Today, we will be starting a new series on Redeeming the Time. As a bit of a disclaimer, this series may be a hard one to go through, because it will challenge you to grow in your faith. However, stick with me as we go through this together. We are not left alone to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps, but have hope in Christ. Everything is amply supplied to us for life and godliness. Stick with it, and you will grow in your love for God and in your personal sanctification and joy in Christ. When we realize the height of our sin, then it helps to open the floodgates of God’s mercy. This will bring us much joy, but may seem overwhelming at first.
We will begin by examining Ephesians 5:8-21. This passage is significant, because it lays the foundation for how we are to use the time God has given us, and is to be, as Josh said, how Christ ought to find the church in the world. In subsequent devotionals, we will seek to apply what we learned in this passage to many other areas in our lives.
We do not often get the imperative strength behind this biblical mandate (Eph. 5:8-21), and so we often tend to give it only a passing thought. However, the call to redeem the time is a wakeup call, meant to shake us out of our slumber in the hustle and bustle of the world, in which we so easily get entangled. We fail to realize that this mandate is a sort of “do or die” type of imperative. That is not to say, of course, that believers can lose their salvation. The Bible is clear that they cannot. This is also not to say that we can ever earn our way to heaven. Rather, the force behind the mandate to “redeem the time” is that either people are following the course of this world—which can only be prioritizing and doing wickedness continually—or following the course of God—which means redeeming the times for obedience to God. We so often fail to realize that all of our time is to be redeemed for service to God, and this in every aspect of our time, reputation, relationships, and conversations. Nothing is to be left out from redeeming the time for the Lord. No area of life is exempt. So, with that in mind, today’s devotional will be looking over Ephesians 5:8-21, and this passage will help to frame our series. The first part of our passage says,
8 [A]t one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:8-14).
The idea being conveyed here is that we were once those who were as darkness itself in how we lived our lives. We payed no mind to God, and had every area of our lives unredeemed; that is, every area of our lives (and time) was spent in wicked opposition to the commands and desires of God. Our hearts were bent to only evil continually, not having God as our chief end in anything. By contrast, we are called to “walk as children of light,” meaning to have the whole course of our lives illumined by God’s Word, and to obey it, reflecting God’s desires in every area of our lives, from the inside-out. We could not be walking in light and still have darkened hearts. The “fruit of light,” which is to manifest itself in us in everything, is “in all that is good and right and true,” meaning that all that is in our time and life is to be “in all that is good and right and true.” That is the filter that we strive for in redeeming the time, and we study to learn and apply God’s Word in order to “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” The point is that, if we are really God’s people, then we will seek what pleases Him in everything, even reshaping our lives and priorities around what pleases God. This means eliminating “the unfruitful works of darkness” within us, and in what we do in our lives, instead exposing them to the light of God’s Word so that they can be transformed—or, to put it another way, redeemed to the Lord, and therefore submitted to His purposes. This includes helping other believers to be faithful to God, which we are also responsible for as members of a local church, and therefore we ought to do our utmost to be good examples of faithfulness in everything. When our worldliness is exposed, where we are devoting time to the evil course of this world—and therefore partaking in its wares—it, as verse 14 says, becomes “light.” So, a significant part of redeeming the time is exposing the darkness of the areas that we have not yet given over to God, to the light. Much of the Christian life is spent continually examining our lives and how we spend our time, exposing every area to the light, to help ensure that there is no part that is darkness. This is what God’s Word does for us, and we can only expose the darkness within our lives as we, with the Holy Spirit—which all true believers have for this purpose—seek to diagnose our lives and hearts with its truth daily. God also puts other believers into our lives (especially from our church) to help us examine and expose the darkness in us, and to shine on it the light of God’s Word.
In a way, redeeming the time is as seeking to conquer our hearts for the Lord, according to the grace that we have in Christ. We can either be active or passive in this pursuit. However, be warned: if anyone is a genuine believer, then they will seek to be active in this pursuit, whether they are consciously aware of all that entails or not. This is because, to not do so is what characterizes those still in darkness, who have not yet seen the light of Christ or His gospel. Paul continues,
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph. 5:15-21).
The mandate to redeem the time is found in verse 15, which commands us to “look carefully” or to examine every aspect of our lives—how we spend our time. To be “wise” is to, as Proverbs teaches, fear the Lord (Prov. 1:7; 9:10). This means increasing our estimation of God to be greater than anything else, and therefore to order everything in our life according to our great and majestic God. To be “unwise” is to order our lives according to anything that is not God, and therefore to be idolaters, living for another master. So, we are to “mak[e] the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” We are to actively oppose the evilness of the present time, not conforming to it, but carefully walking in the wisdom of the Lord. Paul reiterates that we must “understand what the will of the Lord is.” Paul tells us elsewhere, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). This means being made holy, being conformed to Christlikeness, and therefore walking “in the light.” 1 John 1:5-7 bring this out clearly:
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
So, rather than being “filled with wine” as those still in darkness, who are drunk on their own wickedness, we are to be “filled with the Spirit.” The rendering is literally “but continue on being filled by the Holy Spirit,” meaning to have every area within us and within our lives becoming cleansed of evil and manifesting holiness, which Paul just described. To walk in darkness grieves the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit’s purpose is to make us increasingly holy. So, the pursuit to redeem the time is the pursuit to grow in comprehensive sanctification; that is, to actively bring our whole lives into conformity to Christ. Notice that the result of being “filled with the Spirit” is a contagious worship to the Lord, stemming from within us, and to therefore glorify God in every area of our lives. All of our time and every area of our lives become cause for glorifying and praising God. Such a worshipful heart fights against the darkness and rejoices in the light. Notice the reason for the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, which come from our heart: it is “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice the words “always” and “for everything.” This is an example of a life being actively redeemed for God in Christ. Those things still left in darkness produce grief in the heart of the believer, and true rejoicing comes from a heart that actively seeks to root out that darkness. The worshipful and praising heart comes out only from a person who is actively seeking to redeem the time. Lastly, one who is actively redeeming the time will “[submit] to one another out of reverence for Christ.” This means that, since we are actively seeking to walk in the light, we will therefore submit to how God desires for us to relate to others—all will be done out of the fear (reverence) of Christ. Hence, we will seek to relate to others as members of God’s kingdom, and not as those of the kingdom of this world. God is the author of our salvation, and He will bring this about in us as we cooperate with His grace.
Next time we will seek to give some practical ways that we can start pursuing the redeeming of our time.