Whitnee's journey with Christ

Daddy always said a lot of things! He would  tell me that everything happens for a reason. He once said follow the Golden rule and you will never go wrong. He always used to say a hard head makes a soft behind. The list could go on and on if I tried to write down everything that daddy used to say BUT for the sake of time, I’ll focus today’s message on one thing in particular daddy would always say. 

DADDY TOLD ME THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING.

When I was younger I didn’t realize that daddy had been quoting scripture. If you recall Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time (Easy-to-read-version).

As I was sitting at work things had gotten a little quieter than my first few hours at work so I had time to sit and read the Word. Before I got a chance to dig into something I had my mind and heart prepared to study, I decided to read a page of my devotional book. After reading my devotional, my mind shifted in a different direction.

You see I had planned to finish up a message that I started about two weeks ago but something on my heart said start fresh. My scripture reading lead to the book of Romans, 13th chapter, beginning at the 11th verse.

For those of you who have your Bible this morning read Romans 13:11-14. Meditate on these verses of scripture this morning and I’ll tell you briefly I will put emphasis on verse 14 in today’s message.

Thinking about what daddy used to say I could hear R.E.D. saying it’s a time and a place for everything.

Scripture tells us there is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants. There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance with joy. There is a time to throw weapons down and a time to pick them up. There is a time to hug someone and a time to stop holding so tightly. There is a time to look for something and a time to consider it lost. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away. There is a time to read cloth and a time to sew it. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak. There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace.

God placed it on my heart to ask those reading today’s message DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS? We are living in a time when grandparents are out living the grands due to gangs, drugs, sex, and greed. We are living in a time where it’s easier to get a gun as a black boy then a college education. Yes a time when it is acceptable to have 5 kids, 5 different baby daddies, and twice divorced.

Today’s message is not to cast judgement on anyone or any particular situation but to shed light on the choices we make. The choices we make today will either strengthen us or put us in a bad decision- again it’s based upon the choices we make.

Knowing how social media, tv, certain music, certain crowds of folk, etc. affect us we have to make sure to surround ourselves around people who help us make good decisions, who hold us accountable for our actions, who are slow to react but quick to pray, who praise the good and chastise the wrong but pray in and through it all.

For example if I know that I’m a Type 2 diabetic and I don’t have transportation, I don’t need to a friend that drives me to Mesha’s Cakes & More every day to get my “fix” knowing how it is affecting my health. No I don’t need to be posted up at the Obama Store knowing I just clean last month from crack cocaine. Or please don’t take me The Coronet on The Main knowing I just got busted last week for dropping it like it’s hot for some quick cash.

My brothers and sisters we must use the sense God gave us lest we fall into temptation. Our flesh can be weak and the desires of our hearts can be ungodly, we know this. And because we know this we have to have self control, we have to pray and resist temptation, we have to hold ourselves accountable and seek out folks to help us not backslide, and we must pray without ceasing.

We have to stop coming up short and blocking our blessings by falling into sin. We have to make better decisions and stop setting ourselves up for failure.

It’s time to get ourselves together and get back to loving ourselves, loving one another, helping our neighbors, checking on our families, visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and being good stewards of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So as I bring today’s message to a close I want you to evaluate yourself and examine how you are spending your time. Are you wasting it by being angry with your brother or sister, are you holding grudges, are you setting yourself or your children up for failure by the decisions you are making, are you making your mom and dad sad and hopeless, are you destroying the love in your home?!!

When we know better we do better. Are you helping or hurting your current situation? Are you seeking God through prayer, reading His Word, meditating and fasting? Remember it’s a time and a place for everything- don’t be the one who doesn’t know what time it is!