Redeeming Time
“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
Redeeming time is such an important thing to understand. In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul lays out all that Christ has done for us, and then in chapter 4, he says to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. We are called to walk in unity, love, newness of life, and sexual purity. When we get to the next section in Ephesians 5:15, it says that we are to walk in wisdom. Walking in wisdom means far more than what we know, it's how we translate what we know into how we live. A Christian could have all the knowledge in the world and still be a biblical fool if that knowledge is not translated into how they live.
The first thing Paul tells us we need to do after he talks about walking in wisdom is to have a shrewd stewardship of our time. The word there is "redeeming" the time, buying it up because the days are evil. The Christian who wants to walk in wisdom understands that one of the ways they walk in a manner worthy of the gospel is by considering the use of their time a matter that matters to God. We need to redeem our time because our time is short. We're not promised a long time. Our life is an hourglass that has been turned over. Not only is our time short, but our time is also uncertain. You don't even know what your life will look like tomorrow. You may have dinner in 90 minutes and you might not make it there. Wealth can be lost and rebuilt, but once your time is gone, it's gone forever.
We must redeem our time because God has appointed for every single person a work that they are to do while they are on earth. God did not just give us a general macro-assignment, He has given us a micro-assignment. That's why Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." There is a real element where you have been crafted and saved by God so you would walk in the specific works that He has assigned to you before time began. You cannot fulfill the works God has given you to do if you do not have a stewarding of your time. That's why Jesus says in John 9:4 "We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work." When He says that to His disciples, we can also assume that it's given to us today. We have been given work to do by God and we are going to give an account for if we did that work.
There are massive ramifications for redeeming our time and so many ways in which we could waste it. One of the ways in which we can be faithful stewards is if we maximize and leverage the time allotted to us for God's glory. The people who will hear, "Well done, My good and faithful servant," are the people who understand Christians don't kill time, they redeem it. Why? Because the days are evil. Paul said the days were evil 2,000 years ago, and what was true then is true now. But that word for time that he used is interesting. It means the eras and the epochs are evil and every Christian has been put into a period of evil. We are to take stock of the evil around us so we can say with Mordecai, "I am here for such a time as this." In order for us to be wielded as a weapon for God's glory and the advancement of the gospel, we don't have time to waste. These days are evil, and God has put us here for these evil days.
Redeeming your time matters.
