That's the reason the Book of Job, chapter 14, the Bible says that God has actually declared and decreed how many days we get. In His infinite wisdom, it is His sovereign right to speak over every created being made in His image. Your portion of days—you don't have one to waste. You don't have a week to burn. That's good. You don't have a year to not take seriously.
Our days are indeed a limited and precious resource. What are you doing with your days? I've been thinking so much more about my days lately and how few I have left, mostly because I'm getting old—like old, old. In a couple weeks' time, I turn 48 years of age. 48! I know that surprises a lot of you because I don't look 48, but you know how they say, "Black doesn't crack"? Well, "Asian don't raisin," you know what I'm saying? I'm aging well.
And it might come as a surprise to you that I'm 48, but trust me, I'm feeling every single one of those 48 laps of the sun. I'm at that age where I'm waking up with injuries I didn't go to sleep with. Anyone relate? You know what I'm saying? You're laying in bed at night, and you're feeling good. Didn't hurt anything at the gym, didn't pop anything on that run, and then you wake up in the morning, and you can't walk right. Had a vigorous dream, and you pulled a hamstring. No word of a lie, last Friday—just two days ago—was the first day in about a week I could walk. You can ask my wife; this is not just like preaching embellishment. For about a week, I was hobbling around the house with arthritis in both of my feet. A week ago, I woke up, and my right foot was all messed up, so I'm hobbling around on my right foot. So what happens to the left foot? It joins the party! As soon as my right foot's feeling good, now my left foot's all messed up.
And because I knew I was traveling this weekend, I went to the doctor on Friday morning, and I was like, "Hey, is there a shot you could give me? A tablet you could give me? Can we cut these things off? I'm in so much pain." My doctor lovingly smiles at me and says, "Just welcome to old age."
So I even had another sermon prepared for this morning. I had a really cool illustrative sermon with a ladder that I was going to climb up and down, and I was going to stand on top of that ladder and flex my Asian acrobatic skills. But because of these old arthritic feet, I can't do it, so we had to pivot.
I'm getting old. My wife and I celebrate 26 years of wedded bliss next week—26 years! You're clapping for her right now, trust me. I've got a daughter who's 20, a son who is 18. I'm getting old, and I don't want to waste one more day. I don't want to burn just one more day. I want to truly live each day.
I've been thinking a lot about days lately because it feels like the days are flying by quicker than ever. Anyone with me? It feels like in 2020, someone bumped a button that makes every day just go by about 50% faster. Yo, it's the end of January already! We're going to come into February. That's right, we just threw away our Christmas tree yesterday. I'm going to have to buy one tomorrow, you know what I'm saying? Like, the years are going quicker, the days are flying faster, the months are mushing together. It feels like life is flying by quicker than ever.
I've been thinking about my days, and it is clear that this limited resource that we are apportioned can be spent well and wisely, as well as poorly and badly. What will you do with your days? As we gather here at First Conference 2024, as you look forward to this year, what would it look like if you redeemed every single day? If you, by the grace of God and the authority that you have in Jesus, slapped the hand of the enemy away from your days and you stopped allowing fear or anxiety, doubt or worry, stress or bitterness, unforgiveness or resentment to rob you of your days? What would happen if that hand was slapped away, and you could walk forward, guided by the loving hand of King Jesus, into making the most of your next 365 days?
What will you do with your days? That's the reason the psalmist in Psalm 90:12 tells us that we should ask God to teach us to number our days, to live with that gravity, to walk with that deep sense that whatever has been apportioned to you has been decreed by God and is not to be taken lightly, but to be redeemed and used for His glory. Teach us, God, to number our days so that we may have a heart of wisdom—not a heart of fear, not a heart of worry, not a heart of wantonness, but a heart of wisdom to make the most of every single day.
