Redeem Your Time

Eph 5:15-21

 

1. Now we are passing the halftime of the year 2007. As Psalmist expressed, our times “quickly pass”, and our life “fly away.”(90:10) Even though we know that time is the most precious gift of God and our life is composed of time, we easily waste our precious time. While some waste so much time unused productively because of idleness, some waste so much time too busy for improper use. Every morning God fills our magical purse with 24 hours, and in the evening it is gone. If a day is worth 1,000 dollars, God gave us 365,000 dollars in the beginning of this year 2007. Now, you have already used 180,000 dollars. What have you purchased with that money? Have you used God-give time well or wasted much? 

2. Paul gives advice for us to use time wisely: “Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”(15-16a) Why? It is “because the days are evil.”(16b) Here “the days” primarily means the latter part of 1^st century, but it comprehensively means “eschaton” when the power of darkness and that of light makes constant battle. Satan robs the most valuable thing of your possession that is your time. God gives you the grace of time every day, but Satan tries to rob it from you. It is like a child whom his father gave some very valuable thing to keep well but who exchanged it with a pack of candy by being deceived by a liar. We keep money very carefully but not time. So, Paul admonishes us emphatically: “Be very careful” to be a wise time user. To use time carefully and wisely is to “ex-agorazo” time, that is, to redeem time. Time is given like a valuable coupon, but if we do not redeem it, it becomes useless and worthless. Therefore, to save our time, we have to use it actively.  

3. Then, how can we redeem our precious time? First, we have to “understand what the Lord’s will is.”(17) Time is given to us not for our free use but to fulfill our mission. Being still alive and filled every day into your purse means that you have something to do that God expects for you. Many people use so much time and money to get more time, but it is foolish that they do not sincerely think what to do in those times. Simple animal survival is not the will of the Lord. The Lord’s will is the reason of your existence. You have to understand what it is. It is not decided by you but by the Lord who owns your life and time. This will of the Lord for you is individually different. But Paul gives some broad idea. Negatively speaking, it is not the fruitless and shameful deeds of darkness such as “sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people” or “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking”(3-4) or “debauchery.”(18) Positively speaking, it is the fruit of light such as “goodness, righteousness and truth”(9) and most of all, it to “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”(2) Life is not vacation but mission. Your time is not yours but the Lord’s. Therefore, do not use any time to participate in sinful activities to satisfy your fleshly desires, vanity or pride in word and deed, but devote your whole time for the holy activities to please the Lord, whether you work or rest, whether you are in home or work or outside, and whether you are alone or together. To redeem your time and make the most of every opportunity, set the priority and content before the Lord and make the schedule to keep it. Free time makes problem and give chance for Satan. 

4. Second, “be filled with the Spirit.”(18b) What kind of spirit fills your mind in a given time? When you obey God and are conscious the will of the Lord, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. But, when you are engaged with the sinful activities in word or deed, you are filled with the worldly and evil spirit of darkness such as immorality, impurity, pride, greed, jealousy, hate, distrust, or anxiety. To avoid it and be constantly filled with the Spirit, Paul suggested some secrets: “(1) Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (2) Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, (3) always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (4) Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”(19-21) 

5. We live in a society that makes us easily waste time. According to US News and World Report, an average American spend 6 months at stoplights, 8 months to open junk mails, 2 years in unsuccessful calls, and 5 years for waiting in line. If we are not very careful to use time wisely, much of our life will be junk, disobeying God. We have to learn and train how to redeem time: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”(Ps 90:12) We have to reflect our use of time and wake up to redeem our time and life for the mission of the Lord: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”(14) Amen.