16. Redeeming the time—(Col 4:5). Greek, “Buying up for yourselves the seasonable time” (whenever it occurs) of good to yourselves and to others. Buying off from the vanities of “them that are without” (Col 4:5), and of the “unwise” (here in Ephesians), the opportune time afforded to you for the work of God. In a narrower sense, special favorable seasons for good, occasionally presenting themselves, are referred to, of which believers ought diligently to avail themselves. This constitutes true “wisdom” (Eph 5:15). In a larger sense, the whole season from the time that one is spiritually awakened, is to be “redeemed” from vanity for God (compare 2 Co 6:2; 1 Pe 4:2–4). “Redeem” implies the preciousness of the opportune season, a jewel to be bought at any price. WAHL explains, “Redeeming for yourselves (that is, availing yourselves of) the opportunity (offered you of acting aright), and commanding the time as a master does his servant.” TITTMANN, “Watch the time, and make it your own so as to control it; as merchants look out for opportunities, and accurately choose out the best goods; serve not the time, but command it, and it shall do what you approve.” So PINDAR [Pythia, 4.509], “The time followed him as his servant, and was not as a runaway slave.”

because the days are evil—The days of life in general are so exposed to evil, as to make it necessary to make the most of the seasonable opportunity so long as it lasts (Eph 6:13; Ge 47:9; Ps 49:5; Ec 11:2; 12:1; Jn 12:35). Besides, there are many special evil days (in persecution, sickness, &c.). when the Christian is laid by in silence; therefore he needs the more to improve the seasonable times afforded to him (Am 5:13), which Paul perhaps alludes to.

“Redeeming” is exagorazō (ἐξαγοραζω), “to buy up.” In the middle voice as it is used here, it means, “to buy up for one’s self or one’s advantage.” Metaphorically, it means, “to make a wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good,” so that zeal and well-doing are as it were the purchase-money by which we make the time our own” (Thayer). “Time” is not chronos (χρονος), “time as such,” but kairos (καιρος), “time as regarded in its strategic, epoch-making, seasonable, opportune seasons.” The 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. “Evil” is not kakos (κακος), “evil in the abstract,” but ponēros (πονηρος), “evil in active opposition to the good, pernicious.”

The wise are asked to watch carefully how they walk. One might initially interpret this in light of the vulnerability of the children of light to stray from the way of goodness, justice, and truth (5:9). It is more likely, however, that watching carefully should be understood in relation to 5:16—exploiting the moment to the full, because the days are evil. The meaning of that line is not immediately clear, however.

The Greek behind exploit (exagorazō) means “to buy” or “redeem” something; in its middle form (as here) it can also mean “to buy off” or “pay off” someone. If interpreted in the latter sense, the wise “pay off” wrath (alluded to with the phrase the evil days) and thus “redeem the time” (BAGD: 271), much the way Christ “redeems” those under the curse of the law in Galatians 3:13 and 4:5. Time is thus “saved” from wrath (Barth, 1974:578; Best, 1998:505; Lincoln: 341).

A less fanciful and more common interpretation understands the word exagorazō in a “commercial” sense of “snapping up all chances at a bargain that are available” (R. Martin, 1991:66; so also at Col. 4:5). Applied to time, it means “gobbling up every available opportunity” (E. Martin: 200; cf. Büchsel, 1964a: 128; Schnackenburg: 235). Time is not neutral, but it is laden with opportunities to be seized—hence the term kairos (“opportune time”) rather than chronos (time as “duration”). To watch carefully how one walks is thus to “purchase” every opportunity to expose the darkness (5:11) and thus to participate in the redemption of time, the transformation of darkness into light (5:13–14).

What lends urgency to this call? Interpreted in light of Paul’s typical apocalyptic eschatology, time is to be exploited because it is short. The evil days are the time of intensifying crisis before the day of judgment and redemption (cf. the evil day in 6:13). Similarly, Romans 13:11–14 exhorts that since the day of salvation is nearer than ever, believers are to “take off the works of darkness” (TRYN; cf. Eph. 4:22; 5:11), “put on the weapons of light” (TRYN; cf. Eph. 6:10, 14–18), and say no to drunkenness and sleep (cf. Eph. 5:14, 18; 1 Thess. 5:2–8). In short, the wise had better know that they are living in the last days and that there is no time to waste. Whatever time there is must be used to get ready for the day of redemption.

