What do we spend our time on ? What do we spend our energy on? Oh Lord Jesus 🙏🙏
Ephesians 5:14-16 - Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil..
Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time.
Time is a thing that is exceedingly precious.
Why is time precious?
1. because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it.
2. time is very short, Job 9:25, 26. “Our life; what is it? It is but a vapour which appeared for a little time, and then vanished away.” Jam. 4:14. It is but as a moment to eternity. Time is so short, and the work which we have to do in it is so great, that we have none of it to spare. The work which we have to do to prepare for eternity, must be done in time, or it never can be done; and it is found to be a work of great difficulty and labor, and therefore that for which time is the more requisite.
3. because we are uncertain of its continuance. We know not how little of it remains, whether a year, or several years, or only a month, a week, or a day. We are every day uncertain whether that day will not be the last, or whether we are to have the whole day.
4.when it is past, it cannot be recovered.
Brother Watchman Nee has some really good writing on this matter in the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 55 and vol. 19 and 38, on the matter of redeeming the opportunity and numbering our spiritual days.
We could translate the word “time” in “redeeming the time” as “redeeming the opportunity”. This word, opportunity, is a very positive word; this means that again and again God presents us with opportunities, and if we take them, we are blessed by Him to be an age-turning instrument, but if we miss them, we will miss or waste this opportunity.
If we read in Matthew we see that, after death, there’s some who are cast into a place of darkness to be disciplined, and one of the main things they will experience is regret, remorse; they will regret not redeeming the opportunity during their life on earth.
The rich man in Hades regretted his living on earth and wanted Abraham to send someone to his family and let them know what will happen after they die; he suffered regret for not redeeming the opportunity while he was alive. Oh Lord!
Brothers and sisters, it is possible to regret; today we may regret certain days that we have wasted, and one day we may regret missing the opportunity to be part of God’s dispensational instrument in this age!
May we ask the Lord to teach us to number our days that we may have wisdom; wisdom is knowing how to seize the opportunity and redeem the time.