Things seem to creep up on us now and then, age and life’s problems gather in our time. How can a person know when the time is up? What can we do to be prepared for the coming storms of our lives? Where can we go to find the answer to the age old questions like these?
Let’s look- In His Word!
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm
yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has
ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh
for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our
past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles -- when we walked in lewdness,
lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In
regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the
same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to
Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the gospel
was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to
men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 1 Peter 4:1-6
See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16
I was thinking about my children
growing up, and wondering what they will be. As all children their dreams and
desires change with their years as time slips by with each passing day. I
wonder if they will be prepared for life when they are adults, then I stopped
to think about whether I was prepared myself? Do we ever get prepared enough?
We seem to walk around as lost
sheep for the majority of our days then suddenly some revelation hits us and we
know what to do. Even as Christians, or Believers we can find ourselves
wasting time on this earth. But is that what God intended us to do? Why are we
living a full life with out His purpose in it? Or are we?
The Word of God tells us to redeem
the time, to make the most of it, but what exactly does that mean? We can’t go on
thinking of how things were, reliving the past, can we? If we think about it, we
hear in the world all the time the fact that you ‘can’t go back’ in life. But
can you take back time? When I redeem a coupon I am getting back the amount on the paper. 50cents off,
redeemable at the local store. Can we take back time? If I wasted time not
doing His will, can I really get it back?
I don’t think so, but wouldn’t it be nice?
What we can do is to take the time
we have now , and do what we should have done then!
After all that is what Jesus has given us in our new life
with Him… new time! We need to remember that each day is a new day in the Lord!
So what do I mean by that? We can
make it a promise to ourselves to live each day to it’s fullest for His
purposes instead of our selfishness. In other words if you see someone who
needed your help last year, but you were too wrapped up in your own life at the
time, go and offer assistance now. If you had wanted to do more as a youth in
order to help your friends come to know Jesus, go tell them now. Don’t delay
this time, but use your time wisely. I think that redeeming the time is like
getting a second chance at sharing with someone whom you knew needed His
love. Just don’t sit there and do
nothing, but do something with this new time!
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the
time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may
know how you ought to answer each one.
Colossians 4:5-6
If you waisted time cussing and
flapping your lips about nonsense in the past, redeem that time by sharing the
Gospel, as it says there speak with grace towards those around you. Even if you
have always cussed, or gossiped around other people who you knew spoke this way
you can redeem the time by changing the subject, or changing your own way of talking.
It only takes one person to stop a conversation. Sure it is hard sometimes, and
you may feel they think you are better than they are for a moment, but if you
take some time to tell them why you choose not to waste time with such talk,
they will understand. After all gossip and complaining is only a waste of your
time, time that Christ redeemed you to spend sharing His Word, love and life,
not waste it. Maybe make it a goal to speak two words of kindness for every
word you use in harshness?
“Okay, sure I will change tomorrow” you may be saying. Or “I will tell my friend about my life in Christ tomorrow, or the next time I see him, or her…” but what if it is too late? How can we know when we say goodbye to someone if it will be the last time?
The answer is—we can’t! No matter how prepared you are for death, and
after death, yourself; your time here is limited and each minute counts.
We need to take time to pray, for it is our life’s
strengthening moments that connect us to our Lord.
Take time to speak to others about Him, for we know not when we will speak again.
Take time to read the Word,
it gives us life, wisdom and knowledge for every day use!
Take time to give to one another… for when we give it shows
His love through us.
Take time to listen, because there are people crying out for
Him, and His love all around us who need our Hope in this world. He is our Hope
in every need.
There is so much that we could go on and on, to remind ourselves
about redeeming the time, but the answer to the question of why is in the following scripture.
For man also does not know his time: like fish taken in a cruel net,
like birds caught in a snare,
so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly
upon them. Ecclesiastes 9:12
We do not know when we will die, and God alone does. Because
of this we need to make the most of the time we have. We need to remember that
it is not about us, but about Him. We
can live a glorious life for Him on this earth but when our time is up, it will
be up. On a happier note, we do not know when the
Lord will come again, but we are told to live as though He would be here today!
Ephesians, chapter 5, tells us how we should walk during
this time. (5:17-21) It tells us to be
wise, not foolish and to understand
what the will of the Lord is. We are to not be drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit sharing His joy
with others, as well as ourselves. We are to sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord, to me that means not going
around gloomy and doomy, but rejoicing that He is Lord and that He will open
doors for me to share His love, that He will help me find hope in lost
circumstances and He will direct my path to another reason to rejoice!
We are also told to give thanks always for all things. (vs
20) This tells me to look for the good in things, and find how a sad time, or a
‘storm of life’ can bring about some sort of good.
Today I am searching for this, as some of you know my
brothers and sisters lost our Dad this week, I am hearing the age old story of
“ at least he is not suffering now” a lot. I know Dad is with the Lord now, but
I miss him terribly. I know that I can grow through this time, and maybe
someday I will be able to tell someone else in encouragement “I know what it is
like to loose my father,…” but for now I am searching for some good to come
from such a loss.
I know that He will find a way to bring good from it,
because He does that in all things. It has made me think about redeeming the
time for now, and so I write this today thinking of how to get the word out to
take each moment you have and use it to the fullest extent to know that those
around you will spend eternity with you.
If I have done nothing else with my life, if something should happen and
I left this world tomorrow I want to know that I made the best of today, while
it is today.
I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is
coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of
the world." John 9:4-5
Jesus Himself said
that! We as children of God are to do the work of the Father in heaven as well.
In other words, do what He would have us do. So we need to be wise and know
what the will of the Lord is, study His Word and you will know it for sure.
Redeem the time and use it wisely, and we will make the most of our life in
this world.
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to use my days wisely that I
will know that I have done Your will in all that I do each day and not wasted
any of it. Help me to do Your will and to make it my delight to do so. In Jesus
name, Amen.
Suggested Readings for
this week;
Monday: Hebrews 3:1-15
Tuesday: Ephesians
5:1-33
Wednesday: 2 Timothy
4:1-18
Thursday: Psalm
71:1-24
Friday: Romans 5:1-21
Weekend readings: Colossians chapter 1-4 (
they are short and to the point)