Ephesians 5:16
Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Making the Most of Every Opportunity
Paul tells us that we must act wisely
with those outside the church and to make the most of every opportunity
(Col. 4:5), and I am guessing that he means we ought to use every
opportunity, every moment to tell those outside the church about Christ
and that today is their day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) because nobody
knows whether tomorrow will even come (Prov. 27:1). That’s something
they can’t put off, and those opportunities are things we shouldn’t
waste. That’s the only way Paul’s comment in Colossians 4:5 seems to
make sense.
Time–A Valuable Commodity
We don’t have a clue about the day of
our death. Young people die of aneurysms. Some die in car accidents.
Some I talk to think they’ll live to be 80, but we can’t take that for
granted. When our schedules are so full of activities that we rarely
have the time to study our Bible, pray, or go to church or Bible study,
then we are too busy. We may not feel we have the time, so we must make
the time. Doing an inventory of your day or week is a great way to
assess just what you spend your time doing and what takes the bulk of
your time away from things involving the kingdom. Time is precious. Not
another minute can our money buy. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a
few people who were dying, either on their deathbed or in hospice, and
no one I’ve ever spoken to in these circumstances felt like they should
have spent more time watching TV or movies or surfing the Internet. On
the contrary, many of these people told me that they wished they had
redeemed the time in a way that reflects the priority of helping others,
serving others, and witnessing to the lost. Those few seconds you’ve
just spent reading this are gone forever, and you may never get a second
chance to show someone the love of God.
Excuse the Excuses
We can either admit we’ve wasted time
doing things to please ourselves or try to make excuses, and believe me,
I can make up a lot of them. I feel that I have squandered much of my
life on my own self, which was wasted time. Time cannot be put into a
bottle and saved. You cannot deposit time and save it for later. Once it
is spent, it is gone forever with no second chance. I need to keep
praying every morning, reading my Bible every morning, praying for
divine appointments in my day, and doing all I can do to spread the Word
of God to those who don’t know Christ. I feel a sense of shame for time
spent on me, but I’ve never felt more joy than when I pour out my life
for others. We are stewards of our time and will be held accountable
someday for how we use or misuse it.
A Closing Prayer
Father, I have been so frivolous with my
life. Please help me to squeeze every second out of every minute out of
every hour out of every day for the things that bring You glory and not
me pleasure. Forgive my wasting of what is a gift–my time–on myself.
Help me to focus on others, and in Jesus’ name I pray.
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