. No more, I've had enough birthdays. Thank you, Lord. Just, can I just stay 50 til I die? Can't do it, time doesn't work that way. In life, the clock is always running, it never stops. You can't save time. Time only knows one direction and it's forward. You can't store time. You can put money in the bank, you can't put time in the bank. You can't stretch time. You can't put 61 minutes in an hour. You can't put 25 hours in a day. That's why managing time gets real tricky. Because again, back when the railroads were built, we left the agricultural age and we got into the industrial age. That's when we began to realize, hey, time is money. Because when we began to build factories and manufacturing plants, there was a word that all of a sudden came into existence. We'd never thought about before and that word was efficient.
So now, the job of the manager and the job of the boss was to make that worker productive, get the most out of every minute of that worker that you possibly can. So today, there are more and more businesses are open 24 hours a day. And think about what we do on an individual basis, there's a new word we invented about 10 years ago. It's called multitask, right? We multitask. I'll give you an example, when I was a kid growing up, when you drove a car, you just drove a car. Nobody just drives a car anymore. You drive and text. Yeah, you do, don't sit there and look at me like you're innocent. You drive and call, you drive and put on your makeup. I mean, we just we're just, we're always multitasking. Listen, when I was a kid, I just went outside and played. Today we schedule play dates. What's up with that? Just go out and play. But it's all about time.
Now, here's the good news. Here's the good news. I know most all of us out there really do desire to manage our time wisely. We really do want to get the biggest bang for the buck every day that we live. I know that, okay? Here's the bad news, let's just be honest, most of us don't do it. Most of us frivol away too much time. Most of us waste too much time. Most of us live in a constant state of frustration because we look back at the end of an average day and we go, "I didn't get that done, I didn't get that done. Why wasn't I be able to do this? Why can I not enjoy that"? Because remember what we just read earlier where Paul said, "Making the best use of the time"? That phrase, by the way, is an accounting term. It means to get the most out of your money. Now, listen, God wants you to get the full value out of your time. He wants you to get the biggest bang for the buck in every minute that you live. He wants you to squeeze all the good that you can out of every moment of your life.
So, here's what I'm gonna do, this is where I'm gonna get real practical, I'm going to share with you, this morning, the biggest single key I've discovered on how to make the most of every day of your life, and it comes straight out of the life of Jesus. Because if you think about this, you'll agree with this. Whoever made better use of their time than Jesus? You understand He got everything done He was supposed to get done in three years? It takes some of us three years to read a book. He got everything He needed to get done in three years. You say, "Pastor, how did He do it"? It's found in three words, here they are, important versus urgent.
Now, stay with me, we're gonna get a little bit deep, just stay with me. What I'm about to share with you is not original with me, I didn't come up with this. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the former president, came up with what I'm going to share with you. Dwight D. Eisenhower said this, and it's so true. He said, "What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important". Now here's what what Jesus knew, and here's what Jesus did, and here's how Jesus lived. If you go back and you study the life of Jesus, here's what you'll find, He never let the urgent dominate the important. He never left the urgent take over the important.
Let me give you an example, you may not know this story. A lot of you do, but He had a best, one of His best buddies was a man named Lazarus. Lazarus was dying. He knew he was dying. They sent word that he was dying. His sister said, "Tell Jesus to come quick, our brother is dying". Now, the amazing thing is, when you read that story, had you and I had been Jesus, we would've said, "Man, I gotta get up everything I do. and I gotta go heal Lazarus". The Bible says, instead, He purposely didn't do it. Now, it was urgent that He go, before for reasons I don't have time to get into, it was more important that He didn't go. Jesus never let the urgent take priority over what is important.
Now you say, all right, what is the difference between what's urgent and what is important? Here's the difference, urgent tasks demand your attention right now. Gotta do it now. These would be things like daily deadlines or emails from your boss or maybe a phone call you got to return, okay? That's urgent. Important task contribute to your longterm goals, things like staying healthy and physically fit, things like getting your financial house in order, spending time with your family, developing your spiritual life and your walk with God. Now, here's why I want you to watch this, President Eisenhower said, "You look at every day that you spend, you will divide your life, you'll just automatically do it, you can divide any time that you spend into four categories". Ready?
