THE ACTIVITY TRAP
Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning and evening, April 18, 1999, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia:
THE ACTIVITY TRAP
By Michael D. O’Neal……Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church…… Albany, Georgia
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 20:38-43
Text: 1 Kings 20:40
1 Kings 20:40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
Introduction: The prophet pretended that he had been in a battlefield, where he was commanded to keep an eye on a captive. However, he got distracted and the man got away. “… as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” We too often get distracted from God’s commandments by getting busy with our own desires. We are prone to neglect high priority duties while we are preoccupied with lower priority ones. While we are busy with INSIGNIFICANT things, the IMPORTANT things are GONE.
If we are not careful:
I. WHILE WE ARE BUSY EARNING MONEY, OUR SERVICE TO GOD WILL BE GONE
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
So many believers today won’t trust God and put their proverbial foot down about Sunday work and overtime that they allow themselves to miss church and can’t be involved like they should.
A. They lose the opportunity to be laborers
B. They lose the opportunity to be leaders
I visited a lady yesterday who was saved in an independent Baptist church in another state. She said she and her husband did almost every job you could do in a local church. Now they have a successful business here. They have a nice home. They are busy following the dollar, and they are not serving God.
If we are not careful,
II. WHILE WE ARE BUSY WITH EXTERNAL MATTERS, OUR SPIRITUALITY WILL BE GONE
Colossians 3:1-2 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
A. Prayer to God is more important than the paper (news channel, computer, or whatever)
B. Soul-winning is more important than success in this world
C. Bible study is more important than breakfast
If we are not careful,
III. WHILE WE ARE BUSY ENJOYING OUR MATES, OUR STEWARDSHIP WILL BE GONE
1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. Luke 14:20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
A. We should not put fine meals before foreign missions
B. We should not put frivolous toys above faithful tithing
* Cars, boats, houses, land, condos, computers …
C. We should not put figuring our retirement money above furthering our Redeemer’s message
If we are not careful,
IV. WHILE WE ARE EXAMINING OUR MATERIAL GOODS, OUR SOULS WILL BE GONE
Luke 12:16-20 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
A. You cannot plan your own time to be saved
B. You cannot predict your time of death
C. You cannot protect or preserve your earthly possessions
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
If we are not careful,
V. WHILE WE ARE BUSY EATING MEALS, OUR STRENGTH WILL BE GONE
Proverbs 23:20-21 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Psalms 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
A. Eating fat endangers the heart
B. Excessive feasting enfeebles the health
If we are not careful,
VI. WHILE WE ARE BUSY ENJOYING THEIR MINDS, OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS WILL BE GONE
2 Samuel 18:33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
A. And they will miss out on our vision for them
B. And they will miss out on our values
If we are not careful,
VII. WHILE WE ARE BUSY WITH ELEGANT MANSIONS SINNERS WILL BE GONE
Psalms 142:4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
We can get so preoccupied with
A. Watching television that we don’t witness to the lost
B. Washing clothes that we don’t win converts