So let's do what the Bible says. That's the average amount of days apportioned to each and every man, woman, and child. Where are the 40-year-olds at in the room? 40, 41, 42, 43—put your hand up in the sky right now. Okay, 40-year-olds. All right, well, Ben, you've lived about 14,600 days. If you're about 40, that gives you about 14,200 left. In other words, you're in the third quarter, homie. You've drunk your red Gatorade, you've eaten your oranges, you've made some adjustments. Now you're in the third quarter, championship quarter. There are fewer days ahead of you than behind you. No days to waste!
All right, where are my 18, 19, 20-year-olds? Put your hand up in the sky. Okay, hey, hey, love it, love it, love it! You've lived about 6,500 days, and you've got a smug look on your face sitting there all proud—22,000 days left to go. Well, stop smiling, homie, because I was you yesterday, and tomorrow you will be me. The days are flying—none to waste!
Come on, where are my 60-year-olds? Come on, 65, 70—where you guys at? I'm not going to do the math because I'm going to freak you out. Teach us, Lord, to number our days. Have us walk away today not overwhelmed by how we may have wasted some, but totally inspired to make the most of every breath we are given, every morning we are apportioned, every nighttime we get to rest. Jesus, by Your grace, fill our hearts with wisdom to make the most of our days.
So here's the question: Okay, big Asian guy who obviously does a lot of upper body work in the gym but not as much on his lower body—how do I make the most of my days? You're right, I may have wasted too many. You're right, Dan, I've been thinking about this last week gone by, and I spent more of the week stressing than actually celebrating Jesus. I spent more of my week being angry at someone, cursing someone who, side note, doesn't know I'm angry at them or cursing them. I wasted a whole week bitter at somebody. I'm sick and tired of going through an entire week knowing that I went nowhere in life except for backwards because I didn't let that offense go. No more!
How do I make the most of my days? Well, to answer that question, I go to the Scriptures because to me, the Bible is the source of every piece of truth, every bit of light. It is the Google Map forward in your journey. I went to a scripture a couple of days ago. I started reflecting on how the Apostle Paul, who had very few days left, reflected on his life. In fact, he talks about how he can see the day coming where this side of eternity comes to a close. With those few days left, he's now encouraging a spiritual son, Timothy, to make the most of his days—however many are left apportioned, however many sunrises and sunsets he gets.
If you have your Bibles, would you go with me to Second Timothy, chapter 4? Second Timothy is different than all the other Pauline writings in the sense that when Paul wrote to churches, it was generally in an instructional tone, an admonishment, sometimes a rebuke. It was trying to help the early church navigate its way forward. First and Second Timothy have a different tone. Yes, he was writing to a church in Ephesus, but specifically, he was writing to a spiritual son who he knew personally and who he loved deeply. Second Timothy is one of the most intimate books that Paul wrote because most scholars believe it was the last words he wrote here on Earth.
He's sitting in prison, knowing that his life is ebbing away—whether it was a physical ailment that was causing him to know that his end was near, or there was literally a date set on the calendar where his death sentence would be executed. He knew that his days were short. So if you read Second Timothy, you can feel the weight, you can feel the urgency, you can feel his heart as he's talking to his spiritual son.
In 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 6, he's talking about, "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near." There were other times where Paul would talk about himself as a preacher of the Gospel, a co-heir in the Kingdom, a co-laborer with Christ, an apostle, or the least of the apostles. There were different times where Paul would talk about his duty in the kingdom of God, but now he's saying, "My life is like a splash of wine on the altar. It's here for a moment; it'll be gone the next. It is quickly evaporating away. The time for my departure is near. The final boarding call is flashing on the screen. There is no more delaying; it's time for me to go see Jesus face to face."
And this is how he reflects on his life, and here is the challenge he leaves: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith." Or in other words, "I'm good. My days have been spent. Some were wasted, but since I met Jesus that day rolling on my way to Emmaus, I'm telling you now they have been used unto His glory. I fought the good fight, I ran my race, and I kept the faith," inferring to my spiritual son Timothy, "You do the same."