Here they are, watch this, category one, these are things that are important and urgent. They're important and urgent. For example, mamas, you got a crying baby upstairs, that's important and that's urgent, okay? Can't wait. Handling a crisis at work, there's a real crisis at work. You're the boss, you're the manager, people are looking at you. That's important and that's urgent. Making sure you send your mortgage payment in on time every month, right? That's important and that's urgent, okay? That's category one. Here is where a lot of us drop the ball, and this is where a lot of us get so frustrated.
The second category is important, but it's not urgent. For example, I think all of us would agree that saving money for your future is important. Everybody agree with that? But it's not urgent. Getting enough exercise, getting physically fit is important, not urgent. Getting enough sleep, it's important, but it's not urgent. Spending time with your family, spending time with your kids, it's important, not urgent. And this is where we drop the ball, because we kind of let those things slide because they're not urgent.
Here's the third category, they're not important, but they're urgent. Booking a flight, gotta fly out. It's not important, but it may be urgent. Answering a phone call. Can't tell you how many times in my ministry I've had people, I gotta talk to the pastor right now. Right now, I gotta talk to the pastor right now. And here's what I've learned, 98% of the time, number one, they don't have to talk to me right now. And number two, 98% of the time somebody else can handle their phone call.
See, it's not important, but it's urgent. Gotta do it now, right? Or returning someone's email, they send you an email, would you please respond quickly? We'll maybe should, maybe you shouldn't. So it's important, but it's not urgent, all right? Here's another area, though, where we really drop the ball. You ready? It's not important and it's not urgent. This would be something like watching "The Walking Dead". It's not important, it's not urgent. Checking your Twitter account, it's not important, it's not urgent. Eating chocolate chip cookies, it's not important, it's not urgent. Playing video games, "Call of Duty". It's not important, it's not urgent.
Now listen, this is what I want you to lock in on, watch this, if the important doesn't get on your calender first, the urgent will dominate your time. If the important does not get on your calendar first, the urgent will dominate your time. It is important that you don't let the urgent control you, it is urgent that you let the important control you. See, if you really wanna really start turning your day around and get the biggest bang for the buck, let me make it real easy.
Tell me everything in your life that you know is important, put that big rock in the jar first. Good example, great example, everybody, I'll say this till the cows come home. I don't know where that saying came from. I'll say this till the Dogs win a national championship, that's a lot more relevant to me, and I'll probably still say it. It is important that you read your Bible every day, but it's not urgent. That's why a lot of you haven't read your Bible in a week. It wasn't urgent. Anything that is important, that's the big rock that goes in the jar first. So, for example, see, in my own life, whatever is truly important always gets top billing and top priority. I've told you this before, in my life I'm gonna do three things every day. I will do them today, there's three things I'm gonna do. If I don't get anything else done in my life, I'm gonna get three things done every single day
Number one, I'm gonna read my Bible, pray and I'm gonna journal. I did it this morning. I got up early, I read my Bible, I prayed, I'm gonna journal. Number two, I'm gonna exercise. I'll go home this afternoon, I got, I'm gonna work out. I'll exercise this afternoon. Number three, I keep Teresa happy. Third thing on my list, whatever else I do, I'm gonna keep Teresa happy. You know the old saying, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? You know what I've learned? If mama ain't happy, the Holy Spirit ain't happy. So I'm going to keep mama happy, okay? That's my big priority in my life. So what I wanna do is very simple, I want to encourage you today, if you really wanna really start getting the most out of your life, begin today to think about those things that you would tag as important in your life, and begin to put those rocks first in the jar of your life.
Now there will be times, okay, that things that are neither important nor urgent, such as playing golf or watching TV or going to a movie, there will be times those things come up, you'll be able to do that. And here's the important thing, then you can do them and enjoy them and not feel guilty 'cause you know you ought to be doing something else. My buddy Zig Zigler said this, he said, "If you'll do what you ought to do when you ought to do it". Let me stop right here. "If you'll do what you ought to do when you ought to do it," important and urgent, important not urgent, that's that, "then you can do what you want to do when you want to do it". That's the not important but urgent, or the not important and not urgent. Do what you ought to do when you ought to do it, then you can do what you want to do when you want to do it. Spend every day usefully. Approach every day thankfully.
