A Very Timely Message, part 4

In verse 16, when it says, “make the most of every opportunity,” it uses the Greek word, “exagorazo,” which means to make the most of the time you have. Redeem the time is how the King James Version puts it, which literally means to buy back, redeem, pay a price, in order to take advantage of the time you have – because the days are evil. The days being evil, refers to how the world will take all the time we have. 

Think of how much time we give to television, the internet/social media, and entertainment. Someone might ask, “Are you saying these things are evil?” It’s not that these things are evil in and of themselves, this verse is talking about how the day we live in will steal away our time, by attracting us to these things that keep us from devoting our time to the pursuit of God. The evil is in how the day steals our time away from our God. Back at the first of the year, we set aside the week to fast and pray, I challenged us to set aside the television, internet, and food for the week. Personally, I found much more time for prayer and reading the Word during that week, verses a typical week. Paul says the wise person will pay a price for their pursuit of God; understanding that time is of the essence and that this evil world will steal all of it if we are not careful. So, pay a price, buy back your time from this evil old world so that one day you don’t find yourself standing in the presence of God saying, “I thought I had more time.”
 
Then Jesus moves on with another example of using wisely, the time we have been given. Matthew 24:45-47 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”  This is the person we all want to be. We want to be the faithful and wise servant who has been given a responsibility to care for those in his household. Keep in mind that the context of these verses has to do with the coming of the Lord back to earth and the difference between those who live ready for Him and those who don’t.

So, one of the signs of living ready and being wise, is that of doing whatever task it is God has given us to do. When He comes back and finds us doing exactly what we were called to do, He will give us an even greater responsibility during His Millennial Reign. So that part is good. 

But suppose God would give us an assignment and we failed to keep it. Matthew 24:48-50 “But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.” 

Look with me at a paraphrase of these same verses, from The Message. “But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases— abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends— the Master is going to show up when he least expects it and make hash of him.” The minute the Master is away he does what he pleases. We don’t want to be this person, do we?   

Continued tomorrow