Greetings,
What does time mean to you or me? What did it mean to people in Noah’s or Lot’s day? A minute would have been 60 seconds; an hour would have been sixty minutes; a day would have been twenty-four hours, etc. They would have had their own terminology for a particular span of time, but the span would be just the same as it is for us today. The span of time, however, is the only common denominator.
The stark difference between the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and God’s called out ones today is described this way by the apostle Paul, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16) The difference is in how they valued their time. A fool values a span of time only in terms of how fully he or she can pursue their own carnal self-will. Earlier in the chapter, Paul describes some traits of carnal self-will as: fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, idolatry, foolish talking and coarse jesting. All of these selfish qualities would have been the norm in Sodom and they are some of the same traits that permeate our culture today.
But to the wise, Paul says, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17) A wise person values time in terms of how fully he or she can use it in order to come to understand what God’s will is in every aspect of his or her life and then pursue it. The wise walk circumspectly – they walk carefully and introspectively, lest they fall into sin. They seek to “be followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2) We are to be redeeming -– buying back, making better use of — the short time we have today as we approach Christ’s return.
David described the time we’ve been given as “but a breath.” James compared it to “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Both are wise analogies that were inspired by God to stir us out of complacency by helping us to realize that our time truly is short. And like that vapor that appears and then vanishes away, none of us knows how long we will live.
The parable of the rich fool drives the point home. Christ spoke of a rich man whose ground yielded plentifully. The man decided to tear down his old barns and build bigger ones to store all his crops. He reasoned thus, ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then who’s will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:19-21) The problem of this foolish man wasn’t in producing abundant crops. It was that he wasn’t redeeming his time. If we constantly think only of ourselves, we will see no need to redeem the time.
Redeeming the time isn’t about not having crops or possessions. It’s not about living a boring or uninteresting life. It is about living an abundant life that doesn’t revolve around “me.” It’s about coming to understand God’s will as it applies in the circumstances we live through each day so that we can walk like Him. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5: 8)
Marshall Stiver