I. Guard Your Time, 5:15–16

Time management is big these days. “Habit 3” in Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is, “Put first things first.” One statement in particular from that chapter jumps off the page: “ ’Time management’ is really a misnomer—the challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves” ([New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989], 150). Covey is right. And the Apostle Paul was ahead of us all. Here’s what the apostle had to say about the use of time:

(1) Don’t expect help from our culture in time management. Using time well is an exercise in priorities. Everyone has exactly the same number of minutes in a day. Some people use time well and get the right things done the right time; others, however, waste time both in inactivity and in poor priority.

I went to college at seventeen; I was not mature. I did whatever the guys around me did. If I needed to study but the guys wanted to play dominoes, I played dominoes. I let the people around me set the agenda. I wanted to be with and in the group more than I wanted to be a serious student. I wasn’t doing anything necessarily bad; I was just leaving undone the good—and that’s how I was “bad.” Now I see all the neighborhood gathering places dotted with sports bars and places just to “hang out.” Go to those places; they will help you “pass the time.” But they won’t help you “make the most of the time” (5:16a).

(2) Paul put a Christian interpretation on time management. Because we are Christians, we are actually soldiers in Christ’s army. We are under orders. This is not in our text, but it is implied. “Be careful then how you live” (5:15a). He does not mean be careful of how you get out of bed, but rather be careful because you live in a culture that will seduce you. “The days are evil” (5:16b).

It’s not that taking in a ball game or going to a show or dinner with friends is immoral. The problem lies in a different place. I can do only so much of that and still do what the Lord requires. I do very little that is just outright wrong. I do a lot of stuff, however, that keeps me from accomplishing God’s work. So for me, “getting it all together” means doing all that the Lord expects of me and then doing the light and pleasant thing. When I prioritize this way, I am wise (see 5:15b).

Nobody has an inexhaustible supply of time. Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work” (Jn 9:4). Paul urged us to make “the most of the time.” A Latin phrase that lingers is “tempus fugit,” meaning “time flies.” Paul knew it. That’s why he told us to make the most of our time, for at the Last Day all of us must give an account of the way we used it.

Life is short (v. 16a). “Buying up the opportunity—taking advantage of it.” An old Chinese adage says, “Opportunity has a forelock so you can seize it when you meet it. Once it is past, you cannot seize it again.” Our English word opportunity comes from the Latin and means “toward the port.” It suggests a ship taking advantage of the wind and tide to arrive safely in the harbor. The brevity of life is a strong argument for making the best use of the opportunities God gives us.

The days are evil (v. 16b). In Paul’s time, this meant that Roman persecution was on the way (1 Peter 4:12–19). How foolish to waste opportunities to win the lost when soon those opportunities might be taken away by the advances of sin in society! If the days were evil when Paul wrote this letter, what must be their condition today?

As we obey His will, we “buy up the opportunities” (redeem the time, v. 16) and do not waste time, energy, money, and talent in that which is apart from His will. Lost opportunities may never be regained; they are gone forever.

On redeeming the time:—

I. DIRECTIONS. 1. We must redeem time by sincerely repenting of sin and devoting ourselves immediately to the great business of life. 2. We must redeem time by considering the various ways in which we have wasted it, and avoiding them for the future. 3. We must redeem time by forming a wise and judicious plan for the regulation of our conduct, and firmly and conscientiously adhering to it. The immortal Alfred, one of the best of kings that ever filled the British throne, divided his time into three portions, allotting eight hours to sleep, recreation, and meals, eight to public business, and eight to private study and devotion; and by constantly adhering to his plan, he accomplished the works and acquired the wisdom which have excited the admiration of posterity. Dr. Doddridge adopted nearly the same plan, and by that means he was enabled to educate so many young men, to preach so frequently, and to leave the world those various writings which have enlightened the minds and aided the devotion of multitudes. Colonel Gardiner always set apart two hours in the morning for devotion, and if his troops had to march at six o’clock he rose at four to commune with God, and like his Divine Master prepare for arduous duties by fervent prayer. 4. We must redeem time by forming habits of activity and diligence. It requires great labour to improve time as it comes—what then must it require to redeem it? Should a husbandman or mechanic have lost any time in his work, he redeems it by extra exertion; in like manner should we redeem the time which we ought to have spent in serving God and preparing for eternity.

