Practice That Proceeds from Doctrine: Redeem the Time

Very often the Apostle Paul writes in what some call, “bullet points.” They are instructions either in the imperative, commands, or the indicative, statements of reality. He often declares these instructions to the churches he started as a practice in the second half of one of his letters, his epistles, in application of the doctrinal truth of the first half. First comes what you believe and then what you do, or first comes who you are and then how you live because of who you are.

One of these commands or bullet points comes in Ephesians 5:15-16: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The end of verse 14 says, “Christ shall give thee light.” With the light that Christ gives, which is from scripture, Paul commands, “See then,” or “Therefore, see.” Understand with that light how to walk carefully. Earlier Paul calls these believers children of light.

A child of light is a wise person. He lives according to what God says, not like the fool, the unsaved person, who does just what he wants most of the time. Paul uses a participle to describe what will result or will motivate the circumspect walk, that is, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Redeeming is a trade, like using a coupon to get a better deal. Take your time and trade it for something eternal, rather than temporal. At the beginning of the year, consider the stewardship of the time God gives you. Don’t waste it on temporal things. Start removing temporal things from your agenda or your to-do list, and put eternal things in their place.