"Maybe you heard about the fellow who stayed in the shower all day. The directions on his shampoo bottle said, lather, rinse and repeat.
We often overlook or fail to realize some things that should be quite obvious to us. One example of something that falls into that category is the fact that we are going to be dead a lot longer than we are going to be alive.
Thousands of years ago, Moses wrote in Psalm 90 that a man’s life in this world would only average about 70 or 80 years. Today that is about the maximum life expectancy in countries with the longest life spans. 80 may sound old, but what is 80 years when you compare it to eternity?
Truthfully, it is impossible to compare the amount of time in this world with the next. The concept of eternity is too great for us to ever completely grasp. But we can use the reality of eternity as motivation today to redeem the time.
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"The Dead Sea illustrates of the end result of the way many people spend their time. It gets its name from the fact that no animal life exists there due to its polluted nature. The problem with the Dead Sea is that water only flows into it. There is no outlet. So all the poisons, salts and sediments from the area are deposited there and remain there.
Self centered living works the same way. When our whole life is focused on gathering all we can for ourselves our souls eventually become sour and polluted. Everyone needs an outlet. We need time in our schedule every day to give out instead of taking in.
Jesus is our greatest example of balanced living. He had times alone with His Heavenly Father, even extended times. But then He gave Himself to the needs of others. The Bible says it is better to give than to receive. That’s a good formula for redeeming the time.
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"A group of hunters paired off in 2’s and decided to meet back at the end of the day. When Fred returned to camp alone with his 8 point buck, everyone asked where his partner was. “Oh, he collapsed a mile up the road.” Fred responded. “And you left him there?” they asked. Fred replied, “Well, I didn’t figure anyone would steal him.”
Fred obviously liked hunting. But there’s another type of hunting no one likes. That is hunting for lost household items. That type of hunting robs us of momentum and wastes our time.
But we can reduce hunting time by buying duplicate items and keeping them where they are needed. Keep an extra plunger by each toilet, an extra broom by each door, an extra pillow on the sofa, and extra shovel in the garden. Also, keeping extra pocket New Testaments in your car, purse, workplace and bedside means you’ll never have to go hunting for God’s Word.
Remember, duplicating, not hunting, redeems the time.
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"You might guess the word “hello” dates back to the start of the English language. But it was actually coined in the 1880’s as a greeting when answering a new invention called the telephone. It won out over Alexander Graham Bell’s suggested “Ahoy” greeting.
Another word with interesting origins is “enthusiasm.” The root word comes from the Greek, “Theos,” or God. It is the same root word from which we get theology or the study of God. Combined with its prefix and suffix, it literally means “A state of being in God.”
Yet how many Christians today use their time in a way that reflects real “enthusiasm” for God? Is the time that we give God each day our most enthusiastic time, or does He get the leftovers after our prime time is spent elsewhere?
We can only be enthusiastic about a limited number of things. Let’s make sure we pick the right ones, so we redeem the time.
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