Words on the Calendar

“Words on the Calendar” was preached by Pastor Mike Ray at Hopewell Baptist Church on Sunday morning, 11/6/2022.

Let’s open our Bibles if you would please — we’re going to look at about three or four passages, and then we’ll settle down and give the message here this morning.

Psalm 90. right there in the middle of the Bible. I want to read several verses here and go from there. We believe this is written by Moses.

And the Bible says in Psalm 90:9 “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: We spend our years as a tale that is told.”

That’s kind of how it is. Our life is here, we pass, and then people talk about us. If you don’t want to be talked about, then don’t live, because people are going to talk about you while you’re alive, and then they’re going to talk about you after you pass away.

Moses said in verse 12, “So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Then we see in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”

Verse 11: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

And then we see over in Luke 10 (and I’ll sew it all together in a moment) — we see Jesus and Mary and Martha. Jesus has taken a break at the home of these friends of His. And one sister is sitting at His feet, listening to the Bible, and the other is cooking up lunch. Both are needed.

But notice it says in Luke 10:38: “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. [39] And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. [40] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”

And I can see Martha right now. She’s probably got a spoon in her hand, and she’s in there cooking the meal and getting everything ready for Jesus. But her sisters doing nothing. She’s just sitting at Jesus’ feet listening. Well, Martha figured she could do that later. It’s lunchtime, and she probably walks up to Jesus with that spoon in her hand. And she says, “Lord, tell her to come help me.” I mean, what’s she thinking? And you know, maybe she figured if she rattled enough pots and pans and slammed enough cupboards, maybe Mary she would come in and help. So, she’s frustrated. She’s irritated at her sister.

Luke 10:41 “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:”

He had to say her name twice because she was clinging so many pots and pans.

Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

There’s that word again — “time.”

“Redeeming” means to buy back. Don’t waste any time. Time is precious. Time is fleeting. Time is here now, and then it’s gone. You can never get it back.

Then in James 4:14, the Bible says that life is but a vapor that appears and then it vanishes away. You who are getting a little bit older (you can determine for yourself what timeframe that is), know what I’m talking about. You were sixteen years old, getting your driver’s license (or 15 like me in Louisiana. If you know red, green, and yellow, you can get your license in Louisiana. That’s the test. Those three colors). But you remember getting your license, then perhaps walking across a podium and graduating from school or college. Maybe you remember like it was yesterday. It was a wedding. Maybe it was the birth of a child. And pretty soon, you just wonder where the years went. You say now I’m retired and an empty nester, “What happened? It was like I just brought them home, and now they’re just heading to college. What happened?”

Am I the only one things like this? Some of you are saying, “I hope I never get that old. Who thinks that way?” Let me pray, and then I’m going to speak on this subject: “Words on the Calendar.”

Father, bless this brief time we have. Help us say something to help these dear people. Amen.

Time is running out.

Time is running out for you, for them, for Him (before He returns). Some of you may describe your physical condition as exhausted, overwhelmed, overcommitted, depleted. And because of that, sometimes we just want to escape — whether it’s just clicking a button and turning on music, television, or maybe the Internet.

Mary Heart and Martha Hands

It’s that Mary/Martha world. We need to have the “Mary” heart. Sit at Jesus’ feet. Spend time with Him. But we also need the Martha hands to be busy. There’s a lot to be done for people and for God. But the balance is how do we get that when we don’t have that Mary heart and all we are is Martha? We are spent. And soon we get irritated at others and upset with people. Very impatient.

I want to say this very gently: stop blaming others. You are in charge of your own schedule. Now I understand, except at work, but you’re the one who accepted that job. No one made you take that job. You’re in charge of your own schedule.

Your calendar is a tool to help you become who you ought to be, not just do what you ought to do.

Priorities

You’ve heard the old illustration. I’ll give it quickly. A Professor was at a college, and he said, “We’re going to do an experiment. Tell me what it means.” He had a table, and he had all these pots of different sizes, and he filled them all with big rocks. Then he asked the class, “Can these pots hold any more?” And the class said, “No.” Then he took a bag of small pebbles and poured the pebbles in. He packed them in and said, “Is it full? Can it hold any more?” My hand would have gone up: “No.” He said, “Watch this.” He took a bag of sand and poured sand in. The sand went into the crevices. He packed it down really well. “How many of you think it’s full now? Is it full?” Then he took a pitcher of water and poured it in, and that water hit all those little empty spots. And he said, “Now what’s the lesson of this experiment?” One hand went up and the person said, “No matter how busy you are, you can always do more.” That’s what I would have said. He said wrong. The professor said, “The answer is this: if you want to get the big rocks in, you have to put them in first.”

So every one of us has got to figure out what the big rocks are for us. It’s not what others put in our bucket. It’s what God tells us to put in our bucket. God gives us wisdom. He gives us everything we need. So what are the big rocks? I’m going to give them to you. I’ll put the question to you this way: What are the big words on the calendar?

For the rest of the message, be sure to watch the video above or visit our church website. You can watch archived services on Vimeo, YouTube, or audio podcast. Stay up to date by following us on Facebook or Instagram.

Hopewell Baptist Church is an Independent Baptist Church in Napa, California pastored by Mike Ray. It is Bible-based with a warm, friendly atmosphere. Hopewell is dedicated to bringing the water of life to the Napa Valley and beyond.