Make Your Time Count

Time keeps ticking. Days pass. Life fills up, and before you know it, you’re asking, “Where did it all go?” That’s exactly why Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:15–21 hit so hard. In this week’s Thrive Together message, we leaned into the challenge: Are you using your time well?

If not… it’s time to wake up, choose a better influence, and worship together like it matters.

Walk Carefully

Ephesus was a wild place. Crowded. Chaotic. Physically and spiritually dangerous. And Paul is imploring the Ephesians to be careful how they engage with the chaos.

This is about more than being cautious. It’s a wake-up call. Spiritually speaking, the world around us is just as chaotic as Ephesus was. Cultural pressure. Competing ideas. Temptation packaged as truth. It’s easy to get pulled off course if you’re not watching your step. We can be self-aware of what's around us, or we can coast through life. But coasting spiritually will always cost you something.

Walking wisely means living like you believe what you say you believe. It means being intentionally aware of the dangers and your personal weaknesses. It means guarding your spiritual life while still engaging the world around you as a witness to God’s truth.

So… how are you walking?

Choose the Better Influence

When Paul says, “Don’t be foolish," and “Don’t get drunk, he's saying much more than just the sum of those words. It's about influence, whether you're letting the actions of the world influence or what you consume influence you. The solution is to let God's influence guide you and fill you. In other words, don’t just avoid bad influences, replace them with that which is holy and beneficial. Replace them with the influence of the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesus, drunken pagan festivals were the norm. For us, it might not be festivals, but we’re still flooded with influences: media, culture, relationships, substances, entertainment, even our habits. All of these things shape us more than we realize.

What you fill your life with is what your life will become.

So choose wisely. God’s will isn’t here to limit you, it’s here to give you the good stuff. It’s not cheap chocolate wrapped in flashy packaging. It’s rich, deep, soul-satisfying joy and purpose.

Ask yourself: What’s shaping me right now? And is it drawing me closer to God… or further away?

Worship Together

Paul gives us a rhythm for staying aligned with God’s will:

• Speak the truth of Scripture together.

• Share testimony.

• Worship from the heart.

• Practice gratitude.

• Submit to one another in reverence for Christ.

This is what it means to be the Church. To live connected. To engage in community. To stay sharp and spiritually healthy together.

You are what you eat. And that applies to your soul, too.

If you’re consuming spiritual junk, you’ll reflect spiritual junk. But if you’re regularly feeding on God’s Word, worship, and fellowship, you’ll grow stronger, wiser, and more joyful in your faith.

And let’s be honest...sometimes worship feels awkward. Sometimes we’re the inflatable tube man flailing in the wind while someone else looks like a butterfly. But that’s the point. We don’t do this because we’re perfect. We do it because we belong to each other. There's value in committing, so go all in and commit to a body of believers who love you...no matter how you look when you're flailing through life.

Your Invitation: Don’t Waste Your Days

Are you using your time well?

The enemy will gladly help you waste it. Through distractions. Through false pleasures. Through disengagement. But God is offering something better. He wants you to experience a quality life. So...

• Walk carefully.

• Choose better influences.

• Worship with your people.

  
  

Because time won’t wait. And the days are short.

Watch the full sermon here:

Make It Count | Mt. Olive Church

Whether you’ve been coasting, distracted, or just dabbling in community, now’s the time to go all in. There’s too much at stake to drift. Let’s redeem the time and thrive together.

You’ve only got so many days. Let’s make them count.