As humans, we are bound to time. It rules every aspect of our lives. In this present day, we would be lost without a schedule. It helps us know when to get up, when to go to work, when to eat, when to sleep. I'm sure you have heard someone say, “There is not enough time in the day” or, “It seems like the days are getting shorter” when, in fact, the day is still twenty-four hours.
Since there are twenty-four hours in the day, why does it feel like we run out of time? Why does it always seem like there is always something that is left undone that suffers? You would think after thirty years on this earth, I would have a better handle on time management.
It seems that it is easy to find time to do the things we enjoy like our hobbies or interests, and it feels like sometimes our spiritual responsibilities are what suffers. This situation should not be the case. William Penn put it well. "Time is what we want most, but what we use worst." We should always make time to spend with God, as he wants nothing more than to spend time with us.
God doesn't want our leftovers. He wants all of us. He doesn't want a rushed prayer as we are jumping into bed. He wants to hear from us throughout the day. I can't expect to maintain a healthy relationship with my wife if I say a few words to her in the morning and then a few more at night. It requires constant, direct communication with one another to make it work. This requirement is even more so with God. When we "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV), we will find that our relationship with God is that much stronger.
Paul said in his letters to the Church at Ephesus and the Church at Colosse to redeem the time or make the most out of the time they have.
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16 KJV)
“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5 KJV)
The thing about time is that it is fleeting and once it is gone, we can't get it back. Is God satisfied with what we have accomplished at the end of a long day? We are to be good stewards in all that we do. When we are good stewards with our time, that allows us to give God the time he deserves, but also ensure that we are faithful to our jobs and families.
When I was younger, I learned a valuable lesson on paying tithes. I allowed myself to get behind and put other things first. By not giving God his due first, it became tough to catch back up, and I found myself writing large checks. I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had given God his portion first. Now that I am older and I take out tithes and offering first, God takes care of the rest. We don't have to worry about having the money for bills after the tithes have come out.
When we set aside time to speak to God, study God's word and fast, we are "tithing" our time. That is not to say that we need to give God precisely ten percent of our time, and then the rest is ours to spend however we want. Don't worry about reading or praying for a certain amount of time when you kneel to pray or open your Bible for study. Pray until He is through with you. I've heard the question asked before, did you pray until you were through or did you pray through?
It is so important to make sure we don't just make the time to pray to God, but that we listen. We should listen even more than we speak. Let us go back to my thought about tithing the time, because I want you to picture something. If we give God ten percent of a 24 hour day, that would be the equivalent of 2.4 hours. Just imagine if that was guaranteed time that we gave God every day. I'm talking about conscientious time spent with God, not including church services. How many of us even give God ten percent of our day? What a difference that would make in our everyday lives and the lives around us if we would give God the time He deserves.
So why would it behoove us to "redeem the time"? The time we live in today is evil. We are surrounded by spirits that would like nothing more than to drag us down and cause us to be lulled to sleep. We can't afford to be spiritually asleep, and if we are, we need to wake up. Time is far shorter than we realize sometimes.
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now, is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:11,12 KJV)
We have heard it a lot, but it is true, we are in the last of the last days. We have opportunities every day to "redeem the time" to make the most of every precious second of this earth. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, but we have right now. In his letter to the Church at Corinth, Paul wrote "for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV)
Now is the day of salvation, not tomorrow, not next week. When it comes to your soul, don't procrastinate. That may have worked when we were kids or when we were in school, but this is our soul we are talking about. The very thing inside of us that is going to live forever with God or spend eternity in hell.
The all-powerful God that created time as we know it is the same God that wants us to spend eternity with us and sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins to ensure we could found our way back to him. And not only us, but also those we come in contact with every day. The time we spend with God is to prepare us to go out into the world and share God's love with others, with our co-workers, our friends, and strangers.
God's creation deserves to know there is a God that loves them and loves them too much to leave them in their current state. There is freedom from every burden, chain, addiction, and it comes only through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. But how will they know, unless someone shares the good news of Christ with them? How will we be able to share God's word with them, unless we have taken the time necessary to write it on our hearts?
It may be true that the present time we live in is evil, but there are glorious times ahead for the Church and those that will choose to follow him. May God bless you and keep you, and if you haven't made a choice to ask God into your heart, I pray that you will take the time to do so. I promise you will never regret it.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24 KJV)
