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.