See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Ephesians 5:15-16, KJV

Richard Le Gallienne is credited with saying, “Time’s horses gallop down the lessening hill.”  That is a colorful way of saying, “Time flies.”  The Romans said, “Tempus fugit.”  No matter how you put it, you know what they mean, for you feel the pressures that are made on your time.  With all the inventions of modern technology, no one has come up with any means of putting more hours in the day.

When you stop to think about time, there is something that has the taste of mystery in it.  Where did time come from, and to where does it go?  We know that time is a measure of division–but from what to what?  As you look back over your life, you have to admit that time goes by more quickly now than it did a year ago.

When you were a child, you thought that summer vacation would never come, but now as a mother or a father, you wonder how a vacation can pass like a school recess when you were a kid.  Time seems to gain momentum with the passing of life–the horses of time do gallop down the lessening hills.

The amount of time that may be measured out in your life is not nearly as important as how you use the time you have.  The ancient Greeks had two words for time.  One was the word chronos, the root of the word chronometer.  The other word is kairos.  It means time with a purpose.  Your life falls into one of these categories.  Life without purpose or life with dimension and reality.  Which is it?  Robert Moffatt, a pioneer missionary, once wrote, “We shall have all eternity in which to celebrate our victories, but we have only one short hour before the sunset in which to win them.”

Every person has a fixed allotment of time, but no one knows when his allotment is up.  That is why you had better make the most of every moment.  Years ago, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians and told them to “redeem the time because the days were evil.”  He urged them to take advantage of every moment because life at its longest is mighty short.

You may have a kindred feeling with actor John Carroll.  He has done a little bit of everything in life from actor to world traveler.  Carroll recently told a reporter that his main concern is time.  “Time doesn’t walk; it flies,” he said. Then he explained: “I was first shocked at the speed of life while I was involved in some project in recent years and discovered suddenly that three years had passed without my realizing it.”  How many years have passed in your life?

The Bible gives us guidelines for living, and it says that time is part of eternity, yet our decisions made now in time fix our destiny in eternity.  If you knew that you would live for exactly 24 hours–no more and no less–how would you spend that time?  Would you bury some axes and settle some disagreements that you have had with people for a long time?  Would you want to spend some time with your family?  But, most important, would you want to spend some time searching your heart before God, making sure that you are ready to enter into His presence?  If the answer is “yes” to these things, then do each and every one of them and act TODAY!

If you live every day as though it were going to be your last, you will live a life that is full and complete.  Procrastination is not only the thief of time; it is the thief of men’s souls.  Now is the time to do what you have been wanting to do for a long time.  John Carroll is right: “Time doesn’t walk; it flies.”

 

Resource reading:  Ephesians 5:8-20