Did you know…..In a lifetime the average North American will spend:
Six months sitting at stoplights
Eight months opening junk mail
One year looking for misplaced objects
2 years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
5 years waiting in line
6 years eating
21 years watching television.
(Pause)
Now take a moment and think about how you spend your time.
When all of the necessary things are done,
how much time is left?
God did not give all of us the same amount of talent,
nor the same amount of wealth,
but He has given each of us the same amount of time.
(Pause)
Let us look at time one other way.
Imagine that a bank credits your account each morning with $86,400.
No balance is carried over from day to day.
Any balance is deleted each evening.
What would you do when you knew
that you would not use all your daily balance?
Why of course you would withdraw every penny, of course!
You know we do have such a bank like this.
The name of our bank is TIME.
(Pause)
Every day we are credited with 86,400 seconds.
Every night, that which we have not used is debited from our account.
The TIME bank allows no overdraft,
there is no going back for a second chance.
TIME bank does not allow borrowing from tomorrow and of course,
and there are no leftovers.
The clock ticks away, never waiting for anyone to catch up.
But, in reality, time is not money.
If you lose money, you can always make it some other way.
Time is not a renewable resource.
Whatever time we lost is gone forever,
never to be returned to us again.
Time is infinitely more valuable than money ever will be.
It is interesting that when we look at the Bible,
we do not find a lot of emphasis on saving time or managing time.
(Pause)
Yes, we are called to be good “stewards”
of all that God has given us,
and that includes time.
But, more than that, in the words of the apostle Paul,
in today’s reading from Ephesians 5
and again in Colossians 4:5,
we are called to REDEEM the time.
What does it mean to redeem the time?
The word “redeeming” can be translated as buying up or purchasing.
Everyone of us has had missed opportunities in our lives.
There have been stocks we should have invested in,
the job we should have taken,
the pass we should have caught,
the point we should have raised,
the relationship we should have nurtured
and the opportunities to share Christ that we passed up.
So I ask us to ask ourselves,
Have we been REDEEMING THE TIME,
taking advantage of every opportunity that God sends your way?
(Pause)
This could come in the simplest forms of–a friend who wants to talk,
the chance to lend a hand to someone in need,
the privilege of influencing the life of a child
by teaching Sunday School,
the precious moments we share with our children at home?
(Pause)
Author Terry Muck tells of a letter he received from
a man who used to have absolutely
no interest in spiritual things and would be considered a non-believer.
Here’s the letter:
“I was in total despair.
I went through the funeral preparations
and the service like I was in a trance.
And after the service I went to the path along the river and walked all night.
But I did not walk alone.
My neighbor - afraid for me, I guess –
stayed with me all night.
He did not speak;
he did not even walk beside me.
He just followed me.
When the sun finally came up over the river he came over to me and said,
"Let’s go get some breakfast."
I go to church now.
My neighbor’s church.
A religion that can produce the kind of caring
and love my neighbor showed me is something
I want to find out more about.
I want to be like that.
I want to love and be loved like that for the rest of my life.”
What made the difference in this man’s life?
It was that one Christian,
his neighbor,
dared to make the most of the opportunity
he had to reveal Christ to his friend.
There were few words . . .
but the message came through.
He had learned how to REDEEM THE TIME.
How about you and me?
How are we handling this precious gift of time that God has given us?
Are we still hung up on saving and managing it?
Or can we move towards redeeming it?
Are we blinded by the problems
we have with lack of time,
or do you focus on the opportunities God is opening up before you every day?
Yes, time flies, but not on autopilot!
You’re at the controls.
One day, our time on earth will come to an end.
And we will be asked to give an account of how
we invested the gift of time that was given to us.
(Pause)
I don’t believe we will be asked how well we did in SAVING TIME.
We will not be asked to prove how well we did in MANAGING TIME.
Instead, We will be asked how well we did in REDEEMING THE TIME,
in making the most of the opportunities that God sent our way.
How well did we live our lives out in the image of Jesus
showing love and grace to all we come in contact with….
How well did we do in not leaving anyone behind or judging them
while proclaiming the Good News.
The Good news is simply to show love and grace for all of God’s creation .
The apostle Paul said:
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
What will we say when asked How did you Redeem Your Time?