Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

I saw a bumper sticker one time that said, “Life is too precious to waste”.  But how do you do that?  How do you prevent wasting your life?  Well, the Bible says this in Ephesians, 5:15-17…, “Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

It says, “be careful how you live”.  Now the opposite of careful is what?… careless. It says, don’t be careless.  Literally in the Greek here it means “don’t stumble through life; don’t just drift through life”.  Think it through, know what you’re here for, know your purpose and it says there, “make the most of every opportunity, be wise” and then it says, “try to understand what God wants you to do”.  If I would ask you to be honest, how many of you would say, you really would like to know what God wants you to do with your life?  How many would say it?  I think most of us, if not all of us.  Well, you’re in luck…because starting this week, we’re going to look, intently, for 40 Days at what God wants you to do with your life.  It says “don’t be foolish, be wise.  Know what God wants you to do with your life”.  Now, we’re going to look at the five purposes that God has created you for and it’s going to be quite a journey.

Think for a second about three important questions of life: What does God want? What does it take? and why should I do it?  Really, if you would have boiled your life down, those are the three important questions of life. 

Question #1: What does God want from my life? 

First, what does God want from you?  Well, when you read through the whole Bible, you can summarize it in a couple of words. He wants your whole life            There is not a single verse in the Bible, not one, that says you can be a Christian and live your life any old way you want to.  It’s just not there.  God wants all of you.  He doesn’t want 10% of you, He doesn’t want 50% of you, He doesn’t want 99% of you – He wants all of you.  Now God is very clear about this; there’s no mystery in it.  Look at what the Bible says in Romans 6:13, ”Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life.  And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God”.

C.S. Lewis once said, “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important”.  If it’s really true, then it deserves everything you’ve got.  If it’s not true, you shouldn’t be here right now.  The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.  It’s either all, or nothing.  It’s either true, and that should determine the rest of your life, or you should just chuck it and go do whatever you want to do. 

There’re still a lot of people trying to sit on the fence.  Because they say, “Well, I don’t know what God wants me to do”.  Well, look at the next verse: ”This is what the Lord your God wants you to do:  Respect the Lord and do what He has told you to do.  Love Him.  Serve the Lord your God with your whole being.”  There’s that word “whole being” again.  A lot of people try to sit on the fence.  They say, “Well, I’ll serve God in my spare time”.  It’s like I have this pie – I have my social life, and I have my career life, and I have my sex life, you know I have my family life and over here my retirement life and over here I have my spiritual life - as if your spiritual life is one part of the pie.  Wrong.  God’s the whole pie.  He wants the whole pie to be under His control.  He doesn’t want to be pigeonholed and you say, “You know God, I’ll give you 10% of my life”.  He wants it all.  He wants your whole being. 

Now, there’s a myth that says that you can do it all, you can have it all, but you can’t.  You have to give it all to God.  Look at the next verse; let’s read it aloud together, ”No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money”. He doesn’t say you “should not” serve God and money – He says you “cannot” serve God and money.  He’s saying it is impossible to have two number one priorities in your life.  You’re always going to have a No.1, and everything else is going to be 2,3,4 and 5.  You can’t have two number one priorities. 

Now there are a lot of things besides money that can certainly push God out of First Place in your life.  Work can push God out of First Place; play, sports, hobbies can push God out of First Place, friends can push God out of First Place in your life, school work can push God out of First Place in your life, dating can push God out of First Place in your life, even your own family can push God out of First Place in your life.  And He’s saying you can’t serve God and something else at the same time.  He said, ‘I want it all; I want to be totally in charge of your life”.  So really the question here is “what’s going to be First Place in you?”  Is what’s going to be the No. 1 goal in your life building your career?  Is the No. 1 goal in your life raising your family?  Is the No. 1 goal of your life going to be saving for retirement?  Is the No. 1 goal of your life going to be maintaining your good health?  You see, all of those things are good.  In fact, God created them.  And God approves of every one of those things, except in First Place.  God says, “You will have no other gods before me”.  And whatever is in First Place in your life is your god.  And any time you have something in your life that’s No. 1 that’s not God, that’s called an idol.  And God says, “that’s wrong”.  He says, “ I want to be No. 1 in your life before everything else, and I’ll bring it all back into focus in the right way”.  He says, “I’ll put it altogether”. 

The first question of life is - what does God want?  He wants all of you.  And any time you sit on the fence, you lose. What does God want?  Well, He wants all of you. 

Question #2 – What does it take? 

What does it take to not waste my life?  What does it take to become all that God wants me to be?  What does it takes to develop myself to my fullest potential?  Well, I’m going to say it in one word.  It’s a word you’re not going to like.  It’s a very unpopular word.  We cringe when we hear this word.  We really don’t like this word.  But it’s the word “discipline”.  Proverbs 10:17 says, “Whoever practices discipline, is on the way to life”.  You cannot be a disciple without discipline.  The two words go together - disciple and discipline.  You can’t be a disciple of Jesus without discipline. 

