Ephesians 5:1-17 KJV Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Colossians 4:5 KJV
THE TIME CONUNDRUM OR ENIGMA
From his birth man is given an allotted quota of time. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalms 90:12 KJV
365 x 24 x 60 x 60 is the amount of seconds we have in a year.
In 2013 each person starts with the identical amount of time. None is given more or less!
1 year
365 days
8,760 hours
525,600 minutes
31,536, 000 seconds
For those who work an 8 hour day for 5 days per week that is 2080 hours per year (87 days)
If you sleep approx 6 hours per day that is 2190 hours per year (91 days)
For those who commute approximately 1 and a half hours per day it's about 547 hours (23 days)
Meals an hour per day makes it 365 hours per year (15 days)
Shopping at 2 hours per week makes it 104 hours per year (4 days)
Movie time per week at 4 hours makes it 208 hours per year (7 days)
Private time for personal hygiene at 1 hour daily is 365 hours per year (15 days)
Making it to one church service per week lasting approximately 2 hours gives 104 hours per year (4 days)
That’s 246 days leaving 119 days at a VERY conservative estimate. (Charts)
How much of that will be idle time and how much will be useful? How will the time we are given be used in this year?
CHRONOLOGICAL TIME VS OPPORTUNE TIME
Two major Greek words are used for time in the New Testament kairos and chromos.
According to the Word Study Dictionary we have these meanings:
chrónos; gen. chrónou, masc. noun. Time. This word perceives time quantitatively as a period measured by the succession of objects and events and denotes the passing of moments. Another word, kairós (G2540), season, the time of accomplishment, considers time qualitatively as a period characterized by the influence or prevalence of something. Chrónos is a period of measured time, not a period of accomplishment as kairós. Chrónos embraces all possible kairoí (pl.), and is often used as the larger and more inclusive term, but not the converse. In the NT: (Word Study Dictionary)
kairós; gen. kairoú, masc. noun. Season, opportune time. It is not merely as a succession of minutes, which is chrónos (G5550), but a period of opportunity (though not necessity). There is really no Eng. equivalent to the word kairós, appropriate or opportune time, which when used in the pl. with chrónoi (times), is translated as "seasons," times at which certain foreordained events take place. (Word Study Dictionary)
Lysippus a 4th century BC Greek sculptor made a statue of Kairos called Opportunity, on which the following Aesop's fable is based
Running swiftly, balancing on the razor's edge, bald but with a lock of hair on his forehead, he wears no clothes; if you grasp him from the front, you might be able to hold him, but once he has moved on not even Jupiter himself can pull him back: this is a symbol of Opportunity, the brief moment in which things are possible.
The following epigram by Poseidippos was carved on the statue:
"Who and whence was the sculptor? From Sikyon.
And his name? Lysippus.
And who are you? Time who subdues all things.
Why do you stand on tip-toe? I am ever running.
And why you have a pair of wings on your feet? I fly with the wind.
And why do you hold a razor in your right hand? As a sign to men that I am sharper than any sharp edge.
And why does your hair hang over your face? For him who meets me to take me by the forelock.
And why, in Heaven's name, is the back of your head bald? Because none whom I have once raced by on my winged feet will now, though he wishes it sore, take hold of me from behind.
Why did the artist fashion you? For your sake, stranger, and he set me up in the porch as a lesson."
Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature. (Wikipedia)
What we see distinguished here is the difference between time as a quantity and time as a quality! Every day we are all given an identical quantity of time but then have the responsibility of turning this quantity into quality time! Therein lies the difference for it’s the quality that counts!
We are in the habit of seeing time as a quantity of which we either have too much or too little! It’s just an illusion for it ever remains the same! It’s what we do in it that counts!
We are to take advantage of the opportune seasons and times as they present themselves! We will never regret this but we will spend a lifetime regretting we never made use of the opportunities.
A farm boy accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn in the road. The farmer who lived nearby came to investigate. “Hey, Willis,” he called out, “Forget your troubles for a spell and come on in and have dinner with us. Then I’ll help you get the wagon up.”
“That’s mighty nice of you,” Willis answered, “But I don’t think Pa would like me to.”
“Aw, come on, son!” the farmer insisted.
“Well, okay,” the boy finally agreed. “But Pa won’t like it.” After a hearty dinner, Willis thanked his host. “I feel a lot better now, but I just know Pa is going to be real upset.”
“Don’t be foolish!” exclaimed the neighbor. “By the way, where is your Pa?”
“He’s under the wagon.”
You can bet Pa will be real upset because Willis did not seize the time!
WHILE IT IS DAY...
We need to seize the moment!
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. John 9:1-4 KJV
In our text the word redeem is derived from the Greek exagorázo: redeem, buy off, deliver by paying the price
It is obvious we cannot buy back time after it is gone so what does it mean?
