11. REDEEMING THE TIME

... because the days are evil (Eph 5:16 )

Warning! What you are about to read is strong stuff. Serious consequences may follow: your lifestyle may change altogether — but for good. If you are not prepared to change, my frank advice is: stop reading: do not take the risk.

I am writing about my life experience — footprints left on eighty years of sand in my wilderness wandering. It is about how Jesus, my Master and Lord, has transformed my life by many lessons learned along the way — hard lessons, like strong medicine, but yielding precious hours.

Redeeming the time means “buying back” lost hours. How can this be? Time past is a “spent cheque, ” beyond recall. The present is the only time we have. It is over these hours yet unspent and at our disposal that we have power, and opportunity, to save from wasteful, unproductive spending. It is by what you and I do, and how we do it, in the daily expenditure of time, that golden minutes and hours may be bought back — redeemed for God’s kingdom.

So, it is for the serious reader that I write. Firstly, let me address the serious unbeliever. If you have not come to trust in the Giver of Time, let me introduce Him to you. You may not realise it, but your times are in His hand (Ps 31:15 ). It was He who sent you into Planet Earth to sojourn here for life’s short day, until He calls you out.

You and I did not enter the world stage by our own volition. One day, soon, and before you realize it, all too soon, we take our leave, when our act on life’s stage is over. But all is not over yet with you and me. Just as our entrance and exit were ordered by the unseen Power, that same Power will call us for the final act: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ..."  ( 2 Cor 5:10 ), "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb 9:27 ).

Judgment! The final scene is a solemn reckoning before the Creator’s throne of judgment, to enquire into how we managed our time on earth.

Dear reader, how are you spending your days and hours? If you have caught the message, and seen the light, heed the Word of God: “redeem the time, because the days are evil. ” Turn to the Author of life, the Creator God, and stop doing your own thing, living your own life, charting your own course. He went to the cross to redeem you. Redeem yourself by redeeming the time, by looking to the Saviour on the cross. There He opened a way of escape from the wrath and punishment of God awaiting every person who lives for himself, who spends his days for his own pleasure without a thought or care for his soul, who rejects the free offer of life from the Author of life.

Heed the gospel call of God:"... behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" ( 2 Cor 6:2 ).

Today, redeem the time remaining by casting yourself on the Saviour, plead His mercy and grace, and receive a new life, His life. Today, begin to live for Him, walk with Him, serve Him. In so doing, redeem the time for eternity.

But my message is mainly addressed to Christians, believers, those who have received the Saviour and have trusted in His saving grace. My question to you is: how are you living your Christian life? No matter how, I ask you to consider the opportunity that is yours to redeem the time, meaning to say, to buy back precious time for God’s glory, by living a more useful, purposeful, and productive life for the Lord.

While we cannot increase the hours, we can certainly increase their effective utilisation for the Lord. How can this be done? Let us seek the Spirit’s help, to show us how we can utilise our hours more effectively for the Lord! My first thought is to recall our Lord’s words in John 15:4,5 :

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."  

Question: Is your life fruitful for God? He expects this of every believer. Christians who do not fully abide in the Saviour cannot bear much fruit for Him. Redeeming time is to abide in the Master minute by minute, hour by hour, throughout the 24-hour day, walking and talking with Him, ever ready and eager to do His bidding just because He is so close and precious, and just because we have His life in us.

The apostle Paul’s example is worthy of our imitating. His life verse is for you, and for those who are serious about redeeming the time. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:21 )

Hold this verse close to your heart, and see if the Spirit will not transform the way you spend your day, the way you think and conduct your day’s business, so that the Lord Christ takes first priority in every decision and action. The result is that at the end of the day much useful and productive work has been produced to God’s glory.

By fruit bearing, you have redeemed precious hours for the Lord. So remember Philippians 1:21 . Another equally precious verse is 1 Corinthians 10:31 : "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."  

This verse is a challenge to every true child of God. When he is fired by this verse, to “do all to the glory of God, ” he will redeem many precious hours by bountiful fruit bearing for the Lord.

In all my life, ever since the Lord claimed me, He has taught me by the blessed Spirit to plan to the glory of God. So I have a Yearly Plan, a Weekly Plan, and a Daily Plan. As some would say, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. ” This has much truth in a worldly sense. Our plan, as God’s people, is "Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass" (Psalm 37:5 ).

