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A man approached the border on his bicycle with two large bags over his shoulders.
The customs agent asked, “What’s in the bags?”
“Sand,” he answered.
The suspicious guard emptied them out, found nothing but sand, and let him cross.
A week later, the same thing happened. And again the guard found nothing but sand. This continued every week for three years until one the guard said, “Hey, Buddy, I know you’re smuggling something. It’s driving me crazy. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?”
He smile and said, “Bicycles.”
The border guard had fallen victim to a tactic Satan often uses on Christians-Diversion. Before he can keep us from doing the thing God wants us to do, he has to get our attention, and he often does this by creating a diversion.
The Bible warns us to not be ignorant of the devil’s devices. Being aware of the diversions that come your way today, might help you stay focused and redeem the time.
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"A reporter asked a paramedic, ""What was your most unusual 911 call?""
The paramedic replied, ""Recently we got a call from that big white church downtown. A frantic usher was concerned that during the sermon an elderly man passed out in a pew and appeared to be dead. The usher could find no pulse and there was no noticeable breathing.""
""What was so unusual about that particular call?"" the reporter asked.
""Well,"" the paramedic said, ""we carried out four guys before we found the one who was actually dead.""
Could that paramedic have been visiting your church? Could they have even taken you out? If we’re going to take the time to go to church we might as well make the best use of that time by actively participating. Take notes. Give you pastor a smile, a nod or an occasional “amen” as he’s preaching. That doesn’t take any more time than being a passive listener but does give you a great way to redeem the time.
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An article by the Character Training Institute explains how creativity is actually a mental discipline that arises from two things:
1. How I view a situation
2. What data I bring to a situation
For example, when Johannes Gutenberg looked for a better way to create books, he didn’t think in terms of writing manuscripts faster. He viewed the situation differently by focusing on the goal of how to get more text on paper in a shorter time. This prompted him to ask the right questions which eventually produced the right answers.
Secondly, he looked at what data he could apply. For centuries, kings had carved seals in blocks of wood, dipped them in ink and pressed them on important documents.
By applying these two principles of viewing the situation differently and applying existing data or technology to the problem, he created the printing press which has been used to spread the Gospel worldwide ever since.
Remembering these two questions might bring some creativity to your work and help you redeem the time.
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"No one else can do what God wants you to do as effectively as you can do it. Redeeming the time means determining exactly what it is God wants us to do and then doing it with all our might.
To accomplish that it may be necessary to delegate certain tasks to others. However, there will always be those few core activities which God wants you and only you to handle. These usually involve relationships with other people. An example might be parenting.
Unfortunately today many Christian parents have overdelegated the training and care of their children in order to pursue activities which give them greater short term pleasure. This type of delegation brings short term freedom from responsibility but with a price tag of long term frustration and regret.
Not delegating away what God calls you to do yourself is part of redeeming the time.
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