Dear Ones:
“Time” is finite…has limits, length, and is a gift. Also, it must be said that “time” belongs to the living. As such, the “living” should have a very clear assessment of the value of time, and the opportunity that it affords us.
Isaiah writes: “…surely this people is GRASS. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.” (40:8) The contrast between “grass,” the flower that fadeth, and the Word of God is poignant. The one is a creation of time, the other is forever. So, how does the time-bound creation partake, and become an effectual part of that which is eternal? It is by REDEMPTION. It begins with the redemption of the soul by the work and effective power of Christ, but it has its out working in the REDEMPTION of time, the effectual use of the gift of time. How does one “redeem the time?” (Eph. 5:16)
In every consideration and study of the Word of God to find God’s answers to life and actual living, we ALWAYS begin with Person of Christ. He is the essence and the out working of all that is true in the objective Word of God. When He declares Himself to be the Alpha the Omega, the Beginning and the End, He is revealing to us that if we would know HOW to live this life, and to live it well, using the time that we have been given, then we must begin with Him. He is the beginning point of our consideration.
The first thing we need to grasp is that all is BY the Spirit. Christ was born by the Holy Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit from a baby boy, throughout His sojourn on this earth. Even at the Jordan River, the day when He was baptized, He was anointed in a special way by the Spirit for the ministry before Him. So, we must begin by seeing the utter necessity of being absolutely dependent upon the Spirit of God.
Secondly, when we see Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, we find that He is always referring to the written Word of God to combat the lies and deception of the enemy. I have mentioned before that in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Wall of the Reformation, there are four, twelve-foot high figures of some of the “great” reformers. They stand very solemnly in the characteristic garb of that time (16th century), but each of these men have a Bible in their hands. This IS the book, the objective truth of God, that they have chosen to study and live by. Can we do otherwise and redeem the time?
Thirdly, Jesus was a man of prayer. He was first of all a man of prayer in aloneness with His Father before He was such in the crowd. He never forsook prayer, often rising a great time before daybreak to be alone to pray. After one session with His Father, he returned to the disciples, KNOWING that He it was time to leave the present place of ministry, to go to other villages and towns to preach the Gospel. His guidance came while He prayed.
Lastly, Christ LIVED in expectancy. At the occasion of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, the Lord Jesus prayed this: “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always.” (Jn. 11:41-42) Here is a man who lived in the wholehearted confidence, assurance, and conviction, that he was received of the Father, the Father heard him, and the Father answered him. He lived not in some haphazard possibility that God would answer His prayer, but in the certainty that all was before the Father, and the Father was faithful to respond.
How do we redeem the time? BY CHRIST. He will guide by His Spirit. He will speak through His word. He will reveal to us His will if, and while we pray. And He will give wisdom to the one who truly waits on Him, living in the expectancy of His intervention.
Dear Lord, teach us thy ways, for Thy ways begin and end in Thee. Strengthen us daily to place all of our trust in Thee, live by the objective word of God, praying as we go (…in aloneness, and in the crowd), and living in the joyful expectancy of Thy provision, guidance, and strength. Grant that our lives shall truly count for eternity, as we trust Thee for TODAY, and one day at a time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad