Please open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes 3. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1, this text will serve as a jump-off point for a message on the importance of orderliness and regularity and rhythmic lifestyle as a family. I pray this is helpful to families as they consider how they move through their hours that God gives them in the days that He gives them. Ecclesiastes 3, 1, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Now, this passage of Scripture speaks about the use of time and the way that God ordains the use of our time. He does make time for everything for us to do. And I would like to talk this afternoon about the significance of the use of time and the rhythms of time for the making of Jesus Christ the center of your family life. It has to do with the way that you use your time. My encouragement is going to be make Jesus Christ the lodestone of your family. You know what a lodestone is? A lodestone is a magnetized rock. It's magnetite, which is one of the only substances on earth that possesses a magnetic force. And, of course, it's used in compasses for navigation. You know, seafarers used it when they encountered cloudy weather and couldn't see the stars. Magnetite is a magnetic force in your family life, the center of the gravitation. The lodestone would point the needle north on a compass to help often lost souls find their way home. So God gives families time. The Apostle Paul spoke of the necessity of orderliness, particularly in the realm of the church. He said, let all things be done decently and in order. This is a principle that should govern every part of life. It's a particular principle for the church of Jesus Christ. We don't shoot from the hip, we do things in order, in an orderly way. The question, though, for families is, is your family life orderly? or disorderly? Do you have a frenetic and a variable schedule? Is your life characterized by the disorder of irregular sleeping habits? Of course, that might be governed by little baby children in your house. Your sleep time might be irregular for a period. Are you able to keep a rhythm of life? Is your house messy? You know, if you've answered yes to those questions, Consider, you know, if you keep irregular work hours, there's a price to pay. If you can't leave work on time or finish conversations in a timely manner and people are always waiting for you, take note. It has to do with the way that your time is being managed. If you can't get to church on time, examine how you manage your time on Sunday morning. You're in control of it, every minute of it. If you have spotty attendance at church activities because, quote, something came up, don't ignore it. If you can't get your family together at the same time to read and pray together, be warned. These are matters of orderliness. If you're tired and stressed, then consider it. If you're out of control in some area of your life, be watchful. Is this the way you want to live? If these things describe I want to recommend two things. First, embrace the idea that it's your responsibility as parents to give the gift of an orderly life to your children. I'll say that again. Consider it and embrace the idea that it is your responsibility as parents to give the gift of an orderly life to your children. Second, find out what's causing the disorder. Families function best in an environment of rhythm and order. So why is this important? I want to give you several reasons. First, your biblically commanded duties as a family require orderliness. There are very clear commands in the Bible for how family life should be conducted and in order for there to be room for the things that God has commanded for your family, the training of children, the teaching of the Bible, the discipline of children, working together, you know, saturating your home with the Word of God, which is a manifestation of the glory of Jesus Christ, there must be some kind of order. It's very important that you have elements of biblical order in your family life, but they don't happen very well if your family's disorderly. Here's a second reason. God created an orderly world for many purposes. God has ordered the world so that it runs on consistent rhythms. In your Father's world there are fixed daily, weekly, and seasonal cycles, and they regulate life. They're cycles of the rising of the sun. The cycles of the setting of the sun. God made it clear that he desires to regulate the week with the celebration of the Lord's Day. And he calls people to set aside all their normal life and suspend work and experience his day. He calls it a day of delight. He calls it the Lord's Day in the New Testament. So, you know, many of the older writers Particularly the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards was one of them, believed that the pattern of the morning and evening sacrifices in the Old Testament were meant to teach families the rhythm of life, to worship in the morning and evening like clockwork. When the sun rises, worship. When the sun goes down, worship. In the beginning, God created order and He carefully specified how His people were to worship so that the worship of God conducts itself in an orderly manner. You can go to Exodus 40 verse 4 and see a sense of that order that God established, at least for His church and the worship there. Paul instructed a church that God is not a God of confusion. First Corinthians 14, 33, Solomon revealed that without order everyone falls into disarray, where there's no guidance or vision that people perish, Proverbs 25, 28. Disorder makes you unreliable, order's a mark of faithfulness. Disorder renders you fitful and inconsistent, it makes life crazy. Order fosters peace and reliability. Here's a third reason. There are biblical examples and implications that point to orderliness. Well, we pointed to one in Ecclesiastes 3, there's a time for everything. But I want to give you 12 biblical examples to help us see the blessings of regularity. And I believe that these examples teach that a regular schedule is not only a blessing, that it is implied in Scripture. Be good Bereans, see if you agree. Number one, the problem with the sluggard in Proverbs 24, 30 through 32, is that he's disorderly. Number two, Job visited his children in an orderly, rhythmic way, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings. and crying out to God for His children, Job 1, 5. Three, the older women in the church are charged to teach the younger women to be, quote, self-controlled, Titus 2, 3 through 5. Number four, pastors are commanded to manage their households well as examples to the flock will follow their pattern of life, 1 Timothy 3, 5. One writer wrote, the chief cause of parental failure is lack of self-discipline. The chief cause of parental failure is self-discipline, is lack of self-discipline. Number five, Solomon taught that there was a time for everything under heaven. Paul rejoiced in, quote, the good order, unquote, of the Colossian church. Colossians 2.5. The queen of Sheba was astonished at the orderliness and the detail of Solomon's kingdom, down to the smallest household details, how the people were dressed, how the table was set. All of this has to do with orderliness, 1 Kings 10. Paul charged Titus to, quote, set in order the things that are lacking in Titus 1, 5. What Titus was doing in the church is often necessary in a home as well, to set things in order. Number nine, Paul instructs the people in the church of Thessalonica to withdraw from brothers who walk in a disorderly manner, 1 Thessalonians 