Redeeming the Time!

Living a Bold & Victorious Life!  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 4,765 views
Notes
Transcript
VICTORY
Living a Bold & Victorious Life!
Redeeming the Time!
Ephesians 5:15-17
Have you ever thought about how much emphasis we place on the consideration of time. We measure our lives in years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. We measure time between birthdays, events, births, deaths…
Ephesians 5: 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Each new day brings us 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86,000 seconds, each moment a precious gift from God each calling for us to be good stewards, mindful that one day we must give an account for how we spent the time God loaned us, how effectively we "bought up" the opportunities He provided. If someone gave us $1440 each day and said spend it or lose it, how diligent would we be to comply? Yesterday is but a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is all of the cash that you have. Spend it wisely. As Dr. Benjamin E. Mays succinctly wrote:
I have only just a minute, only 60 seconds in it; forced upon me; can't refuse it; didn't seek it, didn't chose it. But it's up to me just how I use it. I must suffer if I lose it, give account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it.
A survey asked "What do you have to live for?" to which 94% answered they were just enduring today and living for tomorrow. That is living unwisely! Too many people miss today because they are worrying about tomorrow (Read Jesus' advice Mt 6:34-note). Worry does not make us ready but unready to redeem the time. As Adrian Rogers said "We face the future out of breath, because we have been fighting tomorrow's battles today!"
Wisdom is taking every opportunity today and fully using the time granted us. We have each been given the same amount of time but the difference is how we redeem this divine gift. Instead of killing time, redeem it. Instead of counting the days, make your days count. As Spurgeon rightly observed "'NOW' is the watchword of the wise." LATER may be too late! Right NOW counts for ever. As the great church Father Elvis, once sang: It’s now or never.
"Time is the seed of eternity." To make our life count for eternity, we must be wise in how we spend our time today.
Paul uses three Greek words that translates to 3 English phrases that are very instructive about our use of time. The first being found in verse 15: 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
The command to "be careful (present imperative = to make this vigilant attitude our lifestyle) how you walk." The idea is we as believers are commanded to continually take heed, be alert, be vigilant, to discern with Spirit enabled vision. This command which calls for us to continually live our life wisely and continually dependent on and filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The second word is REDEEM. 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. It is the Greek word exagorazo which literally means to "buy out of the market place." The picture is of a merchant who diligently seeks to buy up the best bargains in the market place, taking care not to miss the fleeting opportunities! REDEEM is in the present tense which calls for us to make it our lifestyle, our daily, moment by moment practice, to buy up for ourselves (to our eternal advantage) the strategic opportunities which God providentially places in our path. If we are walking wisely (Eph 5:15-note), filled with God's Spirit (Eph 5:18-note), we will be spiritually alert to those divine opportunities in the "marketplace", and will begin to view people and circumstances not just as encounters (or irritations) in time but as opportunities to impact eternity.
The word TIME (Gk = kairos) is better translated OPPORTUNITY and refers to a fixed and definite period of time during which something can be accomplished that cannot be accomplished after the time has passed. The idea of kairos is not "clock time" (Gk - chronos) but what one writer refers to as "kingdom opportunities." Wuest adds that Paul's "idea is not to make best use of time as such, which is what we should do in the sense of not wasting it, but of taking advantage of the OPPORTUNITIES that present themselves."
The time/opportunity for bringing forth fruit is the spring SEASON (kairos) in which the tree bears fruit, in contrast to late autumn, when there is no fruit. And so kairos is the time which God allots to each believer to bring forth for themselves "spiritual fruit." This truth calls for us to "Seize the Day" (Carpe diem) because "Time flies" (Tempus fugit).
Time is a strange commodity-we can't save it, retrieve it, relive it, stretch it, borrow it, loan it, stop it or store it , but can only use it or lose it. We can't call time out in the game of life. Indeed, there is no such thing as a literal "instant replay." That appears only on film.
THE THREE WISEST WAYS TO REDEEM YOUR TIME.
( Three areas that when time is invested in…they yield the greatest return )
SPEND TIME WITH GOD
The wisest way to redeem my time is making a decision that God is going to get the first and the best of my time. And in order for that to happen…I have to say “no” to some things so that I can say “yes” to HIM.
