On Sunday we had the joy of meeting online again! It was so awesome to have our kids memory verse and our kids song included! I preached on Ephesians 5:15-17 about the need for us to walk wisely.

The main idea: to be wise is to walk in God’s world, God’s way, for God’s glory. We do this by: 1) carefully reviewing our walk (v.15), making the best use of the time (v.16), and understanding the will of the Lord (v.17).

The sermon recording will be up soon, go to sgparra.org.au/sermons to listen to it. Here is the Zoom video

I wanted to give a few extra points that i didn’t make on Sunday.

How to make the best use of the time in the pandemic:

1. Live one day at a time

Let the pandemic teach you to live ONE day at a time. We don’t live in years, months or even weeks…we live one day at a time, full of minutes and seconds…which we can use to glorify Him now!

Matt. 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

2. Homeschooling

For many mums (and Dads) we now have a huge new responsibility: home (pre)schooling our kids! Now this is obviously a massive change of gears for many of us. It will be hard and difficult. Many of our sins and the sins of our kids get diverted to our workplace or the school yard…but now they are going to be happening at home to each other! But as great as this new trial will be, it can be an awesome opportunity to train your children in their obedience, character, knowledge of God. A time for constant gospel rehearsal. It will be a time for your own personal sanctification. A time to seek God for strength, help, repentance, and power! Don’t waste your homeschooling moment! Not everyone is going to like it, some will love it, but wherever you sit, don’t waste it! Perhaps now is the time to read: ‘Shepherding a Child’s Heart’ by Ted Tripp or ‘Parenting’ by Paul Tripp or to watch his Parenting videos

3. Working from home

Similarly, many of us are now forced to work from home. This too is an opportunity to make the best use of the time as we cut down on commutes, etc. We can spend time improving our relationships with our housemates - whether they be parents, friends, siblings, spouses or children! We now have a new opportunity to “love our neighbour” with more time and attention!

4. Extra time

Some, though not all, of us now have the opportunity for more God honouring leisure. We can read good literature, go into nature, watch good television and movies (not trash!), complete household and yard chores and fulfil the creation mandate to cultivate and tend our garden!, wash the car, build that ikea thing, etc etc! Let’s get creative!

5. Isolation

For some of us, we are now isolated and feeling trapped and alone. This is an opportunity to turn toward your ever-present God who isn’t constrained by social distancing. He IS with you! And this is a time to make even more real your dependence on Him!

6. Rest

We now have the chance to rest our bodies, catch up on sleep, and cease from the constant activities we schedule in (play dates, family celebrations, church events, school things, catch ups, etc). We have all been serving so well on Sunday’s, but now most of us are off the roster! Enjoy the break, thank God for it, and make sure you are well rested in body and soul so that when the world comes out of hibernation, you are ready to go! You could even try practicing ‘sabbath’ by doing all the housework on Saturday’s and having your Sunday’s completely free from duties!

7. Think about death in this time

We rarely want to think about our own mortality or the mortality of those we love. But this crisis is placing it before our eyes every day in statistics, warnings, and stories. Rather than suppressing these unwelcome thoughts, this is an opportunity for us to deal with them with our bible in hand. To reaffirm the beauty of the gospel and our hope of heaven. To prepare ourselves, our friends, and our families for the long tomorrow by leading them to Christ. Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”