Now here's the last thing, we're done, live every day joyfully. Live every day joyfully. Listen to the second half of this verse, "Let us rejoice and be glad in it". Now let me just stop, there are no conditions to what the Psalmist wrote there. He didn't say you rejoice in the good day but you reject the bad day, because let's face it, one thing I'm gonna promise you this year, I can't promise a lot of things, but I'll promise every one of you this year, you're gonna have bad days.
Matter of fact, I'm gonna be conservative. Everybody in this room will get, will have at least bad day a month. Pastors get four. I promise you, there'll be at least one bad day a month. But the Psalmist is very plain. He says, "Every day that God gives us is a day we ought to enjoy. And we ought to enjoy the time that we get in that day". Because every day there's a rose you can smell somewhere. If you'll look for it, you'll find it. There's a rose you can smell somewhere. And what he's saying is don't let the bad things that happen in a given day rob you of the joy from all the good things that happen every day. 'Cause look, I get it, we're all in the same boat.
Days don't always go like we planned them to go. In a very typical day, I've got my to-do list, right? I got important and not urgent, important and urgent, all that. Listen, my to-do list gets interrupted, just like yours does. I encounter things every day I have no control over. And I've given you some very solid principles today, right out of God's Word on how to manage your time. But I also know the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Sometimes the important that's not urgent gets interrupted by the important that is urgent.
So your to-do list will get interrupted sometimes. Things will not always go the way you want them to go. You will not always hear what you were wanting to hear. You'll not always experienced what you want to experience. I get that, I'm in the same boat you are. Can't control them. But what the Psalmist is saying is, from the moment you wake up and get out of your bed, you have a choice. And you can choose to enjoy the day that you have. Now, let me just say this. You may say, "Wait a minute, what about people lying in a hospital bed, can't even get up? How can they enjoy the day God's given them? How about somebody sitting in a wheelchair, somebody that's an invalid, can't even get out of a nursing home, can't even get out of the room that they're in? How can somebody enjoy that day? How can somebody rejoice"?
Let me just give you a few things, we can always rejoice that there's a God that loves us. We can always rejoice that there's a God that's in control of this universe. We can always rejoice that there's a God that said, "I don't care what happens to you, I am big enough and good enough, I'll work it out for your good". We can always rejoice that we can be forgiven of all of our sins. We can always rejoice that we know we have eternal life if we know Jesus. We can always rejoice that at least I know today I can thank God and praise God and love God and serve God and worship God and obey God, every single day.
One of the greatest college football coaches of all time, without question, was Bear Bryant, Paul Bear Bryant. When Coach Bryant died, he coached at the University of Alabama, when Coach Bear Bryant died, his wife was going through his wallet. She found something that no one knew about that was there. It was a crumpled up yellow piece of paper. It was very obvious that Coach Bryant had folded it and unfolded it and read it and re-read it many, many times. Nobody knew it was there. His wife didn't know it, kids didn't know it, players didn't know it, coaches didn't know it, friends didn't know it. But he carried it with him and evidently it looked like he read it every single day. Never shared it with anyone, but it was so powerful.
I said I've got to share this with my people before I close this. This is what was on that piece of paper, "This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is very important because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving something in its place that I have traded for it. I want it to be a gain, not a loss, good not evil. Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price that I paid for it".
So I wanna wrap all this up and say this, time is very, very short. Eternity, very, very long. And what you do with your time in this life, will determine the eternity you spend in the next life. So I wanna say this without apology. I don't mean to upset you, I don't mean to make you mad, I don't mean to offend you. I just tell you, I believe this in all my heart. I believe every day of your life that you spend, that Jesus Christ is not the Lord of your life, is a wasted day. I don't care what you do in that day, I don't care how well you do it, every day you live that Jesus Christ is not the Lord of your life is wasted time.
So, if you'd like to make the most, not just of today and whatever life you have left to live, but, if you'd like to make sure that when time is no more and you've entered into eternity, you're ready to meet the God who created time, then the most important use of your time will be to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. And let me tell you why, He is the one who took the time, to come to this earth, to die on a cross for our sins, to come back from the grave, so that we could spend time with Him today and eternity with Him tomorrow.