Good News Magazine - “As Christians, we are given Biblical priorities, and our time must be carved out to fulfill that calling. When there is a conflict of interest, something must go.”
The problem we often encounter is this: Our lives are busy…cluttered with all kinds of things that use up TIME. Sadly…what frequently happens is…while we declare God is the most important thing in our life…He ends up getting shuffled somewhere down the list and He gets whatever time we have left…if there is any.
This crisis / pandemic has certainly slowed most of us down. I think it’s one of the silver linings. Because…we live in a fast-paced society…that demands our time. It won’t be long and people will be running themselves ragged.
Every day…we must determine that God is going to come first in our daily allotment of 24 hours. God shouldn’t have to compete for your time.
C.S. Lewis - “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.”
Before things get back to “normal”…why not consider a “new normal”? What things do you need to say “no” to…so that you can say “yes” to spending more time with the LORD and on His purposes.
If you’ll spend more TIME with GOD…He’ll give you the time of your life!
SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY
Maybe you’ve heard about the little boy that asked his dad how much he made per hour and then because his dad was always too busy to play with him…the little boy asked if he could buy a half-hour of his Daddy’s time.
Sometimes because we are so busy…time spent on our family can suffer. Again…I think one of the silver linings of this crisis we find ourselves in…is families are spending much needed time together. It’s almost as though God is using this to give us an opportunity to hit the “reset button” on life.
When this is all over…we must guard against becoming work-a-holics. There will always be something else that needs to be done. Sometimes those things need to wait.
We must be careful that we don’t allow our own “leisure” activities to take the time that would be better redeemed on our family. (golf)
We’ve all said, “Just a minute…” or “In a little while…” Maybe it’s time we make sure we redeem our time more deliberately on our families.
The time for investing in your family is now:
If you don’t invest in your marriage today…you’ll be sorry tomorrow.
Once your kids are grown…you can’t go back and relive their childhood. You can’t go back in time and train them to live Godly lives.
Make sure you aren’t spending all of your time making sure that your family has a great tomorrow at the expense of making sure they have a great today.
Time is limited…and one of the wisest places you can redeem it…is on your family.
SPEND TIME ON OTHERS
I’ll never suggest to anyone that redeeming some time on yourself isn’t important. Even Jesus had to get away. But…Scripture is clear…self…shouldn’t be our focus.
When I was growing up…taking pictures was an ordeal. We’ve been looking through some old pictures recently that were taken when a real camera…rather than a phone. And something struck me…the one taking the picture is never in the photo. The focus is always on others. Today…the “selfie” is king. Many even have a “selfie stick”. The selfie makes me the focus.
We aren’t redeeming our time wisely if we’re preoccupied with self.
Jesus spent most of his time with 12 guys. Two of these guys…James and John…seemed to have been quite concerned with climbing the corporate ladder at JESUS Inc. They wanted the highest position in Jesus’ organizational structure. And Jesus told them how to get there. In Mark 10:43-45 (TPT) , He said, “If you want to be the greatest one, then live as once called to serve others. The path to promotion and prominence comes by having a heart that serves everyone.”
Jesus said that serving others is one of the wisest ways you could ever chose to redeem your time. Serving others…not yourself…is the way to get ahead in His Kingdom.
Life’s camera only has a certain number of pictures that can be taken…we’ve got to take less selfies.
Question: How are you spending the time you have…making a difference in the lives of others? Who in your life could you redeem time serving this week?
CLOSING
If you want to make your life count for something…you need to redeem your time on things that count. What are those things? What are the non-negotiables in your life?
What can you do…starting today…to convert your time into greater value? It could be that you are going to need to alter some choices in order to best redeem your time.
God loves you! He loves you so very much! And He wants you to understand how to use the time you’ve been given…so that you can get the best return on the time you spend.
He’s not trying to keep you from enjoying life…not at all. The opposite is true! He’s the One who wants you to experience life to it’s fullest. He loves you and wants you to understand how to use the time He’s given you to it’s greatest potential.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more