II. REASONS. 1. The merciful purpose for which time is granted, and the greatness of the work which we have to perform. 2. Because the period in which we can redeem time is not only very uncertain, but may be extremely short. The goldsmith gathers up every particle of gold. The very least which he can discern he deems too valuable to be lost. Can you, then, willingly suffer the loss of your precious moments, when worlds on worlds cannot buy one of them back again? Many who are now on the bed of death or passing into eternity, would part most gladly with all the wealth they have amassed, and all the fame they have acquired, for another year, or another month. While time lingers for you, improve it. Conscientiously set apart its hours as they come to the highest purposes. 3. We should redeem time because of the eternal consequences which will result from the use we make of it. As our time is given us by God, He will call us to account for the way in which we have spent it. Every day therefore brings with it an awful responsibility. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)

Redemption of time:—To redeem is to reclaim by price, or recover by labour, that which has been lost or alienated; or to preserve by prudence that which is in danger. A metaphor taken from the practice of merchants, who observe the favourable seasons of buying and selling, of making profits and repairing losses, who keep regular accounts of their expenses and gains, and often inspect their affairs, to know whether their interest is in progress or decline.

I. It is here supposed that TIME IS PRECIOUS. 1. It is precious, because we have much business on our hands; business which relates, not to our bodies only, but to our souls; not merely to this life, but to the whole duration of our existence. 2. It is precious, because it is short and uncertain; and our work must be done soon, or it never can be done at all. 3. It is precious, because part, and with many, the greater part of it is gone already. What remains is increased in value, as it is contracted in length. We had none to waste at first; we have need to be frugal now.

II. WE MUST REGAIN THE TIME WHICH IS LOST. Time past, indeed, cannot be recalled. Each moment, which flies off, is gone for ever, and will return no more. Like the wind, it passeth away and cometh not again. But we do the best we can toward the recovery of lost time, when we reflect with sorrow on follies past, and resolve to be wise in future.

III. WE MUST USE PRUDENCE TO SAVE, AND DILIGENCE TO IMPROVE, THE TIME THAT REMAINS. In vain you pretend to lament your past folly, unless you apply your heart to wisdom. Godly sorrow will work in you carefulness. 1. Enter on your work speedily. 2. Attend to your work with diligence. 3. Guard against the things which rob you of your time. (1) An indolent habit is inconsistent with laudable actions. It creates imaginary, and magnifies real, difficulties and dangers. It enervates the powers of the body, and stupefies the energy of the mind. (2) A versatile humour is active, but wants patience. It flies from object to object too rapidly to appropriate or retain any. Time is lost, because nothing is prosecuted to effect. (3) An excessive fondness for company and amusement is the cause of much waste of time. Diversions may be innocent: but then they must be (a) well chosen; (b) wisely timed; (c) moderately used. (4) Do every work in its season. Attend with discretion to the calls of duty, and you will save much time and prevent much loss. It is so in your worldly business. Make a good arrangement of its parts, and take up each part in its order, and yon will execute the whole with facility and success; while your improvident neighbour, who leaves all his matters in confusion, and takes hold of his business as it happens, and usually at the wrong end, is always embarrassed with cares, straitened for time, and disappointed in the result. This attention to seasons is no less necessary in the work of your salvation. 1. Youth is the most promising season. Then the work is most easy, and attended with fewest obstructions; and then there is the fairest prospect of Divine concurrence. If that season is past with you, take the present; for the future is uncertain, and the difficulty of your work and the indisposition to attempt it will increase by delay. 2. The time of health is more favourable than a time of sickness; for you are now more capable of intense thought and persevering application, and better able to prove your sincerity. 3. There are some tender seasons, when the conscience is awakened, serious sentiments impressed, and good resolutions excited. Improve these seasons. 4. There are seasons friendly for particular duties. For your daily devotions, choose the hours when your mind can be most free from the occupations of the world, that you may attend on God without distraction. If you would advise or reprove a friend, take a time when you can speak to him in private; when you feel your own mind affectionate, and think his to be calm and tender; when you can address him inoffensively, and he may hear you dispassionately. Also in doing works of charity, observe opportunities. 5. Wisely divide your time among your various duties. Lawful things will become criminal in you, if they occupy your time so far as to exclude other things of greater importance. The duties of religion are consistent with each other, and may be made to harmonize in practice. If they interfere, it is because you throw them into confusion, and your time into disorder. Distribute your seasons properly, and arrange your works prudently, and you will find there is a time for everything. (J. Lathrop, D.D.)

