Redeem The Time

The Apostle Paul said a pretty heavy thing in 1Corinthians 10:41, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” It’s pretty intimidating to think EVERYTHING we do must be for the glory of God! For years I kind of thought that it was an exaggerated statement so the writer could make his point and I ignored its seemingly excessive demands. Then when I realized it meant exactly what it said, I found this verse paralyzing because I would dissect every decision I had to make to the degree that I accomplished very little.

Another set of verses that I always found a little overwhelming are Ephesians 5:15-16, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Did you see the phrase, “Making the most of your time”? Now consider both of these principles together and ask yourself, “How does a follower of Jesus Christ make the best use of his or her time so that in all they do they glorify God?” Great question! I believe we can accomplish this in two ways.

First, we have to be painfully honest with ourselves and make a real list of common actions and tendencies in our life that are obviously not God-glorifying. Things that steal our time away like idleness, laziness, excessive sleep, gluttony, idle chatter, mind-numbing distractions and so on. These time thieves keep us from being productive in the kingdom and being faithful with the time we’ve been given.

A second way Christ followers can make the best of their time so they can positively glorify God is to be intentional and strategic in our quest to grow in godliness and sanctification. 1Thessalonians 4:3 tells us, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” For believers, growing in godliness should be our first response when desiring to bring God glory because an ungodly heart will never, ever, at any time, not in a million years, ever seek to glorify God in anything! The unholy, unsanctified heart and mind (called the ‘carnal’ mind in some translations) is the master thief of our time. Friend, the first step in glorifying God in all that we do is to purify our hearts through repentance following an honest evaluation of our walk with Jesus. Only then will we be able to make the most of our time and do all we do for the glory of God.

Pastor Jeff
pastorjeff@lwwconline.com

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