Redeem the Time

March is the month where daylight savings time ends.  There are many reasons some practical and others not so practical for having daylight savings time.  The idea is to allow for more time during the hours when the daylight would be the most beneficial.  It was first proposed in 1895 but was not used for the first time until World War I. There have been times in our country since where daylight savings was used and periods when it was not utilized.  There are even two states that do not use daylight saving time.

It seems a little odd to me to think of the term itself, daylight savings time.  We are not actually saving day light, the idea is that we are shifting around the hours to make more favorable use of the daylight.  We are not getting any more daylight than if we had not used daylight savings time.  It is our management of time that is of the issue, not really the daylight.  So what do we do with the time we have?

Although we may not be able to actually save the time, Paul in his letter to the church of Ephesus gives instruction to “Redeem the time”.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Wherefore be ye not        unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:15-20 (KJV)

As Paul notes there are many distractions that done to excess can destroy our lives.  Paul’s challenge is to be wise and redeem the time and make use of it to glorify God.  The days and times we may be living in are filled with all kinds of difficulty and evil, but time itself is not evil or good.  So we must look at how others use their time in wastefulness, in destruction, or self-destruction, these are things that are not honoring God.

Redeem the time by being filled with the Spirit, and in worship of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in your heart to the Lord.  A melody, that comes not from the outward expression but the inner devotion to Christ.  It is when this melody joins the worship melody of other believers producing a great choir of witnesses in harmony for the Lord.

God Bless you as you seek to redeem the time.

Love is Action

When considering our response to each other and the world, the Christian should remember love.  Not the mushy stuff seen on t.v. and in books but the love that requires tough choices such as loving our enemies and those that disagree with us.  In the life of Christ we see this evidence not in expressions but rather in action.  Jesus cared for others, reaching out to those who had been hurt or rejected.  The ultimate action of love was Jesus giving His life for all. 

The gospel of Matthew record Jesus prayer in the garden before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion.  Jesus says to His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”  Then Jesus falls face first to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  Jesus realizing that cup could not be taken away unless he drinks it, again confirms that the will of God be done.

Jesus makes the loving choice to give up His life for us all, not because the world was nice, good or friendly to Him, but because He loved the world.  Scripture records that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, and in John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Truly, this is good news to all the world and demonstrates true love is not in expression alone, but in action.