Redeeming the time:—First: In the duty there is the act and the object. Both must be explained. 1. The act, buying; or, as we render it, “redeeming.” Well, then, what is the meaning of “redeeming the time,” or buying the time? The term is proper to civil contracts, but is here applied morally. (1) In buying there is some price paid; we part with one thing to obtain another; so we must part with anything less than it rather than lose time; as Prov. 23:23, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” As merchants stand upon no rate or price if they may get such wares into their hands as they may make benefit of, so time is such a precious commodity, and so useful to us in order to eternity, that we should not stand upon ease, carnal pleasures, and worldly conveniences, that we may purchase it. (2) That which is bought belongeth to the buyer; and so buy time to make it your own for spiritual advantages. But our translation useth the word “redeem,” which implieth another metaphor—namely, the recovery of a mortgage, or the redeeming of what hath been lost or pawned out; and so it noteth our former improvident misspence of time. We have, as it were, mortgaged it to Satan, to the world, and to vanity, and now should redeem it out of the hands of these engrossers, and by future diligence recover our former neglect. 2. The object—“the time.” The word properly signifieth the season and opportunity, but yet it is the usual word for time in Scripture, for to a Christian all time is season. Time in general is but short: “But this I say, brethren, the time is short” (1 Cor. 7:29). But the season or opportunity, which is the flower of time, is shorter; therefore this must not be slipped: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men” (Gal. 6:10). Secondly: The reason by which this duty is enforced—“Because the days are evil.” 1. For the meaning of the phrase. (1) It may be understood of the whole course or race of man’s life: (Gen. 47:9). Time in itself is neither good nor evil, but in regard of the accidents of time, as it is encumbered with variety of vexatione, cares, and miseries, so our days may be called evil. And in this sense we must take that of our Saviour (Matt. 6:34). Every day bringeth evil enough and sorrow enough to exercise us. Therefore you had need to lay up for a better life, for you have but sorry evil days here. (2) More properly and specially it relateth to the times the apostle wrote in, which were hard and calamitous, and full of danger, because of the wickedness of those among whom they lived. There were many enemies then, both to Christian verity and piety. 2. The force of the consequence. (1) Because others vainly misspend time, Christians should be more careful to redeem it. The worse the times are, the better should we be, as fountain water is hottest in the coldest weather, and stars shine brightest in the darkest night. (2) Adversity makes men serious. (3) With relation to the heathen among whom they lived, he advised them to redeem the time (Col. 4:5). (4) Some are so bad and froward, that they would take away liberty, estates, yea, life itself from you, and with it all occasions of doing and receiving good. You carry your own lives in your hands, and the lives of many of God’s precious instruments are in danger; and therefore, before means and opportunities be wholly lost, redeem the time. That it is the duty of Christians to look to the due improvement of the time and season. I shall draw out the force of the apostle’s exhortation in this method. I. The commodity or thing to be bought. The word signifieth time and season, the general and particular opportunity. 1. Time. (1) If you have not begun already by conversion, it must not be delayed and left to uncertainties. The sooner you begin to buy time, the better bargain you will have; for every man would have as much for money as possibly he can, therefore take the market while it is at the best (Eccles. 12:1). (2) After you are once admitted into the evangelical estate, your whole time should be redeemed and spent for God (Luke 1:75; Rom. 6:10). 2. The season: buy it, whatever it cost you. The season of receiving good and of doing good. II. The use we must put it to when we have gotten this commodity into our hands. It is a precious commodity; you should never let it go but for something better than itself. There are two great ends, the glorifying of God, and the saving of our own souls. Thirdly: I shall now proceed to the encouragements to the bargain to redeem time and season. First: Let me press you to redeem the time. 1. Too much time hath been spent already (1 Pet. 4:3). 2. We are to be accountable to God for time. 3. That time is only yours which is spent well, in pleasing God, and doing good; for that time is bought and redeemed which otherwise is lost to you. We lose all that time which is not spent in the love and service of God. 4. Time is not ours to dispose of at pleasure. A Christian, when he giveth up himself to God, he giveth up everything that is his to God. My time is not mine, but Christ’s. It is sacrilege to rob God of what is consecrated to Him. 5. Time is a precious commodity, worth the looking after. The devil values it; if he can cheat you of your time, he can cheat you of your souls; for when conviction is strong, and all your prejudices are borne down, and his outworks taken, excuses and self-flatteries vanish. The last thing that he is loath to let go is time; his game is to cheat you of to-day, and so of the next day. God saith, “To-day” (Heb. 3:13); and the devil saith, Not to-day, but at a more convenient season; as Felix put off Paul (Acts 24:25). 6. The present time is the best: “I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments” (Psa. 119:60). Ludovicus Cappellus telleth us of a Jewish rabbin, who being asked when a man should repent, answered, One day before his death; that is, presently, this day; it may be your last in the world: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). 7. You have no time bug what may be serviceable for some good use. There is no time wherein thou dost not enjoy some blessing to provoke thee to thankfulness, or hast not some sin to be mortified, or some good work to be done. We have a great deal of work to do in a short time. 8. We have much work to do, therefore let us spend it in matters that most concern us. We all complain of the shortness of time, and yet everyone hath more time than he useth well. We should rather complain of the loss of time than the want of time. In the general, use time well. If it be short, do not make it shorter by your negligence and improvident misspending of it. A thing that is hired for a while, it is a loss to us if it be not used and employed; as a horse that is bargained for if he be kept idle, or money taken up at interest. So it is with time lent us by God for a while; we pay dear for it if we use it not, and improve it not for God. It is good to see what advantage we make of time daily. One could say when he heard the clock strike, Now I have another hour to answer for. 9. The slight price we are to give for time. You part with nothing but what is better lost than kept; with a little ease of the flesh, vain pleasure which passeth away as the wind, a little worldly profit, which at death will be of no use to thee. Now these are of no worth in comparison of time. 10. The necessity should quicken us, because there are many things which are apt to steal away and engross our time, and therefore must be redeemed; as—(1) Sloth and idleness. (2) Vain and sinful pleasures, and carnal sports. (3) Worldly distractions. (4) Vain company; they steal a jewel from us they can never restore, which is our precious time. Secondly: Why we must redeem the season. 1. Because all things are beautiful in their season. It is said that the good man “is like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season” (Psa. 1:3). Now, fruit in its season is a carriage answerable to all providences (Matt. 9:15). 2. Because the season may soon slip out of our hands (Gal. 6:10). Take and seek all occasions of doing good. To take the season relates to the necessities of others; to seek the season relates to our own capacity and ability; both together bind the duty stronger on us. We must not defer a benefit. Some are like hogs, good for nothing till they are dead; they will not part with anything till they are incapable of the use of it any longer. So for exhorting (Heb. 3:13). So for serving public good (Acts 13:36). They that mind to do good in the world engage themselves in a warfare, and the loss of our season is no small part of the enemy’s conquest. 3. This is wisdom. Some are wise in time, others too late; as the foolish virgins; they saw a necessity of getting oil into their vessels, but it was too late (Matt. 25:10). But the godly make much of time before it is lost. 4. The foresight and provision of the creatures may shame us. God will not only teach careless men by His prophets and messengers, but by His creatures. There is a great deal of morality lieth hid in the bosom of nature if we had the skill to find it out. In this business of redeeming the time we are sent to the pismire (Prov. 6:6, 8). 5. Most of the calamities of the world come for not observing and improving the season (Eccles. 8:6). I. Reproof of several sorts of men. 1. Of them that wilfully spend their time vainly, either in doing nothing, or doing what they should not, or in doing evil. 2. It reproveth them that delay their conversion and return to God; as those invited to the marriage-supper did not deny, but delay (Matt. 22). 3. Reproof to fallen believers, who do not take the next advantage of recovering themselves by repentance. The longer sin continueth unmortified or unpardoned, the more dangerous is your case. A candle, as soon as the flame is blown out, sucketh light and is re-enkindled; but when it is grown cold and stiff, it requireth more ado. 4. It reproveth those that withstand the special seasons of grace, when God’s arms are most open to receive us. (T. Manton, D.D.)

Redeeming the time:—Literally to comply with this exhortation of the apostle, is not in our power. Sooner may we stop the revolutions of the orbs of heaven, and arrest the sun in his course, than recall the years that are past, the days that are gone, or even the moment which but now is vanished. But by quickening our pace in our Christian course, and increasing our industry in every good work, we may, in some sort, retrieve the losses of past time, and make up for our former tardiness and waste of life. This is the duty to which the apostle exhorts; and a very solemn duty it is upon us erring and accountable beings. To the discharge of it, we have as strong motives as can affect the human mind. Time in itself is the gift of God, produced for us by His continual agency; and, therefore, not to be wasted or abused. It is by the power of the Deity that we are upheld in being. Again: The importance and magnitude of the business of life gives infinite value to every moment of it. Evidently, to exercise faith and exhibit obedience, to purify our nature and to acquire Divine habits, with a view to an immortal existence beyond the grave, is the primary object of our present being. Once more: We should be moved to obey the apostle’s exhortation by the solemn consideration that we are accountable for our time. Life is the first, the greatest, and most wonderful talent with which we are entrusted. Nor is it given to us merely for our sport. It is something which we are to use for our own benefit and our Maker’s glory. And this leads me to observe, further, that we should be engaged to this duty, and excited to very great fidelity in it, by a sense of the goodness of God in yet prolonging our days. Finally, we should be induced to an immediate compliance with this apostolic exhortation, by reflecting upon the uncertainty of life; and that the longer we defer the duty, the more complicated and arduous will be the task. (Bishop Dehon.)