In our planning, we commit our way unto the Lord and trust fully in Him. The result is: He will bring to pass all that we have planned to do, which means precious hours redeemed.

When we commit our ways to the Lord and trust in Him a marvellous thing happens: the Spirit takes control of our plans and projects. Then we do things differently: our effective output increases, as well as the quality of our work improves. Our hearts rejoice because we know, it is the Lord’s doing, and we say, "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ..."  ( 2 Cor 2:14 ). We become fruitful, weak instruments made strong and productive by the hand of almighty God. As the apostle says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13 ).

Dear reader, let the Lord strengthen you, and you will redeem much precious time for His Kingdom and glory.

The verse from 2 Corinthians 2 helped a godly woman redeem precious hours by a simple motto mounted on a wall plague over the kitchen sink: "Not anyhow but triumphantly” ( 2 Cor 2:14 )

This motto can help any Christian who is serious for His Lord to redeem time in every call of duty. Try it!

Do a 7-day time-log

When I was a teenager, the verse Ephesians 5:16 activated my keeping a 7-day time-log. I recorded all that I did from hour to hour, “time accounting” for the Lord. The resulting analysis revealed two major shortcomings: how little time I spent with the Lord, and, how much time I had wasted in trivialities. That was over sixty years ago.

Since then, the Spirit has taught me more lessons in my time management. I cannot stress enough, and say it too often: in all that we do let us abide in the Lord (Jn 15:5 ) and do all to His glory ( 1 Cor 10:31 ). Truly, without Him, we can do nothing; and anything done for self glory is done in vain. When we hold these verses in sharp focus and joyfully serve the Lord, we begin to redeem much time for Him.

Remember in all this, we are but instruments: God is our Master and our Wisdom. Therefore, pray for wisdom. Without His wisdom we attempt everything in vain.

Over the years, the Lord taught me many lessons on how to redeem the time more effectively.

“More sleep more sleepy”

My coining of this “proverb” is to provoke serious thought and self-enquiry; for I am convinced, both from personal experience, and by careful observation, that many precious hours can be redeemed in the area of over-sleep. It is a common habit, sleeping beyond one’s physiological need. Excess sleep does not improve health or function. It only causes the sleeper to feel more sleepy! This hinders his effective work output. The solution to this problem is, sleep less! Redeem time for God.

I asked a yawning patient, “How many hours did you sleep last night? ”

“Well, I went to bed at ten, and got up at eight this morning, and I feel sleepy still. ”

Poor lady, she was a retiree with not a care or earthly responsibility.

You ask, “But how does one know the normal sleep requirement? ”

As a general rule, children need eight to ten hours’ sleep, depending on age, physical activity level, quality of sleep, and individual make-up.

Not all hours of the day are the same

This may be an individual peculiarity, but my brain functions best in the early morning hours. My mental faculties “switch off” after 11 or 12 o’clock at night. So to “swot away” doggedly into the wee hours of the night is mostly hard labour lost. The poor struggling student may think that he is doing fine, bravely sitting up through the night, when in fact, little is being retained.

My frank advice is: sleep early and get up at four or five in the morning. The brain functions best in the pre-dawn hours.

But, prayer is the secret! Pray for wisdom. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5 ).

Redeem precious wasted hours

Search yourself with the Spirit’s help, and see in which area you should redeem the time:

a) Day dreaming

b) Procrastination (which requires more time to do the job at a later date)

c) Working without motivation or focus

d) Engaging in useless, unprofitable activities

e) Indulging in sinful, worldly pastimes

Finally, honour the Lord with the first place in your life and in all that you do. He is the only sure foundation, the source of all wisdom and success. To engage in projects without reference to the Lord is to tread the path of failure. "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" (Ps 127:1 ).

Without the Lord all our labours are but a waste of time. How else can we redeem the time?

Be wise! When we devote time to things which honour the Lord, we redeem time.

We redeem time when we prefer communion with the Lord to selfish interests; when we put prayer above the TV, Bible before the newspapers, meditation on the Lord to daydreaming, witnessing for the Lord to idle-talk. We redeem time when we have God first in all our planning and projects.

Let us redeem the time for the Lord, because the days are evil. Amen.