By Alan Dean, retired Seventh-day Adventist pastor
We are in a new era of world history – many people out of work, many being required to work from home, and many choosing to stay at home for safety reasons. The use of our time has changed significantly. Most, but not all, have more free time. As Christians, it becomes important how we use it.
Someone has said, “Of no talent God has given will He require a more strict account than of our time.” This only seems logical because how we use our time determines and manifests the type of person we are. We are to be good managers of our time just as we are to be with our finances.
The Apostle Paul uses the phrase “redeeming the time” two times in his letters – Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5. The idea he is pressing is that we should use all our time for noble purposes, for doing good. In our day this may be more important than in Paul’s day because we have so many questionable ways to use our idle time. But even in our lockdown period, we could be using our free time to help people who need our physical, emotional, and spiritual support.
Sometimes this help is needed in our own home. We can spend more of our time today to strengthen our parental and marriage relationships. We can get to know our neighbors better and learn of ways to help. There is always a need for volunteers to help in various service organizations. These uses of time not only help others, but also help ourselves.
But the most important consideration in the use of our time is that which we spend with our Lord. All of us today should be taking more time for Bible study and prayer. Many of us have the time and God wants us to use it to draw closer to Him. The future of our world is unclear. We need a closer walk with Jesus. He could be coming soon.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 also reminds us that man does not know his time (death), and that unawares, men can become easily ensnared unexpectedly by some evil. So, Solomon in his wisdom warns us to use our time wisely for our own sake. I pray we will use our time in positive ways and limit our time with the TV and social media. You will be blessed as well as others.
