Ephesians 5:16
“making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
It’s easy to waste time. While young I had a tendency of being lazy. Especially after a hard day. That might be an acceptable reason to slow down.
I used to have a tormenter as a conscience, so I could rarely relax. I would feel guilty almost instantly. That’s not healthy either. I had to understand God’s grace. One of the verses that was helpful was 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.” I always felt compulsion. I had to tell myself that wasn’t God. I still feel some guilt. But not nearly like it used to be. I do believe God uses our consciences, so He can also use guilt.
Some times our motives aren’t perfect. I recall the parable of the grumpy son. It’s in Matthew 21:28,29, “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went.” This isn’t giving cheerfully, but God preferred that to disobedience.
The reason for redeeming the time is that the days are evil. There are several comments to make about this. It’s been said that “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” While not biblical, I believe the spirit is. We can get into trouble when we are idle. Temptations can arise. When we are busy, we miss many temptations.
Another view about the days being evil is that culture seems to gravitate towards evil. We need to fight to hold that back. We can do this by prayer and action. The work to do this is varied. We all have different gifts and interests. There are many ways to volunteer that would be helpful.
Coming back to the first point made about needing to relax after a hard day, God instituted rest. He modeled it by resting on the seventh day after He created the world. During the wilderness wanderings, God wanted them to rest on the seventh day, so He told them to collect extra portions of manna. He also made it last for that extra day. Rest is important and biblical. It’s different from laziness.
Lord, help me to redeem the time. I know You instituted rest. Help us to use healthy rest and to differentiate that from laziness. Help us to stay busy in good things and to stay away from temptations. Help us also to do good to stem the encroaching evil of our culture.