"And now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord Jesus Himself, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for His appearing." Based on how I used my days, I may find myself one day face to face with Jesus Himself on that day, and I will receive a crown. Our natural reaction will be to take off that crown and lay it at the feet of the King over every king. But here the Apostle Paul is telling his spiritual son, "If you want to find a deep sense of peace in that moment on that day, from this day, fight the good fight, run your race, and keep the faith."
"But Dan, I've already wasted so many." From today, fight the good fight, run the race, keep the faith. "Hey yo, Dan, if you knew what I've done, you'd know that I'm disqualified." Uh-uh! Jesus, by His blood shed on a cross, power exerted through an empty tomb, calls you qualified. So, man of God, woman of God, fight the good fight, run your race, and keep the faith.
If you're writing down notes, you can pull out your leather-bound journals and your pens right now and scribble a few things down. I'm not saying you need to take notes to get to heaven; I'm just saying, why take a chance? You know what I'm saying? Get to the end; it's like an open book quiz. I'm messing around—it's not true at all. But I've always found that it's helpful just to write some things down and review it later. I'm telling you, you have a 300% greater chance of retaining material if you review it within a 24-hour period.
Okay, now having said that, 82% of all statistics are made up on the spot, and that statistic sits within that 82%. Just full disclosure, guys. But you get the feeling, you know what I'm saying? Scribble this stuff down. I say it all the time: iPhones and iPads, you can open up the note app and thank the Lord Jesus for Steve Jobs as you do so. That's a wonderful piece of technology you have right there. All the Google devices and Samsung devices, you can put them away. I've got nothing for you and your friends for the rest of this message because you mess up our group text with your green bubble energy. Like, it's so invasive; it's so presumptuous, you know what I'm saying? Like, we all on the same page, homie, and we got like the blue, and it's so cool, and it feels like, "Yay, we're all together in this." And then one person—boop!—it all goes green because homie got a deal on a Samsung phone at a strip mall.
I'm messing around. You can take notes too. However many days you have left, I promise you that you can find yourself with a deep, deep sense of meaning, with a great sense of progression, with a profound sense of redeeming them if, first and foremost, you choose to fight the good fight.
You got to fight the good fight. Now, when the Apostle Paul is saying "fight the good fight," what's he strongly implying? There are a lot of fights in the earth right now that aren't that good. And you got to understand, in the Scriptures, when you see the word "good," the word "good" usually is synonymous with God. That's the reason the time when Jesus was rolling around and that rich young ruler ran up to Jesus and said, "Hey, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And then Jesus turns around and says, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except for God alone." Jesus wasn't denying His deity; He was just telling the young rich guy, "Hey, wait a second, you don't know who you're talking to, and you don't know how much there is in this word 'good.'"
So when here Paul is saying "fight the good fight," he's literally just saying right now in the earth there is a fight that is raging. There is a battle that is rolling. There is a war that is humming in the earth, and there is a God fight between darkness and light, the kingdom of Jesus and the kingdom of death. You have to align yourself, your effort, your energy, your gift, your talent, your treasure—all towards a kingdom of light that is going to forcefully push back a kingdom of darkness. You got to fight the good fight.
But so many of us get distracted fighting over things which Jesus didn't bleed for. We get worked up over things that Jesus says, "You do know there's some other stuff going on in the earth that's actually going to have eternal impact." So what are you fighting for, and who are you fighting with? And is it actually a good God fight? Because I can guarantee all of y'all are going to fight over something because you all are American, and Americans don't mind a good fight. That's the reason you all have the most combative national anthem on planet Earth.
So differently than the Australian anthem—Google it later. The Australian anthem is all about, "Hey, you're on a beach, so chill." Australians let us all rejoice, but we are young and free, and we got like wealth for our work, and we have like gold in our soil, and our land is girt by sea. Literally, we have a beach—grab a coconut, hang out. Not the American national anthem! In your DNA, you got bombs and guns and flares. There's a dude in a jail cell somewhere looking through the window watching a battle rage on. There's a flag that's waving, and it's a beautiful part of American culture. It makes men and women brave; it gives men and women a sense of right and wrong.