Redeeming the time:—Bishop Morton, of Durham, lived to a great age (ninety-eight), and few men made better use of their time, for he was never idle. He was often up at his devotions and study before four o’clock, even after he had reached fourscore years; yet he seldom went to bed till after ten, and then had always a man-servant to read some book to him till such time as sleep overtook him. When he travelled in his coach, he took care not to lose that time from study, carrying with him always some portion of his library. (Memoirs of Bishop Morton.) “As you cannot overtake Time, the best way is always to be a few minutes before him.”

Redeeming the time:—

I. THE VALUE AND POWER OF TIME. God’s estimate of it very high. The one gift He gives His creatures sparingly. Millions of flowers, gems on the fingers of Nature, burning on every landscape. But not so does God give time: only one moment at a time, and never that until the previous one has been taken back. Also, we may see the power of time from the lives of men who have carved their way from obscurity to fame. They achieved their success entirely from perseveringly employing spare moments wasted by others. And time is irreparable; once gone you cannot recall it, be your grief never so deep and your regret never so unfeigned.

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF REDEEMING AND HOW TO DO IT. Time equally given to all; so all have the same responsibility. He that has a soul to be saved from eternal death need not have one idle moment. He that has a heaven to win, has enough to do to occupy all his time. They redeem their time who employ it—1. In gaining useful knowledge. 2. In doing good to others. 3. In employing it for the purpose of gaining an honest livelihood. 4. In prayer and self-examination to make the heart better. 5. In seeking salvation, and endeavouring to do the will of God. There are several temptations to waste time which we should avoid. 1. The allurements to sinful pleasures and amusements. 2. Novel-reading. 3. Temptations to ambition, spending time in self-aggrandisement. 4. Dissipation. 5. In wild and visionary plans. 6. Luxurious indulgence in dressing, eating, drinking, and overmuch sleep. Determine, then, to redeem your time by—1. Usefully employing it. 2. Methodically employing it. 3. With an eye to God’s judgment day employing it, rescuing each opportunity from the chains of sloth, ease, and listlessness. (G. T. Dunney, M.A.)