The word is said to come for a root meaning marketplace or more properly a slave market where lives will be lost to slavery. In using the term it is recognized that we need to rescue from irrecoverable loss the time that we are allotted in this life. We are to seize the opportunities as they come for once gone they’re gone forever.
The days are evil...evil will try its utmost to seize your time. Your time becomes a slave to the forces of evil and is in enemy territory. Evil's subtle sly seductive suggestions steal your allotted time and the seconds drift away without you realizing it. The time of each day is not recoverable, saved or reserved. It is an unrelenting one way street with no turning back! Seize it now! Redeem it!
Jesus’ advent was the ultimate opportunity and He urged people to seize it!
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1:14-15 KJV
Jesus presented this opportunity to Nazareth when he said:
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Luke 4:21 KJV
They rejected Him!
Zacchaeus recognized this opportunity and seized it!
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. Luke 19:5-6 KJV
The malefactor on the cross recognized it and seized it!
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43 KJV
The children of Israel failed to seize the opportunity!
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. Hebrews 3:7-15 KJV
The rich young ruler failed to seize it!
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. Mark 10:17-22 KJV
"Your money, or your life." We know what to do when a burglar makes this demand of us, but not when God does. Mignon McLaughlin.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem for failing to seize the opportunity!
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Luke 19:41-44 KJV
By this time we can see that kairos as time, is in the present. Right now! Today! Yesterday is gone and you do not know of tomorrow!
In the Lord of the Rings Frodo is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and in the course of a conversation with Gandalf says:
'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.
'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'
Remember that famous scene in Trading Places where the Duke brothers screamed for the whole thing to start over again? Mortimer Duke: I want trading reopened right now. Get those brokers back in here! Turn those machines back on! Turn those machines back on! while his brother Randolph is having a heart attack on the floor. How late it was with opportunity gone!
Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life. Michael Leboeuf
Time's Paces is a poem about the apparent speeding up of time as one gets older. It was written by Henry Twells (1823 - 1900)
When I was a child and laughed and wept - Time crept.
When I was a youth I waxed more bold - Time strolled.
When I became a full grown man - Time ran.
When older still I daily grew - Time flew.
Soon I shall find I’m passing on - Time gone.
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 KJV
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:13-17 KJV
Sometimes we can become too preoccupied with things rather than God:
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:15-21 KJV
We need to buy up the time and never let an opportunity pass by. Seize the day is a common expression of our times!
ME YOU HAVE NOT ALWAYS...
Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. John 12:1-8 KJV
Have you ever noticed that people hardly find time for God or the things of God? Many sincere people are so caught up in life's everyday activities with a great exhibition of busy occupation. They would really like to spend more time with God but are hard pressed to find the time. They work hard during the week sometimes at two or more jobs which are a necessity because they have to pay bills, make ends meet, secure the comfort of their family or maybe it's just to get possession of that bigger house, fancier car, expensive vacation! When weekend arrives some are busy trying to get an extra job. Many times we just need that weekend to sleep in late because of the thoroughly harassing week of labor. Surely God will understand we need the rest..after all that's what the Sabbath is for!
Have you noticed how we find time for other things such as that new movie, that sporting event, that long overdue trip to anywhere...and the list goes on. It's really weird that all of this happens with seemingly little effort...but with God...we're simply too busy.
Are you aware that it is the devil's desire to distract you from even thinking about God much less finding time for Him? Do you know if left to yourself you will never find time for God? Do you realize that when it comes to God it's not about just finding time for Him but about seizing the time for Him?
If we don’t SEIZE the time for Jesus, we'll NEVER FIND time for Him!
We have a whole new year of 365 days. By His Mercy and Grace we may reach another December 31! What is important is how we will relate to Him this year! We cannot continue to ignore Him and shut Him out of our activities then expect Him to show up with a miracle when we find ourselves up against a wall. We cannot continue to give Him the dregs of our life and expect Him to supply us with fresh oil daily!
There is a period of time when you can do something particularly significant that will be impossible at another time even though you may then have all the time in the world. The opportunity is lost and it cannot be regained!
It becomes pointless to say I will have more time at a later date. Your child has grown, your season has past, and your window of opportunity has disappeared. It will not return again! All plans for the future become null and void because you failed to plan for the present opportunity and season.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Romans 13:11-14 KJV
Beatles "Have No Future in Show Business"
The details: Mike Smith was an executive in charge of evaluating talent for Decca Records when he traveled to Liverpool, England, to listen to an up and coming band. He was impressed. The band had unmistakable talent, so he brought them to Decca's London office for an audition on New Year's Day 1962. The band played 15 songs, went home and waited for an answer.
When they finally heard the answer, Decca's famous reply was that, "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business". Decca did not realize what they had so they failed to seize the moment!