3, 6 and 7. Number ten, Paul declares to the Thessalonian church, we were not disorderly among you, 2 Thessalonians 3, 7. Number eleven, children's lives ought to be carefully ordered. In Judges, Manoah asks the Lord, quote, please let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born." That's Judges 13, 8. Then Manoah asks the angel how to order the child. Literally he asks, what will be the boy's rule of life and his work? And the word used for order here most likely means the way that he will be brought up. the order of his activities and what he will concentrate on. Number 12, in Eli we find the opposite. He failed to restrain his sons. In other words, they were not brought into order. They did what they pleased whenever they pleased. for Samuel 2, 12 through 26. So I just gave 12 examples that bear witness to the goodness of orderliness. And perhaps this is why Edmund Burke said, good order is the foundation of all good things. Let's talk about the wisdom of rhythms. Wise people find out how things work and they get on the right side of them. That's what they do. You know, if you get on the wrong side of the way things work, you get whacked. And if you don't figure it out, it's going to keep whacking you in the head. Wise people figure it out. And they realize that disorder is no help at all in your life. So it's important to understand how things work so that you can ride the wave of a successful pattern. The most successful men I've ever known, the wealthiest men I've ever known are the most orderly men I've ever known. That's the way it is. They're not running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They're very deliberate, they're very thoughtful, and they don't rush. That's my experience. I'm sure there are exceptions. Here's how life works. Families run better on regular schedules. J.W. Alexander, by the way, he's written great stuff on family life and he has a wonderful book on family worship. I read it last year again and it was very moving. He says this, it is good for a family to have a religious motive to early rising. and timely attention to personal neatness. It is something to have punctuality in the observance of two hours each day enforced from the very dawn of life. Those who may be tempted to put this aside with a smile," and he's talking about family worship, should first institute a comparison in regard to these particulars between any two families of one which worships and the other which worships not. We are willing to abide by the result of the examination." In other words, hey, look around, check it out, find a family that's disorderly and find one that's orderly. Find a family that has time for worship and one that doesn't. We are sure that in the latter you'll find a great looseness of domestic arrangement, tardy rising. an untidy personal appearance, a long irregular time, time-wasting breakfast, evenings without affectionate rally of the house, and late hours of retiring or no fixed hours at all." That's J.W. Alexander in his book on family worship, page 68. Well I agree with him. Consider the spiritual impact. The spiritual impact alone is massive. You know, how much discipline is necessary just to do the simplest thing of reading the Bible in your family? Everything wages war against it, everything. If it weren't all the external forces that wage war against it, how about yourself? You know, everything fights against it. How much discipline does it take for you to read the Bible through with your family in a year? Any suggestions? A lot. There's just a lot of stuff that has to die in your life if you're going to do that. Disorderliness means very little family worship and very little prayer. Sleep, meals, vacations, work, church attendance will all be enhanced or degraded by the regularity of your schedule. On the other hand, the lack of discipline in the face of irregularities of life, pressures, strifes, interruptions, disciplining children, diapers, crying, intercene warfare in your home will create an unprofitable world of mismanagement. You have to learn how to manage those things. This is why an orderly schedule is a massive blessing to all who are in the family. And how does it happen? Well, Children need an orderly life to succeed in the things that God has commanded them to do. Here's some practical everyday things to consider. Because children actually need instruction and training in orderliness. Here's some ideas. Keep rhythmic schedules for rising and bedtime, work and mealtimes. Keep regular schedules. Number two, don't allow your children to be late to family gatherings. Number three, insist that children clean up after themselves. Number four, teach your children to avoid clutter by putting things back where they belong. Number five, don't allow your children to be sloppy with their things. I really appreciated one rule Debra had, about clothing and the management of clothing in our house. Clothing could only be in one of three places in our house. They are either on your body, or they are either in the drawer, or they are in a laundry basket, a dirty laundry basket. They are not on the floor. Nowhere else. It helps to have one simple rule for the management of toys and other possessions. You know, most of the time, I think Deborah wanted to ensure that toys were either in your hands or they were in their predetermined parking place, which was usually a box, a big box that got filled whenever visitors arrived. Okay, look at your life. Find out what makes your life disorderly and take steps to work your way back. The good shepherd wants you to be lying down in green pastures and walking beside the still waters, and your family needs to be able to do the same. Orderliness is maintained by a devotion of priorities. We don't want to be the disorderly people that God told us to withdraw from. Okay. I'll just review the main points that I just gave. First, your biblically commanded duties as a family require Second, God created an orderly world for many purposes. Number three, there are biblical examples and implications that point to orderliness. Number four, there's wisdom in rhythms. And fifth, there's a direct spiritual impact. So, does your family maintain an orderly schedule? Have you allocated time for the things that God requires? Is your family in order in the things that are most important? And if not, why? Well there are very clear commands in the Bible for families in order for there to be room for those things that God has commanded for your family, all the things that God has commanded, then there must be some kind of order. There is a time for everything. But the most important thing in all of this that a family needs to recognize is that of the lodestone. Is the lodestone the chief magnetic force of Jesus Christ, the center of your home? There's really only one great reason to have order in your home, and that is to make Jesus Christ the center of it. so that everything revolves around Him and life revolves around Him. Would you pray with me? Lord, we pray that You would give great success to these families, that You would bless them, that they would be happy places of joyful order, that You would extend Your hand toward all of us and help us to live according to the ways that you have called us to live, that we would do the things that please you. I pray that you would give us all a greater sense of the best use of our time. It's a very precious thing that you've given to us and we thank you that you have given us such a lavish deposit of time. And to know that there is a time for everything. Amen.