"A three hundred year old Stradivarius cello belonging to the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic was stolen recently after he accidentally left it outside his home and a man on a bike grabbed it. After 12 days, the three-and-a-half million-dollar instrument was recovered when a nurse, who'd picked it up by a trash bin, heard a news report of the missing instrument. She told reporters she had talked to a carpenter friend about converting it into a CD holder.
Sometimes we don’t realize the value of what we have. That’s the way it often is with our time. How many wealthy people reach the end of life and would gladly pay $3.5 million for an extension, while younger people in perfect health squander their opportunities worse than someone who would make a CD holder from a Stradivarius.
The Bible teaches we will give an account some day for our time. Begin preparing for that event today by redeeming the time.
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"Everyone wants to be successful. The problem is, most people aren’t willing to devote the time and energy required to achieve what God considers true success.
A popular motivational speaker pictures success as a stairway we have to climb to get to the top. Each of the steps in that staircase represents a character quality we need to succeed. God gives a similar picture of success in 2 Peter 1 where He says to start with faith and then add virtue, then, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and finally charity, or love. The problem is most people don’t want to climb the steps. They want to take the elevator. They think they can take a short cut around God’s program.
But these qualities don’t come quickly or easily. They require lots of time. Yet, successful people will form the habit of doing the thing others don’t like to do. So don’t waste time staring up the steps when you could be stepping up the stairs and redeeming the time.
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"The story is told of a steamship which began to sink in the deep sea. Seeing her distress the captain of a would be rescue ship pulled up and offered to take on her passengers.
“Not yet,” cried back the distressed boat’s captain. Stay close by till sunrise and we’ll come aboard then. The captain reasoned that some passengers might be lost if the transfer were done at night. The captain of the rescue vessel shouted back a plea to reconsider as he saw the desperate condition of the ship. But the captain insisted they wait till morning.
An hour and a half later, the ship’s lights disappeared into the sea and all were lost. The captain made a tragic mistake in believing they could be saved better at a later time.
The Bible says now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Tomorrow may be too late. Don’t fall for Satan’s lie that you’ll have another time later on. Getting saved today is how you’ll redeem the time.
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"A man wanted to eat at an exclusive restaurant but was stopped at the door and told he had to have a necktie. He went back to his car but couldn’t find a tie, so he wrapped some jumper cables around his neck and left them dangling at both ends. The manager eyed him carefully and said, “You can come in but just don’t try to start anything.”
Unfortunately, that phrase expresses the way many Christians view involvement in their local church. They want to come in but they don’t want to start anything or be involved in anything, beyond merely attending worship once a week. Someone said, if you want to know where a person’s true priorities are, just look at his checkbook and his date book.
How we spend our time and how we spend our money are often the two best indications of what’s really important to us. That’s why God exhorts us repeatedly to lay up treasures in Heaven by giving money and redeeming the time.
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