My wife and I tutor a few children during the week. It is a rewarding job or ministry most of the time. Sometimes I come home from school so tired that I must fight against falling asleep during the tutoring session.
My young students are smart and well behaved. They only have one problem: they tend to waste time and sometimes we are not able to finish all the work on time. They get distracted with just about anything that’s around them. I believe that my primary function as their tutor is to keep them on track.
In this world, most people waste so much time following empty dreams that ends up as a wasted life. Oh, what a waste indeed is to pursue power, fame, riches and pleasures. King Solomon spent most of his time following after these things, only to realize in the end that all was vanity (read Ecclesiastes 2).
I must confess that I too have wasted a great amount of my time. The first twenty two years of my life were a total waste. I was “…dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and I was a friend of the world and an enemy of God (James 4:4). I began to live, really live, when I repented of my sins and received Christ as my Lord and Savior.
What about you? Are you a born-again Christian? I hope you are and that you are not wasting the time God has given you. You have a limited amount of time left on this earth. God has saved us and placed us here for one purpose: To glorify Him with everything we do and say.
I am not judging you in any way. I know how hard it is to submit ourselves completely to the Lord and to walk perfectly on the narrow way. There are many dangers and distractions every step of the way. There are many voices calling our attention, the job, school, family, church, pleasures and sin.
All of us receive the same amount of hours, minutes and seconds every day. We can use our time wisely or wastefully. I understand that we have responsibilities and needs that demand a portion of our time every day, but we can do everything in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:17) and for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Ephesians 5:16 exhorts us to always be “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” How can we redeem our time for the glory of God? The answer is also found in the rest of this chapter. We must walk (or live) in love (v. 1), in light (v. 8), in wisdom (v. 15), filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 18) and with joy and gratitude (vv. 19, 20).
Alexander Gonzalez
