Redeeming The Time

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)
¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

I heard or read not long ago that the term fools was used to refer to someone who did not recognize God.  You can’t get more foolish than that. 

The definition of circumspectly means being wary of risk, which is another way of saying being very careful.  This is a most useful warning of how and where we to walk.  The days are full of evil indeed. 

I like the NKJV translation using the word “redeeming” in reference to time, our time left here on earth.  Christ redeemed you and me; shedding His blood for all that we would be reconciled to God.  Through that sacrifice we are brought into a new life as a new creature.  We are told to continue that transformation through the renewing of our minds. 

Time is redeemed then as we experience life in a new way.  Just as we have been redeemed, we are to likewise walk differently, living each moment growing in the light of Christ.  We are to leave our days of evil behind, giving ourselves each day for the glory of the Lord.  Time is no longer an incremental movement toward destruction, but changes into the beginning of a wonderful eternity for the wise.  Let us then be about the business of redeeming the time.