Time is a Funny Funny Thing

As with all CCEF materials, Tim Lane and Paul Tripp's workbook "Change and Your Relationships: A Mess Worth Making" has a cheesy title but a powerful message. Lesson 10 is on Time and Money (I spend neither of these extremely well). A helpful summary of the chapter: "one way to evaluate and discover what we treasure is to look at our schedules and checkbooks." (ouch)

I was particularly struck by the section on time, which comes out of Ephesians 5:15-21. Vs 15-16 state "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (NIV 1984). In the King James, "making the most of every opportunity" is translated as "redeeming the time." The original Greek language uses time in two main ways throughout Scripture:

Chronos = time in general, hours/weeks/years/etc
Kairos = the specific time between Jesus' first and second comings

In vs 16, the original is the word "kairos." The distinction helps us to understand what the time is for. Rather than referring to time in general, giving the sense that it is eternal, Paul speaks to the Ephesians that they are to use time for a purpose. They are to redeem the time exactly because this time is not forever. We live in a certain time, the time waiting for Jesus to return. Lane and Tripp write "This is a time of unique opportunity for us to display the grace of Christ to others. One day this season will come to an end when Christ returns in power and glory. Thus a more awkward bu appropriate rendering of this verse would be, "As you go about your life in this in-between time use it to its fullest to display the grace of Christ to others." (pg 108). Chronos means that this time will end and that it is for a particular purpose. "Make the most of every area in which God has placed you ... daily struggles [are] critical moments of redemptive opportunity rather than hindrances or distractions." God commands us to redeem this time, but also equips us with the grace to be able to do this, and gives us the motivation - Jesus is coming back!

[There is no quick fix when it comes to our hearts, and the way we use our time is a heart issue, but sometimes practical help enables us both to see and to guard our hearts better. Check out this tool, especially if like me the internet is your biggest temptation to waste time: https://www.rescuetime.com/]