CENTRAL THOUGHT
We must wake up because time is running out.
TEXT: John 9:4; Eph. 5:14-16; Rom 13:11-14; Tit 2:11-15.
INTRODUCTION Time is limited but the wise could manage and maximize its benefits. The fools often cry at the waste of it. However, time is equally distributed to all persons on earth. God expects us to utilize this time wisely. The lord has left us on earth to occupy till He comes; the time of His coming is imminent. At His coming all opportunities would have been lost for anyone to make up or repent of any wrong deeds. Now is the time for the believer to live descent lives and be clothed with the presence of the lord Jesus Christ. Redeeming the time refers to all godly efforts possible, exerted towards regaining the lost grounds and standing firm in godliness.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are:
1.To create awareness for wise use of time.
2.To help believers prioritize their time/ programs.
3.To remind believers of the brevity of our time on earth.
4.To encourage us to be alert to the imminent return of the lord.
BIBLE TRUTH
Q1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO REDEEM TIME?
The time referred to here, is the present age, this dispensation, the present life we have. It is the remaining or available life span of every believer in Christ Jesus.
To redeem is to do or possess something that could compensate for errors, omission, negligence or wrong done with a view to making it right. It could mean to buy back or reclaim what we sold or lost in the past, to recover a chance or opportunity we did not take advantage of at the appropriate time.
Redeeming the time therefore, refers to all processes and activities involved in realizing where we are now, getting to where we should be and doing what God wants us to, in all aspect of our lives today before time is no more. It also means recouping the lost and fast expiring opportunities.
Q2. HOW DO WE REDEEM TIME?
Buy it back for the lord? Vs 17 directs us- don’t live foolishly (procrastination is an expression of foolish use of time), but seek to the lord’s will. This comes back to priorities which for the believer invariably mean seeking the kingdom of heaven first. Seeking our lord’s will and yielding to it should be our top priority. It affects every area of life: how we plow our fields, how we maintain our walls. How we keep our yards and how we work our jobs. How we study if we’re students. How we treat our spouse and how we raise our kids. How we handle our finances, how we bear witness to our faith to non-Christians and how we treasure God’s word and our communion with the lord. We do not compartmentalize life into spiritual and non-spiritual-it’s all yielded to the lord. And what we can’t do in faith- we don’t do.
We redeem the time through a life increasing yielded to the lord and that yieldedness is lived out in time as the days come by. As the believer wakes up every morning he should see it as an opportunity to be an instrument in the lord’s hand. There is no greater way to live. God wants to use our lives-use our days-as instruments of redemption right where we are.
Ephesians 5:18-21 follows with Paul describing how we should be filled with spiritual things such as singing, praying and submitting to God. It should come as no surprise, as we know the lord Jesus spent much of His time in solitude and in prayer to His father. We should for opportunities, and make the most of our time. Ephesians 5:17 says to understand what the lord’s will is. Study, pray, meet with the saints. These will help us to make wise choices of our time.
Q3. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING BUSY ALL THE TIME?
i. Not enjoying the day.
When we are too busy we can’t enjoy the day. Job 9:25 (NIV): “ My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy”. It is God’s will that we should live to enjoy each day.
ii. Feeling stressed out.
When we get too busy we get consumed by our circumstances. I don’t stop to breathe and look around at the wonder of God. Matthew 6:31-34 ( The Message): 31, What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. 32, people who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. 33, Steep your life in God-reality, God Initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You will find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34, Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Easy does it, goes the saying.
iii. Less is accomplished rather than more.
Sometimes we think that in all the busyness we are making headway. The reality is, when we are pushing too hard, we actually become less productive. Proverbs 21:5 (MSG): 5, Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind. This translation brings it out so clearly: hurry and scurry puts you further behind.
iv. We feel disconnected from God.
Psalm 46:10 (NIV): “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” When we are too busy we can go through an entire day and never connect with the One who created everything. It is as though we are making a statement that somehow, we are either more important than God or that we really cannot trust God.
While discipline is encouraged in scriptures, we should bear in mind that in the midst of our busy schedule, we are still expected to redeem the time setting our priorities right in line with God’s word and will.
Q4. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF REDEEMING TIME?
Redeeming the time implies that we have learned to focus on the issues that are prime interest to the Lord, in line with His will and purpose for our lives. As we learn to do this, the words of Isaiah 26:3 become a reality. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”.
The believer who redeems the time lives in constant touch with the lord and enjoys unbroken communion with Him.
The ultimate desire of any man should be to spend eternity with God, at the end of his sojourn here on earth; this is the supreme benefit of God redeeming the time. Enoch is an example of an individual who redeemed the time in his generation (Gen 5:24); he remains a challenge to the present day believer.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
Time is just about the most valuable asset we have. If we squander our money or lose our health, there is always the possibility of earning more money or being restored to health, but wasted time is gone forever. In our text, those who are wise redeem the time. Whereas those who are fools waste or misuse it. The word in the original for “circumspectly” is translated “diligently” in Matthew 2:7. The text thus indicates that those who redeem the time are walking in wisdom. The time God gives us, therefore, should be used both carefully and diligently. Anyone who is not redeeming the time is fast asleep and has failed to live up to God’s standard. He is overtaken by events of this world-the euphoria of the world system and trend of our time devised by the devil. He may be achieving the good things of this world but is wasting away his soul. He is giving away his soul in exchange of these worldly goods. We should learn to embrace God’s timing. We want things in our time and we get frustrated when they don’t happen. We have to learn to wait on God’s timing. When we are impatient it is another demonstration of our lack of trust in God. We think we know better than God does about what is best for our lives. God’s timing is perfect. Faster is not always better. We have to learn to wait on God’s perfect timing. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV): 11, He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end. The end of that verse is interesting. People can never completely understand what He is doing. Why? If you knew everything that was going to happen, you would never really learn to trust God. It is only as we grow in trust of the lord that we can quit trying to make everything work in our own strength and our own time.
MEMORY VERSE
Eph 5:16
“Redeeming the time because the days are evil”.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Monday: Be not slothful in business.
Rom. 12:11.
Tuesday: God expects faithfulness in our deeds.
1Cor 4:2.
Wednesday: Avoid laziness. 2Thes.3:14-15.
Thursday: Now is the time to work.
John 9:4.
Friday: The harvest is about wasting.
Eph.5:14-16
Saturday: God rewards hard work. Prov.22:29; Rev.22:15.