And that's the reason America has a history of trying to be a force for good in the earth. Americans, in general, aren't afraid of a fight. The problem is, because we aren't afraid of a fight—not trying to offend anyone—you can find yourself fighting with people or fighting over things which, in the grand scheme of eternity, come on, is not a God fight.
Oh, how I wish I could give you supernatural spectacles for a couple of minutes to go around your community right now to see what is actually raging on in the earth—the battle not against flesh and blood but between principalities in spiritual invisible realms. I'm telling you now, you would get so far less worked up over trying to convince people about your worldview on Facebook. Can I get really into your business right now?
All right, the people that you're fighting with on Facebook will not be convinced. Like, sanity doesn't convince craziness. So why are you burning your sanity becoming crazy trying to deal? You know what I'm saying? Say, "You know what? No, I'm not going to get distracted by things that are so temporal, so fleshly, and so bloody. No, no, I'm going to get focused in on a kingdom fight that's raging in the earth. I'm going to fight to make sure that the gospel of King Jesus is boomed loudly and clearly. I'm not going to try to convince a fool of foolish ways. I'm going to understand what the message of Jesus is and make sure that's the loudest thing about my life."
I'm going to see the people around me as people that God has put into my circle to fight for. Come on, there need to be some men and women here in the room who are going to start fighting for their children and believing that as you pray over them, as you speak over them, they're going to walk forward with a kingdom identity, with a sense of value and worth attributed to them by the blood of Jesus and not how many followers or likes they have.
Come on, you need to fight for your family. You got to show up in church on Sunday ready for a fight. So often we show up here and we ask the question, "What am I going to get?" All right, I'm here; I'm hoping that we're going to sing my favorite song. I like that song. Oh, I love that song. I'm all about that song. Oh man, I hope Pastor BR is like playing the drums today because I like him. I hope she's playing the—I hope she—no, no! I hope Pastor BR—no, no! Show up here ready for a fight!
There are people around you who have been walking in darkness all week. It's your responsibility to start shining light in that space. Come on, fight by opening up a door for someone who feels that Jesus has closed the door to them. Come and fight by creating space in your row so people who have not experienced the love of God can experience it right by your side. You may have walked in this morning not feeling like praising God, but knowing that your praise is going to break the chain on someone to your left or to your right. You better show up ready to fight!
In this election year, let the loudest thing about your life be the commitment you have to the glory of God and the extension of His kingdom. Make noise for whatever political party you have; it is your right here in America. But know that if that is the loudest thing about your life, you worship something, but it might not be King Jesus. Let the loudest thing about your life—come on, let the wildest fight about your journey—be about His kingdom, His church, and His glory. Amen!
Fight the good fight. Number two, run your race. Turn to your neighbor and let them know you're going to run your race. Come on, turn to your other neighbor and say, "Hey, second choice, you got to run your race as well." Get your mind around that. Each and every single one of you have a race to run, and if God gives you breath, if God gives you another day, it means that your race is not done yet. Run your race!
The book of Hebrews, chapter 12, tells us that Jesus is the one who marked out this race for you. How dare you sit there feeling small, insignificant, and overlooked when Jesus, the King of the universe, who flung stars into space, also drew up the game plan for your life? Run your race!
I know it's hard because we live in a day and age, and it's a fruit of social media, where we live our lives looking at everyone else's race, and we get crippled by comparison. We get distracted by competition, and we think that our life is valued relative to the people around us when nothing could be further from the truth. He looks at you and says, "I love you. I get you. I'm intimately acquainted with you, and I've marked out a race for you to run." So how dare you not run it? Run your race!
