Well, I didn’t die.
I’ve missed you. Sorry I’ve been so distant; it’s time I resurrect this newsletter.
I’ve been thinking about a passage of ancient scripture - one that seems to have dripped into mainstream culture as a trite phrase. It was written to a group of people following what was regarded as “The Way” (Acts 9:2). The apostle Paul penned it to the Christians in Ephesus:
“Redeem the time…”
Ephesians 5:16 came to mind after a recent message I gave on “The Pace of Christianity.” Most translations say something to the affect of, “Making best use of the time.” Originally though, “Redeem the time.”
So does redeem = making best us of? I don’t entirely think so.
Bear with me, I’m still marinating in this.
When those early disciples read Paul’s letter, they saw the word exagorazō. Their mind’s eyeball would have seen the marketplace - merchants buying and selling. Literally to, “buy up.” To redeem is to pay a price in order to secure the release of something or someone. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.” How? “By becoming a curse for us - for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). The cost of eternal redemption was the blood of the Son of God. He secured our release, bringing us to himself. Before we were under the mastery of the law. “…to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). So how do you make the best use of something that you do not actually own? How do you utilize something that is under the authority of someone else?
You don’t.
You have to redeem it. Pay a price to secure its release and make it your own, adopting it.
So, what’s the price? What does it cost us to embrace the limited time we have on this earth?
For now, my answer is this: self-denial.
Time is not mine. It’s not yours either. We can’t do anything with the seconds past in reading this. You can’t do anything with the seconds out in front of you after you have read this. The only possibility of our utilization of time is right now. We can plan. We should. In yet, we don’t know what tomorrow will hold.
The price to owning the present moment is our own selfish desires. The days are evil, fleeting, and if we can’t deny the impulses of our distracted, hurried, and harried selves, then we will not be the master of the present.
Being present is to be others focused - those you are around right now. Being present means deep work in the calling you have been called to, not what you desire to bring you comfort. To be present is to fully occupy who, what, when, and where.
There have been multiple times where my kids, my very own blood, are right in front of me and I am scrolling my phone. Not present with them. Not wanting to pay the price. My phone mastering the passing seconds.
To deny that urge, put my phone down, get on the floor with my kids and listen to them and love them - now that is redemption.
We are about to have our fourth baby. A baby girl. Every once and a while the thought of losing sleep, enduring a screaming baby, and change in our current lifestyle makes me think our time is about to be robbed. But I don’t own the time. I have to buy it up.
The price? Deny my desire of comfort and ease.
The result? Being fully where I am, enjoying my baby girl, supporting my tremendous wife, and not wasting these moments. Sounds like a good use of the time to me.
So, try this:
As often as you can throughout the day, think to yourself: how can I deny myself in this moment to be more in this moment?