"There are situations where being just a tiny bit better than you are now can bring great rewards. In a horserace, for example, the first place horse may earn a $50,000 prize while the second horse earns a $25,000 prize. The first horse gets twice as much money as the second horse, not because it ran twice as far or twice as fast, but because it was a “nose ahead” of the competition.
Life works that way in many other areas as well. The difference between the students who graduate first and second in their class may only be a thousandth of a grade point. But number one is offered attractive scholarships, not because they were far above and beyond, but because they were a nose ahead.
The challenge for us as Christians then, is to identify the areas of our lives where being a nose ahead can make the greatest difference for the Kingdom of God. Spending time there will be certain to redeem the time.
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"I came across a quote recently that caught my attention. It said, “Nobody who gave his best ever regretted it.” At first I thought, “That’s a good quote. I’ll make a radio program on that.” But as I thought it through a bit more, I realized it was not a completely accurate thought.
There are many people today who are giving their best, but they are giving it to the wrong cause. Multitudes of successful businessmen regretfully reach the end of their career with broken families because they gave their best working 12 hour days for companies where they are quickly forgotten. Cult members often put Christians to shame by the zeal they show in giving their best for their cause. But when they stand before God in judgment, they’ll regret having followed a lie and will curse those who deceived them.
It’s not just giving your best, but giving your best at what God calls you to do that produces a life of no regrets and redeems the time.
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"Have you ever met a man who considered himself a poor driver? Probably not. All men consider themselves good drivers. Likewise, have you ever met anyone who admitted to being lazy? I’ve known very few, if any, who would describe themselves this way. Yet we all know the world contains many bad drivers and many lazy people.
The problem with a lazy person is they always believe their lack of motivation is caused by some external force which lies beyond their control. They delude themselves with the belief that if their circumstances were only different then they would produce something. The Bible says the sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men that give a sensible answer. In other words he sees his laziness as justifiable behavior given his difficult circumstances.
The truth is, there are lazy people, and we’re all tempted to be slothful at times. That’s why recognizing laziness, admitting to it, and overcoming it is such a big part of redeeming the time.
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"Have you ever noticed the key pad on a telephone is arranged backward from the keypad on a calculator? That’s because phone keypads descended from rotary phones which had 7-8-9 on bottom. Calculators descended from early cash registers with higher numbers on top.
Today most every phone also has several memory buttons which dial frequently used numbers with one touch. That means no wrong numbers, or time spent looking up numbers. It means pushing one button instead of ten.
Most of us are aware of this feature. Yet many of us have never used this feature because it would take a few moments to enter the number the first time. That's a little example of how we waste time by not investing time. Taking initiative now to prepare for the future is a Biblical way of thinking. God's way is to focus on investing now in order to reap greater rewards later, especially in Heaven. That's backwards of human nature but a good principle for redeeming the time.
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