My son Josiah is the most American out of our family. We moved here when he was 11 years old, and he embraced all things Americana. He eats biscuits for breakfast—sounds disgusting to me; that's what he has for breakfast. Played every kind of sport because when we first got here, we kept getting asked, "What sport does he play?" We thought it was a part of our immigration agreement to have the kid play sport. So he's there trying everything—tried some football, tried some basketball, even ran a season of track.
When he went along to the track team, the coach says, "You're going to run the 300-meter hurdles, kid." Never run 300 meters in his life, never jumped a hurdle in his life. But I thought to myself, "Maybe the coach sees something that we haven't seen before." So I'm kind of getting excited, going to the first track meet. Maybe this is like an undiscovered talent that gets unearthed today. This is like a Disney movie!
So we're there, and before we know it, his event comes up. Bang! The starter gun goes off, and my son takes off as fast as he can. After 50 meters, he is winning! He's got no form over those hurdles; he's jumping as high as he can, running as fast as he can. But after 50 meters, my son is winning, and I'm freaking out. I'm going, "This is a freakish skill that we have just unearthed! The D1 college offers are going to start flowing in!" I'm like Googling on my phone, "Where is the 2028 Summer Olympics?" I'm thinking to myself, "This is amazing!"
Well, after 100 meters, the rest of the group kind of caught up with my son. At the 150-meter mark, my son started falling behind. By the 200-meter mark, my son was totally spent. He didn't have energy anymore to jump over the hurdles. He was doing this by the last 50 meters. He didn't even have the energy to kick the hurdles over anymore; he was doing this.
Now, I don't know who won that race. I'm pretty sure I know and am related to the one who came last in that race. But I'm 100% sure there was a Chinese guy standing up on his feet at TL Hannah High School, screaming at the top of his lungs, "I love you, buddy! Keep on going, champ! We're with you, buddy! Don't stop! Just finish, buddy! Just finish!"
Now, if I would do that for my son, how much more would your loving Heavenly Father boom in your direction? "Keep on going, buddy! I love you, champ! But I tripped—it's all good! Get up, let me dust you off, and keep on running!"
"But I run so slow—it's all good, buddy! I'm just watching you finish your race!"
"But it's been years since I've run—it's all good! You get to make a decision today—just keep on running!"
"Love you, champ! But I run with a limp—it's all good, buddy! All the best! Just keep on running!"
You have a grace to bring to the table. You have a gift to be used for His glory. You have resources trusted into your hands. You have experiences that are going to impact people that I could never impact. Run your race!
Thirdly and lastly, come on, from today, fight the good fight, run your race, and keep the faith. Keep the faith! Everyone say, "Keep the faith!" Keep the faith! Come on, because it's Australia Day, say it like an Australian: "Keep the faith!" Keep the faith!
Oh, that was good! This little ripple of Australiana rising up from this little outpost of the kingdom of God—I love it! Keep the faith! When I tell you to keep something for me, it means that you can lose it. If I tell you to keep something, it means that you can exchange it. If I ask you to keep something for me, it means that you have the power and the capacity to not take care of it.
So here Paul is like going, "Hey, with whatever days you have left, make sure you're always just fighting the good fight, running your race, and keeping the faith." Faith is the belief that the best is yet to come. Faith is an unshakable confidence that God is still in control and up to something good. Come on! Faith is the belief that even though it's raining outside, the clouds will break, and the sun will shine. Come on! Faith is the belief that He can work all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Keep that! Because I've seen way too many people over the last couple of years exchange their faith for other things. Some of us have made a bad deal in the last couple of years. Some of us have exchanged a surrendered faith unto the glory of God for the path of least resistance. I've seen that as a pastor everywhere I travel. Like, spiritual temperatures have dropped; fires have burned dim.
My theological and my sociological theory is that because a lot of us deal with religiosity and legalism, we've historically done things for God, thinking that if we do things for God, good things will happen to our lives. Then 2020 happened, and all of our spiritual disciplines got thrown out the window. But here's the kicker: nothing really changed. We still had money, still had a job, still had good things in our lives.