Redeeming the time:—What is the “time” meant there? How can we in any way “redeem” this “time”? The question may be answered by considering our state and relation to the present, and the invisible worlds. “Time” has been defined as “the consideration of duration, the measure of it, as set out by certain periods, and marked by certain measures.” Time is but a fragment of eternity, and we obtain the best idea of it, perhaps, from the revolutions of heavenly bodies, as the sun, moon, and stars, although it is difficult to make clearer by philosophy the intuitive idea we all have of its relations and fleeting nature. The clearest idea may be given of time, to a thoughtful mind, by one standing on the banks of a mighty river; he beholds the flowing waters glide along in a powerful volume, taking complexion from all things round; he views the floating bubble, the fallen leaves, the scattered branches of trees, or various boats or living beings constantly borne away; he stands rapt in contemplation, not knowing what is above or what is below his vision, but he finds all life and time hero imaged, vividly, and all rapidly pass away into the vast ocean of eternity. Time, however, has only reference to man. To the omniscient God all periods, beings, circumstances, and seasons, are present and alike. This results from the perfection of the Divine nature. But time has an important relation and bearing to man. It means the period of his life; his opportunities of doing evil or good; a trust and a talent confided to his care. In the apostle’s exhortation there is embodied a fine metaphor, taken from the practice of enterprizing merchants, who diligently look for the proper season of buying and selling; and who deny themselves, or readily part with their own mere pleasure for the sake of gain or property. Wisdom and skill thus combine with perseverance in obtaining the best goods for the best market and profit. Thus the Christian seizes old Father Time by the forelock, and uses every lawful opportunity for promoting his own spiritual happiness and the eternal welfare of his fellow-men: this is what Christianity positively demands; and this is what the true Christian delights to do.

I. THE MERCHANT redeems or improves the time. We behold him employ his capital wisely, and find him sedulously attentive to all his worldly interests, so arranging all his business and regulating all the affairs of traffic that he knows how he stands in the world. What a lesson may the Christian learn from him! Ought he not to know in what state he stands before God? Ought he not to examine carefully whether his spiritual concerns are safe—declining or improving?

II. THE FARMER redeems or improves the time. See how carefully he prepares the seed and the ground, early and late in season. His watchfulness is ever alive, his cares never cease, while he looks for the dew and air and light of heaven to bless his fields with abundance and joy. Here, again, is a lesson for the Christian. For sowing Divine truth in the mind and doing good in the world is but acting as the farmer does in his fields. Sow broadcast and constantly the seeds of holy truth. Seize upon time, and redeem it from the world to God.

III. THE PHILOSOPHER, STUDENT, OR STATESMAN redeems or improves the time. No man ever rose to any eminence who did not wisely employ time. Our narrow space of days is so brief, that we must treasure well its moments. It is prime wisdom to use time as the gift of God. Behold the pale student with his books; often by the midnight lamp he ransacks tomes of the ancient or illustrious dead: see, though the sober light of thought settles on his cheek, though hectic fever fills his veins, and may flush his damp brow, yet he never tires in the pursuit of important knowledge. Thus the philosopher tests, by science and reason, the mysteries of nature, and with noble perseverance he draws forth some secret into the full daylight of knowledge; and thus the wise statesman studies the complicated webs of political or moral life, and penetrates with the keen eye of sagacity the undercurrents of human government, and the bearings of moral action. No student of books, nature, or men, is satisfied unless he adds daily to his stores of knowledge. Hence he is an economist of time. If even one day has borne no fruit of advancement to his hope, he sighs over lost opportunity, and exclaims, with the Roman Emperor, “I have lost a day!” And yet he has only tasted, not exhausted, the springs of knowledge! Other fields possess intellectual treasure; other Alps command a purer heaven! The purest philosophy, the noblest study, the highest statesmanship, are those which the Christian is invited to spend his life in mastering and acquiring!

