Redeeming the Time

I was thinking about things a while back and these words came to mind: Organizing, details, unexpected and redeeming the time.  At the time I got those words I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do with them.  A few days after that, I heard a teaching at church on Ephesians 5:15-21 and those same words were mentioned.  Ephesians 5:15-16: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  I have written in my Bible that circumspectly means “attending to detail”.  That takes care of the words “details” and “redeeming the time.”  But what about “organizing” and “unexpected”?

Have you read the book of Numbers?  Not a very exciting book.  But I noticed right away that God is very organized.  It starts out with a census - naming all the tribes, and the leaders of the tribes and the number of men in the tribes, right down to the very last one.  Now that’s detail!  By nature, I am a very organized and detail-oriented person.  I have always been this way - even as a child.  I enjoy the kind of paperwork that most people find boring.  Reading Numbers can be boring.  But God put it in there for a reason.  It could have been because God wanted the Israelites to see how He had been blessing them - increasing their numbers and providing for all their needs.  We can easily miss God’s blessings if we aren’t paying attention.  God had Moses write it down so that it would not be forgotten.  If I want to remember something, for me it is best if I write it down.  However, that only works if I remember to read what I have written.  That is also true for reading God’s word.  It only works when we read it.  There is no way to remember everything that is written in the Bible, but reading it consistently will help. There are lots of organized Bible reading charts available.  I don’t use a chart - mainly because it is hard for me to keep up with the chart - I get behind and I get discouraged and I give up.  Instead, I read the Bible, starting with Genesis, and work my way through to Revelation.  I don’t give myself a quota for how many chapters to read.  I simply read until I stop reading.  No, I won’t finish the whole Bible in one year, but I don’t really have too either!  Things happen in life and sometimes I can’t read as much as I would like to. 

That’s where the word “unexpected” comes in.  Life happens.  We can plan all we want but we don’t really have any control over what happens.  We can plan for hurricane season and never have a hurricane.  It doesn’t hurt to make preparations - that is part of being organized.  But we must never put our faith in our preparations.  Accidents can happen, or we get sick at the most inopportune time - or is it an inopportune time?  According to God’s plan, it is exactly what is supposed to happen.  So then, God is in control - do we just give up and not do anything?  Of course not - we all know that.  We still need to live life and make decisions and prepare for our future.  For me, I try to have extra groceries and batteries during the hurricane season.  Many years ago, I went out and bought a generator.  That same year we had Hurricane Dennis and a tree fell in the yard where the generator was and I never got a chance to use it. So much for being prepared!  I had to borrow one from a friend for 2 days.  I was prepared but God had another plan.  I will still get prepared but I will also allow God to have a different plan.

No matter what happens in our lives, we should always be conscious of redeeming the time.  What do I do with my time?  I try to keep my activities under control.  I don’t like to be so booked up that I can’t even find time to breathe.  If I am stressed out, I am probably not going to be very good at redeeming the time.  I know that I have missed out on a lot of opportunities this way.  But when I slow down my pace and God puts an opportunity in front of me, that makes it so much easier to respond with a “yes” to God.  When I am too busy for God, that’s a red flag that something is out of whack in my life.  We never know when we are going to get “that” phone call - that something is wrong with a family member.  We never know when that “something” will happen to us - making it impossible to do the things that we have always done.  We can’t even predict what will happen one minute from now.  Thankfully God knows. 

We can organize our day so that our responsibilities and priorities are taken care of.  We can keep our schedule flexible so that God can use us to minister to a friend or family member when the unexpected happens.  We can pay attention to detail and remember the ways that God has provided for us.  And we can redeem the time for His glory. 

Mary, did you know? 

I think we all know the song “Mary did you know”.  But did she know?  Let’s look at the Christmas story in Luke 1:26-38. 

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.  Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.  “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”  And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.  “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.  “For with God nothing will be impossible.”  Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

So, Mary did you know?  When the angel told Mary she would have a baby that would be the Son of God, did the angel tell her everything that would eventually happen?  Nope.  All he told her was that she would give birth to a Son and call Him Jesus and that He would be the Son of the Highest.  The only question she had was “How is this going to happen since I haven’t been with a man?”  If that had been me, I would have had a whole slew of questions.  Like, “What will Joseph think?  Will he think I was unfaithful?  What will my parents think?  Will they think I was a bad girl and disobeyed them?  What about my friends?  Are they gonna talk trash behind my back?  What about my reputation?”  I don’t know about this Angel . . . But Mary didn’t do that.  Her question was answered, she submitted to God, and she conceived and gave birth to Jesus. 

I don’t think she had any idea of what that would entail.  Remember when Jesus was lost for 2 days.  If Mary knew that she would “lose” Jesus when He was 12 years old, would she have done something different?  Maybe she would have insisted that He stay by her side.  If she did that, He would not have been in the temple listening to the teachers and asking questions.  That time in the temple may have been very important in God’s plan.  Could be why the angel didn’t mention it to her.

I am sure that Mary knew the scriptures and how they foretold of the Messiah.  Maybe she put 2 and 2 together.  But did she really understand that she would be watching her baby get crucified?  If the angel told that to her at the beginning, do you think she would have hesitated?  Would she have worried about it for the next 33 years until it happened?  If so, then her focus would not have been where it needed to be.  Obviously, we have no way of knowing that.  God doesn’t give us all the details up front, and I can certainly understand why.  He has a plan, and it always works out. 

Which reminds me of Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  Mary loved God and she was called for His purpose.  God worked out the plan for Mary and it was good.

Back to Mary - Do you think that Mary had any idea that 2000 years later, people would still be celebrating the birth of her baby?  Over time, the holiday has gotten off track.  It has become commercialized, and a lot of people leave Jesus out of it.  Can you imagine celebrating your child’s birthday without having the child included?  My aunt started a tradition many years ago – probably 50+ years.  After we eat Christmas dinner, my aunt would bring out a birthday cake and we would all sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  This was something new to my family – we had never done that before.  It began after my aunt got married and started her family.  She wanted her kids to know what the day was really about.  It was her way of putting Christ back into Christmas. And it was a reminder to the rest of us as well.   I don’t think that everyone around that table was really into singing the birthday song – but they did it anyway.  Maybe it planted a seed.  Maybe it planted a seed in me . . . it took about 20 years for that seed to grow but it did grow.  So don’t lose hope if your “seeds” aren’t sprouting right away.

So, Mary did you know?  No, she probably didn’t.  Just like we don’t know.  But we do know the One who does know!  And the best gift we can give to someone is Jesus.  This time of year, people are more open to hearing the Christmas story.   Take advantage of the season – tell the story (you never know who is listening) and spread joy – as much as you can to everyone you can.  Sing happy birthday to Jesus.  You just might plant some seeds . . .