Redeem Your Time
Not enough time in your day? Feel you have become a slave of time? Redeem your time by eliminating the following 7 major time traps.
“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” (Col 4:5)
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Eph 5:15)
We make dozens of time trade deals on a daily basis. Some good some bad. We sell our time for an income or salary. Some use their time more effectively than others. The quest is to determine what is urgent, important, and what is a complete waste of your time. Making the right choice may sound easy but it can really get complicated.
Time is one of our most scarce resources and commodities. Significantly, people who are very productive always find time to do what is required. Some people are always late, very busy without accomplishing anything substantial. Some people going through trauma and personal loss may feel that time is standing still.
In the Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein determined that time is relative–in other words, the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference. As we grow older, time seems to disappear quicker; contrastingly for a teenager, time is moving too slow for them to experience the freedoms of adulthood.
Currently, the shortage of time is used as an excuse for not praying, reading & studying the Bible, doing good, ministry, fellowshipping together. But when one really wants to go hiking or enjoying a meal with friends, or watching a movie then we have more than enough time?
Time is money we say. But, in reality, time is not money. If you lose money, you can always make it some other way. Time is not a renewable resource. Whatever time we lose is gone forever, never to be returned to us again.
Get motivated to redeem your time.
Just a tiny little minute
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me. Can’t refuse it.
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
How do you value your time?
How do we value ONE YEAR? Ask a student who failed a grade.
What is the value of ONE MONTH? Ask a Mother whose baby arrived prematurely.
How much do we value ONE WEEK? For the sailors trapped in a submarine on the ocean floor, it was the difference between life and death.
How much do we value ONE HOUR? Ask someone who missed a connecting flight because the first flight was delayed by an hour.
What is the value of HALF AN HOUR? Ask the parents of the flower girl and ring bearer who missed the wedding here yesterday because one of them thought the wedding was at 4:30, rather than 4 pm?
How much do we value ONE MINUTE? Ask someone who had a heart attack in a restaurant with a paramedic sitting at the next table.
How much do we value ONE SECOND? Ask an Olympic swimmer, who just missed qualifying by 3 one-thousandths of a second!
Alistair Begg
Learn to redeem your time by trading with Heaven.
People trade their time for various things, fitness, learning, investigation, hobbies, work, dialogue, relaxation etc! Time usually follow that what we value. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mat 6:21) We as spiritual people and children of God, have surrendered our time, like our money, faculties, talents and abilities to be of divine use. Subsequently, our time should reflect godly pursuits as instructed by the Holy Spirit. Our lives should be fruitful, causing people heaven’s delight, and demonstrating God’s Kingdom here on Earth as it is in Heaven. This is a daunting task, and almost impossible by human effort.
This is why Jesus modelled a life that is in tune or synchronised with Heaven’s movement or initiative. He waited: “My time is not now” (John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). Jesus often would stop and say: “today scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”. He was living according to heaven’s timetable. This is such a glorious biblical principle to understand! We can’t make the supernatural happen, but by reading the signs, we move ourselves into position for God to show up!
Redeem your time with prophetic intend.
The man who kept his young donkey, for Jesus to ride on is a good example. (Mat 21:1-5) This man possibly read the scriptures “Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey” (Is. 62:11; Zech. 9:9) then seeing Jesus minister the way he did, he put two and two together. He saved this very useful and necessary pack-animal, for when Jesus would have need for it.
Daniel Saw the scriptures about that Isreal will be freed after 70 years of exile (Dan 9:2). Then he prayed for this prophetic word to come into fulfilment. So Anna and Simeon faithfully prayed and waited for the promise of the arrival of the Messiah in their lifetime. (Luk 1-2)
Redeem your time from man’s time schedules.
Time is in God’s hand. He rules over it. He gives it to us as a means of His grace.
Why was Jesus born at that specific time? Why not born in the time of Jewish Political self-rule 130 years in between Greek and Roman Military Rule? Jesus was in no hurry to fulfil His divine purpose in only 2,5 years! He waited patiently obedient to earthly parents, working as an artisan, among the poor villagers of Nazareth not seeking fame or prominence. Uniquely, He eventually bought time through His Birth BC / AD literally creating a universal time marker, and the Sun darkened for 3 hours at His Crucifixion Mark 15:33 He clearly showed that he was not a slave to the time schedules created by man. His life was synchronised and determined by a higher level and dimension of time.
We find that divine acts supersede earthly time:
Joshua 10:12-14 – The Sun stands still.
2 Kings 20:8-11; Isaiah 38:7,8 – Sun moved back-wards 10 degrees.
Amos 9:13 – reaper overtake the sower.
When we obey God’s timing, He also will use us as he did with all the great leaders in the Bible to become His Divine Time Markers. Spiritual people, tunes into the heart of the father, become trendsetters, pioneers, front runners of God’s will and intend!
Discern heaven’s time schedule.
In effect, our effectiveness is synchronisation with heaven’s prophetic schedule and season (Kiaros moment) for something. (Zechariah 10:1) Pray for rain in the time for rain. Ecclesiastes 3:1–8—Fourteen pairs of opposites, offering practical wisdom for every area of life—but we must know the proper time for each.
Discern the right time for something: We are expected to recognise times and seasons (1 Thess. 5:1–6) “the signs of the times.” Therefore, we are all responsible to understand the times and seasons of God’s spoken word. (Matt. 16:1–3) Many people only think like a man, in the same way, Peter missed Jesus divine suffering, not discerning the time for spiritual interventions.
Sunday church meetings are not just another weekly activity, it is God’s family redeeming time to hear together what their Father is instructing them to do. Prophetic prayer is divine timing alignment and time-setting meetings. We can thus rest our faith in Him, that when He has purposed something, He will fulfil it! We just need to show up.
7 major time traps you need to avoid to redeem your time.
There are 7 major time traps that keep people bondage to a static state in time. Jesus can free you today, HE IS TIME and rules TIME.
These transgressions become time traps and spiritual time wasters, limiting productivity, meaningful purpose, and doing something of value to people – being His delight.
1. Unforgiveness and Offense
When you choose not to forgive people for their transgression and retain your offence, you get stuck in time, in the hurt.
2. Self-pleasure and Self-medication
People who use medicine or drugs to escape reality, lose time. They do not develop and get stuck in time. wasting their time on worthless idols (Jer 2:8)
3. Perfection and Laziness
We always need to improve what we are doing and seek to have excellence, but perfection can become an obsessive-compulsive disorder, procrastination, re-doing, over-analyses that lead to zero finished product. Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness (Eph 5:11) Message Bible And an idle person will suffer hunger. (Prov 19:15)
4. Disunity
The opposite of disunity is called the speed of trust. A group that is divided gets nothing done, everyone is accusing someone else, too many opinions, too many leaders. Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarrelling, cursing, and hatred. (Ephesians 4:31)
5. Deception
Being conceited, waste – many people get busy with the wrong thing at the wrong time, with the wrong people and miss the opportunity. We can all be deceived, either through ignorance or rebellion and miss the timing of God. Double-minded man is unstable in everything they do (James 1:8)
6. Lack of Identity
Lack of purpose and calling – When God does anything He starts by calling a person. Missing your calling is missing your divine time appointment. make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble (2 Pet 1:10)
7. Fear
Is a prison that keeps people in an internal time loop, not achieving anything. No one ever started a new business or venture, got married, had children compelled and motivated by fear. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (Mat 6:27)