IV. THE CHRISTIAN redeems or improves the time. We can behold this from the life of a consistent child of God. He lives not for himself, but for Him who died for him and rose again. All his thoughts and actions are regulated by the standard of Divine truth. The discipline of his heart and the duties of life are referred to this sacred test. (J. G. Angley, M.A.)

Ver. 16. Redeeming the time, &c.] Or buying time; a like expression is used in Dan. 2:8 which we render, gain time; but in the Chaldee text it is, buy time; and so Jacchiades, a Jewish commentator on the place, renders it, העת הואת אתם נמכרים, ye buy this opportunity; and the Septuagint version uses the same phrase the apostle does here; but there it seems to signify a study to prolong time, to put off the business to another season; but here taking time for a space of time, it denotes a careful and diligent use of it, an improvement of it to the best advantage; and shews that it is valuable and precious, and is not to be trifled with, and squandered away, and be lost, as it may be; for it can neither be recalled nor prolonged: and taking it for an opportunity of doing good to ourselves or others, it signifies that no opportunity of discharging our duty to God and man, of attending on the word and ordinances of the Gospel, and to the private and public exercises of religion, of gaining advantage to our own souls, or of gaining the souls of others, and of doing good either to the bodies or souls of men, should be neglected; but even all risks should be run, and means used to enjoy it: in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, זמנא, time, comes from ובן, to redeem: the reason the apostle gives for the redemption of time is, because the days are evil; as such are, in which iniquity abounds, and many wicked men live, and errors and heresies prevail, and are days of affliction or persecution; see Gen. 47:9.

16. Redeeming the time (Col. 4:5) [exagorazomenoi ton kairon]—‘Buying up for yourselves the seasonable time’ (whenever it occurs) of good to yourselves and to others. Buying off from the vanities of “them that are without,” and of the “unwise” opportunity, each opportunity afforded you for the work of God. Special seasons for good occasionally present themselves, of which believers ought diligently to avail themselves. This constitutes true “wisdom” (v. 15). In a larger sense, the whole season from one’s spiritual awakening is to be “redeemed” from vanity for God (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2; 1 Pet. 4:2–4). ‘Redeem,’ ‘buy up’ (like buyers on the watch for a favourable market time), implies the preciousness of the opportune season: a jewel to be bought at any price. Make it your own, as a master will buy, so as to have at command a good servant. Cf. Dan. 2:8; LXX. [The ἐκ in the compound verb refers to the time or circumstances out of which in each case ‘the opportune time’ is to be bought (Ellicott).] because the days are evil. The days of life are so (Gal. 1:4) morally beset with evil that we should make the most of each opportunity of good whilst it lasts (ch. 6:13; Gen. 47:9; Ps. 49:5; Eccl. 11:2; 12:1; John 12:35). There are evil days (in persecution, sickness, &c.) when the Christian is laid by, therefore he needs the more to improve all seasonable times afforded (Amos 5:13). Time generally serves the evil: buy it up for good.

1. Redeeming the Time (vs. 16). First, to walk wisely means that one will make the most of every opportunity—“redeeming the time” (vs. 16). The Greek word for “redeeming” is a market term meaning “to buy out” or “purchase completely.” “Time” is the translation of a Greek word that came to mean something rather like “opportunity.” To “buy out the opportunity” is to make the most of one’s time, to pay the price in effort and exertion that is necessary in using it. TEV has “make good use of every opportunity.”

The Greeks represented the concept of opportunity in sculpture by a youth with wings on his feet and back, having long hair in front and being bald in back. The suggestion was that if opportunity is grasped at all it must be grasped by the forelock. The application for us is clear: Opportunities for Christian service are brief seasons that soon slip by. The wise Christian will recognize them and use them while he can.

A reason for redeeming the time is given in the words “because the days are evil” (vs. 16b). The reference is to conditions unfavorable to the Christian. These must never be taken as an excuse for relaxation but as an incentive for greater earnestness.