The Preciousness of Time
Take care then how you walk…, making best use of the time. (Eph. v. 15-16)
The Apostle Paul tells us to “redeem” or “buy up” the time. Today I spent some time trying to figure out why time is so precious. Maybe this will be helpful to you too, maybe not:
12 Properties of Time Wherefore it is Precious
1. It is a gift. We did nothing to obtain a share of life and breath. God was in no way obliged to cause your birth; your small allotment of time is a gift from Him.
2. It is at our disposal. Though God as creator ultimately owns both you and your time, he has permitted us a measure of choice in how we use time.
3. It is finite. We have a predetermined amount of time, and when it is all gone we will have no more.
4. It is unknown in length. You do not know if your life may be snuffed out in the next moment, and your time be finished.
5. It is perpetually consumed. The flow of time does not respect its use. Whether you sleep, or labor, or idle, the floor of time’s hallway crumbles away at your heels.
6. It is prey. Both man and devil seek to tax our days with fruitless toil, devouring our precious moments to further their evil designs.
7. It is irreclaimable. You get one shot at every moment.
8. It is immutable. Not one of your deeds done in time can be undone or their effects erased.
9. It is repercussive. What is done in one moment of time bears on every successive moment for better or worse.
10. It determines our temporal happiness. An hour spent in communion with God will gladden the soul as surely as an hour spent estranged from Him will erode it.
11. It determines our eternal residence. Salvation may be obtained only within our alloted window of time.
12. It determines our recompense in eternity. To everyone shall be given according to his works, whether good or bad.
Beware (take heed), then, that you walk (live, deport yourself) carefully (exactly, circumspectly, diligently, perfectly) not as unwise (fools) but as wise, redeeming (ransoming, rescuing from loss, buying up) the time, because the days are evil (hurtful, vicious). Therefore do not be ignorant (unbelieving, unwise), but understand (comprehend, put together mentally) what is the will (determination, desire, pleasure) of the Lord.
(Ephesians 5:15-17)