Does the Bible tell us, "Don't waste your life"?

But, thank God, this is not the choice of Christian young men and women. Yet Christian as you may be there is a possibility of making a wrong use of your life, or not getting the best out of it. Christians, alas! may lead carnal lives, may live on a worldly respectable level, and yet fall very far short of what their life should be. You may succeed in your profession, in your business, in your work, in your family, and leave little in your life for God and eternity.

You, young Christians, are in a very important stage in your life. The most of it lies before you. What are you going to do with it? Is it to be self or Christ—self-centred or Christ-centred? If the former, however successful you may be in the eyes of the world, you may be able to bequeath a fortune, houses, lands, stocks and shares; if that is all your life it will have been a ghastly blunder; but if you live for Christ, for God, for eternity, you will be wise indeed.

He has chosen us and ordained us with a great end in view. "that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain." I would urge that upon those who have recently come under the gracious authority of the Lord. If His purpose in choosing and ordaining you is realised you will not have lived in vain. You might spend your time and talents on the world and climb high on the ladder of fame, but all that would come to nothing, for the earth also and all the works that are in it shall be burnt up, but if you are subject to the Lord's will your fruit will remain; time shall not spoil it, death will not destroy it, it will abide for ever. For this you have been chosen and ordained.

He has chosen us and ordained us with a great end in view. "that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain." I would urge that upon those who have recently come under the gracious authority of the Lord. If His purpose in choosing and ordaining you is realised you will not have lived in vain. You might spend your time and talents on the world and climb high on the ladder of fame, but all that would come to nothing, for the earth also and all the works that are in it shall be burnt up, but if you are subject to the Lord's will your fruit will remain; time shall not spoil it, death will not destroy it, it will abide for ever. For this you have been chosen and ordained.

Oh, for souls consecrated to Christ, devoting themselves and their all to Him—the rejected but soon-coming Lord—instead of wasting their time and strength and golden opportunities in self-interest and the ten thousand follies of this “Vanity Fair,” only to discover, at the close, that the one chance they had to “live unto Him” was flung selfishly away—never to be recovered again. The loss shall be theirs indeed, but it must be His as well.

By the grace then that has saved you, Christian reader — the grace that will put the top stone to the work by landing you in glory with and like Christ at the blessed moment of rapture, we call upon you to awake from sleep and lethargy, and like Caleb, wholly follow your Lord. As an added incentive we remind you that your whole career here is to be scrutinised before the judgment seat with corresponding reward or loss in the coming kingdom. You have but one life to live! Be in earnest.

We have but this one little life to serve Him in the place of His rejection, and how great the loss if we live for self instead of living to Christ. God grant we may not miss the mark as to this.

But, speaking in a general way, you have your life before you. What a responsibility! You may answer to it in the right way, or you may not answer to it. This is a very serious matter, because, while the Lord works on His side, and as we have been hearing just now about temptations coming to try our faith, and develop our Christian character, God often has to send these things into our lives to attain these results in our souls. But there is our side. You have your life before you. You are going to make it, by God’s grace, a real success, or failing of that grace a failure, or, it is possible, actually dishonouring to the Lord. What kind of decision do you think of arriving at tonight in regard to your life? Is the thought of all the solemn character of the death of Christ, and all that He passed through to win you for Himself, going to control your life, to touch your affections, so that you will not live to yourself, but to Him that died for you and rose again?

Yet, alas! one may take these matters on religiously, outwardly correct and right, and yet not counting in our affections each day in relation to Christ. Mary and Joseph had fulfilled their days; no deficiency outwardly, but they journeyed a day without Christ. In the numbering afterwards, what anguish and remorse — one day in which they had forgotten Christ. What a solemn possibility with the light of this new day in our hearts! — the like of which has never been seen in the universe before; a day which was already in the heart of God when He planted a garden eastward in Eden — and yet to have the light of it and forget Christ Himself for one day. That is a day you cannot number, a day lost. No day can count if it has not been lived in relation to Christ. The Spirit's day involves that we listen to what the Spirit says in relation to Christ. It took them three days to recover the ground. Evidently, they retraced their footsteps, and were able to number their days again. Thank God — we may too. Luke's gospel is filled with this thought. Jesus says to Zacchaeus, "Today is salvation come to thy house;" to another, "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise;" "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears;" "Day by day teaching in the temple;" each day impressed by spiritual features and teaching.

Verse 12 gives us the first request which it is easy to see, exerts a controlling influence on all the rest. We are but the feeble dying children of Adam, and much is gained if we only recognize that fact. For so long as we do not number our days aright, and consequently imagine ourselves to be something other than what we are, we apply our hearts to pleasure or money-making or sport or a hundred and one things of small importance. When we number our days aright and realize the plight we are in, we apply our hearts to wisdom, and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. But we have to pray to God to teach us to do this, for we shall not do it of ourselves.