"In the 1800’s a railroad clerk attempted to deliver a box of watches to a jeweler. When the jeweler refused them he contacted the sender, but he refused to take them back.
Not knowing what to do, he decided to draw pictures of the watches, describe them, and put out a catalog which he sent to other clerks. When they bought all the watches he had, he ordered more, and enlarged his catalog.
This clerk’s name was Sears. And his little catalog became Sears, Roebuck and Company. Mr. Sears redeemed the time by turning an obstacle into an opportunity. He took a box of merchandise nobody wanted and turned it into one of the greatest success stories in the history of business.
Most likely, God’s plan for your life won’t include building a giant retail store. But He does have a perfect plan for your life. And we are only able to detect that plan and see it unfold as we are careful each day to redeem the time.
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"On March 18, 1937 at 3:05 pm over 500 students and teachers went about their routines at the New London TX High School. Moments later 300 of them would be in eternity.
A natural gas leak under the building had filled the crawl space with the explosive gas which ignited when a teacher turned on a sanding machine. The explosion leveled the building killing the majority of students and teachers inside.
As a result of that tragedy, laws were passed that required natural gas, which is odorless, to have a chemical added so leaks could be smelled. It was a good law but it came too late for those Texas school children. That tragic incident many years ago can serve as a reminder to us today of the danger of not considering what can go wrong and taking action to prevent it.
Proverbs says a wise man foresees evil. Taking time to act on potential threats instead of cleaning up after a disaster is a better way to redeem the time.
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"Titus Tetley was a twenty-two year old who trashed his time terribly. When Titus took a trip to town in his tan Toyota Tercel, Titus took two TV’s to town too just to titillate his TV trained mind while in transit. Then, Titus took two hours to telephone his two friends, Tim and Tom, to tell them of the trivialities he took in on TV.
One Tuesday, Titus’s TV took a tumble and turned into trash on the tile. Traumatized, at the terrible tragedy that had taken place, Titus turned to a table where a Testament took his attention. Titus took it and read, “Touch not the unclean thing”
Titus thought of a time when he was a tiny tot and a teacher taught him to turn off the TV and tune in to God’s Word. Turning twice to the Testament, Titus read, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.” Trembling, Titus turned to talk to God about his time trashing TV habits that Tuesday. Today Titus Tetley tells everyone to redeem the time.
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"Perhaps you heard about the lady that was such a poor cook she used a smoke alarm as a timer.
Well that’s a bad joke, but the idea of using timers is a good one for those who wish to carefully guard their time. A $5 investment in an egg timer can quickly pay for itself as we learn to use it for everyday tasks. Microwave oven timers also do the same thing.
For example, set a goal tonight to have the dishes washed in 10 minutes and set your timer. The deadline will insure you work speedily and stay focused on the task at hand.
Timers also work well for children. They stay much more focused if they know the timer is going to ding in a few minutes and they get a prize for being done on time.
God has a plan for how He wants us to use each minute. Using timers is a simple way to stay current with that plan and to redeem the time.
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