So some of us wrongly assumed that, "Hey, you know what? I can do the bare minimum unto God, but my life will keep on going forward and be pretty good." The only problem is Jesus never said that the life that He came to give you was the fruit of the path of least resistance. The life He came to give you—full freedom, full impact, full power—is actually the fruit of surrender.
Some of us need to come back to the exchange table and say, "All right, God, I don't want the path of least resistance. I want a faith that takes my breath away. I want the kind of faith that's going to get me out of the boat again. I want the faith that's going to get me walking on water again. I want the kind of faith that's going to speak the dead things—I believe they're going to rise again. Come on, I want that kind of faith!"
Come on, don't exchange faith for a path of least resistance. Some people have exchanged faith for fear. Have you noticed people are more fearful today than they were a couple of years ago? Things spook people more. Like a news story, like some kind of just a conversation at work about, "Oh, did you hear about what's happening over here in this corner of society?" And man, the world's going—you know, people who were historically courageous men and women have now exchanged this faith and this confidence for fear. You get spooked so much easier.
One year ago, there was a news story floating around America about a Chinese spy balloon. Remember that story? I didn't hear about it. I had someone—two men at my church back in South Carolina come and tell me about it. It's around this time last year, January-February. I had two men—I'm talking about manly men, you know what I'm saying? Thick, lush-bearded men who put oils and berries in their beard, kind of men. Kind of got big trucks, got to lift them anyway, kind of men. I'm talking about like kind of leasing land in Kansas to shoot all kinds of deer, kind of men.
They came up to me, and they're freaking out. I'm in the atrium, and they say, "Dan, what are you going to do about the Chinese spy balloon?" Time out! First of all, why do you assume that I can do something? Do you think like I get a card when I get born—the hotline to the CCP, you know what I'm saying? Second of all, most likely, guys, it's not a spy balloon. Knowing America, most likely it's a gender reveal gone wrong because y'all take this boy-girl thing way too seriously. Pop that mug; it's probably like pink confetti going to come out!
And even if it was a spy balloon, you do know China doesn't have to send a balloon into the sky to listen to all of your conversations and know all your business because right now, sitting on your lap is literally a device designed to listen to all your conversations and know all your business. Like, "KN, how, homie? What's the weather like in Beijing?" You know what I'm saying?
So you don't have to worry about a balloon in the sky. You got something in your hand. And even if there is a spy balloon in the sky, guess what? I know who made the sky! And even if it's watching me, guess what? I know who's watching that—my God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. So why are you freaking out so much? Why are you so scared of wars and rumors of wars? Why are you so worried about this moving society or this waving culture?
Again, use your God-given right to have a voice in this free nation. Go for it! But don't put your faith or your hope or your trust or your peace into a man or a woman who doesn't have the power, the ability, or the sovereignty to provide it. Put your faith, faith, come on, in a God who's on the throne, come on, in control, on your side. That's where your confidence comes from!
Amen! Keep the faith! Even right now, I know in my spirit there are some people in the room who are going, "Dan, that's me. I've lost something. I exchanged something. I let the enemy steal something." I'm here to let you know God today has His exchange counter open, and whatever you found yourself with at the end of a couple of years of craziness, He's like going, "Hey, let me give you back bright, shiny confidence, giving vision, stirring, breathtaking, skin-tingling, mind-blowing faith again!"
Come on, get back to that exchange counter! All right, my keyboard brother's up there just to let me know that my Beggar's Pizza has arrived. Don't you just love it when the keyboards play? You can just feel Jesus that much more! Come on, give us an example of that. Let's get—let go, bring it in! Come on, let's go! Some like good minor keys, you know what I'm saying? That make us all feel receptive, emotive, and responsive. Let's go! Come on!
on Mar 10, 2024