Notice what the Bible says, 1 Timothy 4:7 “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness”.  Now, what in the world is discipline?  Well, in two words – discipline is delayed gratification.  That’s all it is.  Delayed gratification.  Discipline is doing the difficult now, in order to enjoy the benefit later.  Now some of you don’t even need this definition, because you’re incredibly disciplined.  Some of you are very disciplined in your work, your career.  You plan your day, you’re always on time, you’re conscientious in your work habits.  Some of you are very disciplined in your physical workouts.  You never miss a physical workout.  It’s in your routine, in your schedule.  Some of you never miss a favorite T.V. show.  I mean, you wouldn’t think of missing it.  And of course, many of us never miss a meal. You know where you’re disciplined? In the areas you want to be.  The things that are important to you, you get done.  What if you were as disciplined in having a daily quiet time as you are in never missing a meal?  What if you were as disciplined in serving others as you are in getting up and going to work everyday?  What if you were as disciplined in attending church as you are in watching that favorite T.V. show that you never miss? 

You know, there’s another word for discipline –it’s the word “habits”.  Habits are, simply, disciplines and you are the sum total of your habits.  Tell me what you do habitually, and I’ll tell you what your character is.  If you habitually tell the truth, you have integrity.  If you are habitually faithful to your spouse, you are a faithful person.  It’s what you do over and over and over without even thinking.  If it’s a habit, it’s a part of your life and your whole life is designed, shaped, controlled, developed by the habits.  And if you want to change your life, all you have to do is change your habits.  Now one of the major goals of 40 Days of Purpose, which we’re going to begin next week, is to help you develop some new spiritual habits. 

Notice what the Bible says, 1 Timothy 4:7 (in the Living Bible) – “Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit”.  Keep spiritually fit.  He says there are exercises you can do that will keep you spiritually fit, just like there are exercises you can do that will keep you physically fit.  Let me just mention two.  One is one I call the discipline of letting go.  That means you let go of things because you can’t keep adding things to your schedule without letting go of something else. 

Hebrews 12:1 –”Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress”. Those are two things that hold you back.  There are two things that keep you from being all that God wants you to be.  There are two things that limit your potential in life.  There are two things that waste your life.  And He says, “You’ve got to let go of these things”.  One of them is “sins” and the other is “weights”.  Now, you know what sins are…breaking one of the commandments of God.  But what’s a “weight”?  Well, a weight is something that’s not necessarily wrong; it’s just not necessary.  Have you thought of that?  There’re some things in life that are not necessarily wrong; they’re just not necessary.  A weight can be all kinds of things.  It could be a relationship, it could be an expectation, it could be an activity, it could be a club, it could be a memory that you refuse to let go of, it could be a fear, it could be a job.  There are a thousand, or hundred thousand different kinds of weights.  And the Bible says, “to grow, I must learn to say no”.  You can’t say, “yes” to everything.  You have to say “no” to some things.  You have to say “no” often to good things in order to have time for the best things.  You have to say “no” to things that are not bad. In fact, they’re quite good, but you say “no” to them because you cannot do it all and have it all.  And one of the reasons we have a hard time letting go of activities is we tie our identity to them.  But if you are serious about fulfilling your purpose in life, which we are going to talk about, you have to make space for God in your life.  And if you’re going to make space for God in your life, you’re going to have to cut some stuff out.  Some good stuff, not sin, just good stuff. 

You can’t keep adding things to your schedule.  And most of you are way too over crowded.  You’ve got way too much going on in your life.  And we’re getting ready, next week in 40 Days, to add three new habits to your schedule.  A daily devotional reading of about 15 minutes a day, which will help you understand God’s purposes of your life; a weekly meeting in a small group for six weeks that will help you understand God’s purpose for your life; and a weekly verse to memorize that probably will take you about five minutes, which will help you understand God’s purpose for your life. You need to decide right now what you’re going to cut out before you start 40 Days of Purpose.  You can put so many irons in the fire you put out the fire.  If you burn the candles at both ends, you are not as bright as you think you are.  Your life’s already overcrowded, but not everything in your life is of equal value.  So you need to ask, “What am I going to stop doing?”  Any time you take on a new activity in your calendar, you should say, “What am I not going to do?” at the same time.  Any time you take on a new habit, a new skill, a new commitment you should say, “What am I not going to do?” 

What does God want?  He wants all of you, every part of you.  That’s what he wants.  What’s it going to take to grow?  I’ll tell you what it’s going to take to grow.  It’s going to take discipline.  You can’t be a disciple without discipline.

Question #3: Why should I do it?

Why should I make the effort to grow spiritually?  Why should I let go of some things to make time for God in my life?  To make space for God in my life.  Well, there are many benefits and we can spend the rest of the day just talking about those.  Benefits today in your life right now, and benefits forever in eternity.  But even if there were no benefits, to doing to what God tells us to do.  Even if there were no benefits at all, right here on earth – I can tell you the reason why you ought to do it in two words – the Cross.  Because of the Cross.  Jesus gave His life completely for you and He expects your life in return. 

Romans 12:1 says this, “Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to Him”.  Now listen, it cost Jesus to die for you and it’s going to cost you to live for Him.  But He deserves it, because you would have no destiny if it weren’t for the Cross.  You would have no destiny.  But because of the Cross, you will live forever and you owe Him your life.