"I’m very fortunate in that, even though I’m in my 40’s, my parents are both still living in the house where I grew up in Walkertown, North Carolina. Whenever I visit them, I’m amazed at how the town has changed. When I was a boy a traffic jam was 3 cars behind a tractor. Today, there are traffic lights everywhere.
When I see the changes I recall the saying, “You can never go back home.” Or as someone once adjusted that little proverb to say, “You can go back home, but someone else will answer the door.” The point is, time changes things.
As you think about how your hometown has changed during your lifetime, you can get spooked by the passage of time, or you can use those observations as promptings to remind you that this world is a very temporary situation, where the only thing that is permanent is change- and God.
Realizing the brevity of life can be a powerful motivation to redeem the time.
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"The Bangor Daily News recently reported that Roger Bennatti, a science teacher in Blue Hill, Maine, kept a Twinkie in his classroom for 30 years. The Twinkie, they reported, is still in tact and bright yellow. They quote Bennatti as saying, “It never spoiled. It is rather brittle, but if you dusted it off it’s probably still edible.”
Some things have a longer shelf life than others. That is, they spoil, deteriorate or become obsolete at different times. Becoming aware of an item’s shelf life can help you plan your day. Perhaps you have a task that has to be acted on today or an opportunity will be missed. It has a short shelf life. It can’t sit very long or it will spoil. Other items are like chemical laden foods. It really doesn’t matter when you do them. They aren’t going to change.
Giving consideration to the shelf life of the different options for your time today might help you discern how God wants you to redeem the time.
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"What do you think is special about the number 143? Among other things one in every 143 Americans are in jail. 143 People live in Montana Zip Code 59853. Rebels in Columbia once kidnapped 143 people from a church service. Today one American farmer feeds 143 people.
All of those are interesting. But none are as crucial as the fact that in the next 60 seconds 143 souls will go out into eternity. Imagine for a moment just what that looks like. Picture a large room with 143 people standing in it. Men and women, boys and girls of every race and social class all destined to leave this world in one minute.
It’s an awesome thought. Yet does it do anything to us as Christians when we consider the multitudes pouring into eternity without Christ? Ponder the worth of 143 souls. Then, go redeem the time.
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"Bank robbers aren’t very smart. Someone calculated how much they make per hour by totaling the money stolen from banks and never recovered, and dividing it by the hours served in prison for bank robbery. They discovered bank robbers made only pennies per hour. I do however know of one bank robber, named Willie Sutton, who had enough wits to give a clever response when asked why he robbed banks. He said, “Because that’s where they keep the money.”
At least Willie knew what he wanted and where to find it. And that’s more than can be said for many honest, hard-working people, even many Christians. If someone were to ask you what you want in life and how you plan to achieve it, could you answer them?
Before you can know how to use your time today, you’ll have to identify “where the money is.” By that I mean identify what God’s plan for your life involves, and what you need to do today to move yourself forward in that plan, so you’ll redeem the time.
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