Redeem the Time

Redeeming The Time

Thursday, February 28, 2008

In Paul’s letter to the Christians in Ephesus, he gives this exhortation:

Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. (Eph. 5:15-16)

In the New King James Version, verse sixteen calls for you and me to redeem the time. Each of us has a responsibility to redeem time and use it to bring honor and glory to God.

Think with me for a few moments. Every one of us has a “God-appointed time” here on earth. We must wisely use the time for God. We must redeem the time as instructed in God’s precious Word, making the most of it.

The ancient Greeks had a unique understanding of time. They spoke of time as more than just chronos from which we get the word chronological. They spoke of time in a different way, kairos. When they would use that term, they were referring to time as moments filled with opportunity. Author James Emory White, in his book Life-Defining Moments, writes “Kairos is time filled with opportunity, a moment pregnant with eternal significance and possibility.” What a powerful statement! God gives each of us defining moments that demand we take action that not only shapes our destiny but impacts our world for God. When our chronological time is done, we should have built a God-honoring legacy.

Every true follower of Christ must understand we have only one life to live; therefore, we must seize the time appointed to us and use it for Him. We must seize the day!

In the critically acclaimed movie, Dead Poets Society, there are some powerful scenes that give attention to people’s legacies in life. The English teacher, John Keating, leads his students into the field of literature. One student is asked to read a line from the poem, Famed, by Robert Herrick.

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
Old time is still a-flying
and this same flower that smiles today,
tomorrow will be dying.”

Immediately Keating interjects the idea of carpe diem. He asked his students, “Who knows what it means?” A student in the front of the class said, “It means to seize the day.”

The teacher in this scene probed the students even more as to why the writer would leave such an image in the reader’s mind. After a wrong answer, the teacher gives this answer: “Because we are food for worms, lads, because believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die.” In another moving scene, he asks the class to look into a case full of photographs. He reminds them of those who have preceded them at the school and how they seized their opportunities. As the boys were captivated by these pictures, Keating said, “…if you listen real close you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in, and listen. You can hear it.” Then the teacher whispers, “Carpe…carpe…carpe diem. Seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary.”

Paul knew what he was talking about when he said the days were evil. Likewise, he also understood the importance of you and me redeeming the time to make a difference for Jesus Christ. Redeem the time