HOW CAN WE REDEEM OUR TIME?

Text: Ephesians 5:14-18
Time is such a fleeting resource that needs to be managed judiciously because, any time wasted is gone and can only be bought back, and only in some cases. Today's date can never come again in our lifetime. Therefore, for everything under the earth, there is a time and season allotted - Ecclesiastics 3:1-8. 

If a farmer misses the right time to plant or refuses to plant, when it's time for harvest, he would have nothing to harvest. Time is, therefore, a very important part of our life if we must succeed in whatever we are doing.

Some people say time is money. This is true because, especially in developed countries the more time one puts in, the more money one earns. Whatever one invests one's time in determines what transformation or harvest one would experience in due season. Therefore, our actions or inactions, in relation to our fleeting time, is a determinant to what will become of us as time goes on. 

It is pertinent to note that time, just like tides, waits for nobody. It is either you are on time, racing against time, or late, with their respective consequences. Being on time is perfect, racing against time is laborious and energy sapping, while late is with dire consequences. Unfortunately, time as a valuable resource does not mean anything to some people, especially those who have no hope, foresight or vision. 

That is why our text says, "awake you that sleep, clothe yourself with strength for these are evil days, redeem your time." In fact, to such a fellow, time is not even a resource, let alone being consequential. It could be compared to someone who, after taking an evening nap, wakes up in the night dazed and totally confused as to what time it isbecause he has lost track of time. 

It could also be likened to a state of total darkness or being blind, wherein one gropes to find his way around. Sadly, it is at this time that men are most vulnerable to attacks, and destinies are destroyed by the devil who wrecks serious havoc by sowing tares - Matthew 13:25. For example, Deborah was able to kill the fleeing king with a tent nail when he was asleep. Samson's hair (the symbol of his covenant with God) was shaved when he was asleep. Eutychus fell to his death because he slept off. All of them slept while they were supposed to be awake, being the demand of those times.

Let's take a case study of Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52, who had spent 40 years of his life in blindness. His preoccupation was just how to manage and put up his plate for the few coins that would sustain him for the day. He had remained in that same spot for years and had resigned to fate because, for him, time no longer counted. He was stagnant while life and time were fleeting. 

For him, each day began and ended just like the previous day - no hope, no gain, no vision and no foresight. How would there be vision when he does not even have the slightest knowledge of time? Unfortunately, this is exactly the case with some of us Christians. Over time, blindness has made a name for him, yet his life was ebbing away unnoticed. This is because an understanding of time activates corresponding energy for action, just like the children of lssachar who understood the time and knew what Israel ought to do (1 Chronicles 12:32). 

But for blind Bartimaeus, before he would notice that it was about to rain, others would have already taken shelter and he would be beaten by the rain. Seasons are not for him since they make no meaning to him as a blind man. He would not even realise when his clothe is dirty until it stinks. It is such a hopeless and pathetic situation to be caught napping or blind.

One cannot redeem his time if he remains blind to the times and seasons. What, therefore, are the times we are in? Our father in the Lord, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, had already reminded us at the beginning of this year, that the beginning of the end has started. Perilous times are already here with us and very much around us, according to 2 Timothy 3:1. 

Read through Matthew 24:3-29 and compare it with what you constantly hear and see in the media today. These are, indeed, evil days. But these are also the days of God's favour and mercy - Psalms 102:13. 

It is a time God is seeking for those who will worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23) because our salvation is nearer than when we believed (Romans 13:11).

HOW, THEN, CAN WE REDEEM OUR TIME?

Whosoever that nameth the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity- 2 Timothy 2:19.
Be wise and seek to understand the will of God for your life - Ephesians 5:17.

Accept God's love which bestowed sonship on you - 1 John 3:1.

Retrace your steps to God and keep up the fire because, God does not take pleasure in them that draw back to perdition -Hebrew 10:38-39.

Offer yourself daily as a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice - Romans 12:1-2.
Commit yourself to the master's work now-John 9:4.

Brethren, if Bartimaeus had missed that opportunity to encounter Jesus, he would have probably remained blind for the rest of his life because, that was the last time Jesus went to Jericho before his death. 

Bartimaeus had to cast away his filthy garments and the noise of the world which hitherto relegated him to oblivion in order to redeem his time by calling on Jesus to help him.
Beloved, if you want to experience power as of old, I mean the resurrection power, the one that is our hope of glory, the same Jesus is passing your way today - Hebrew 13:8.

Bro Ezechukwu Olugele
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