Redeeming the Time

End of the year/start of new year...
Typical to take time to reflect. To remember events of last year. To consider what's happened, what's changed.
Over the last year...some unexpected events, surprises. Some challenging, some stretching, some devastating. [Accidents, deaths, loss, setbacks.]
Others were rewarding, encouraging, exciting. [Births, engagements, marriage.]
So we remember, we look back.

But we also look ahead. We consider what still needs to change.
We take inventory and ask: What's next? Where does God want me to go? What does God want me to do? How does God want me to change or to grow?

God still has work that he wants to do within us! None of us have arrived yet.
God is calling us higher—to learn more, to become better.
In fact, God uses events of our lives to shape us and mold us more and more into the people he wants us to be.
"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." (Phil 1:6, NLT)
"for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil 2:13, NASB)

Eph 5:15-18
Words written to 1st-century believers in Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey. This was a major center for worship of the idol Dianna (Artemis), where anti-Christian riots had occurred, where Paul had been dragged into the city theater and mob—rule almost got him killed.

Later Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers with advice for their situation. What was true for them in the 1st century is still true for us in the 21st century!
Paul wanted to encourage them that the difficulties of life would not have to send them reeling.
Tough times may actually be an opportunity to do something great! A time to do something more significant than in easy times. A time to stretch and grow and improve.
Those with faith, those who act on their faith can grow stronger in tough times.

• When everyone else is wringing their hands, we can seize the opportunity.
• When everyone else is in retreat, we can move forward and gain ground.
• When the storm blows strongest, that's when we can solidify our faith.
• When circumstances threaten to swamp us, that's when we must anchor our faith.

As believers, we have great expectations! With faith in the right place, we know that God desires to great things within us and through us.
Church, it's time for us to look forward with anticipation. It's time for us to trust God.

• Even with dire forecasts about jobs, the economy, wars, terrorists, and so on, we can still trust God.
• Though the times may be tough, we can still trust God!
• Though we live in cruel—even evil—times, we can still trust God.

If we learn to trust God, what will we do as we look ahead into the next year?
1. We'll stay alert. We'll keep our eyes wide open. We will be careful how we live. (v 15)
"Be careful how you live" (NLT); "be careful how you walk" (NASB); "see then that ye walk circumspectly" (KJV)
"Circumspectly" = (from the Latin) "to look around": spect (as in "spectator") + circum (as in "circumference"). In the old English it meant to be watchful and discreet, cautious, prudent.
As believers we are to be careful how we live! In these days, we cannot live carelessly. We cannot go through life in a haphazard way—unaware, blind to what is happening.
We're to be on the alert!
We're to be like night watchmen guarding the store from burglars. Or like police officers on patrol watching for anything that looks suspicious. Or like security forces guarding the base from attack. In the same way, Paul says believers should always be vigilent, prepared, ready.
Though unexpected things will happen to us, we should not be caught off-guard. This year you will undoubtedly face some attack from the enemy! You may experience challenge. You may go through pain or sorrow. Death, divorce, loss, illness.
2. We'll do all we can. (v 16)
"Make the most of every opportunity" (NLT); "making the best use of your time" (ISV); "make every minute count" (CEV); "redeeming the time" (KJV).
It's one thing to be on the alert; it's something more to take action.
Believers need to have their eyes wide open. We need to be aware of what's happening in the world. We need to have discernment and understanding—as wise, not unwise.
But you can see what's coming and still fail to take action.
Sven and Ole were applying for job driving logging trucks. So the boss decided to test Sven to see how he'd react to various situations. "Suppose you and Ole are coming down Mesaba Avenue in Duluth with a full load of logs," he said, "Ole is sleeping in the back of the cab when your brakes suddenly fail. What would you do?" Why, I'd pull on my emergency brake. "But then your emergency brake fails too. Then what?" Well, I'd try to down shift till I could slam the truck into reverse. "But your transmission burns out and now you're going 90 mph and there's a huge traffic jam across the intersection at the bottom of the hill. Now what do you do?" Well, I guess I'd wake Ole up. "Why? Why would you wake up Ole?" Well...he's never seen a really big wreck before!
We need to stay awake and keep our eyes wide open, but not just so we can watch the disaster. We stay alert not just to see the wreck, but so we can do something about it.
Like some of the passengers who were on board NWA Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. One guy crawled over other passengers to jump on the would-be terrorist, to stop him from igniting an explosive device. He didn't just sit back and say to himself, "Well, I hope somebody deals with that guy." No! He took action. He took a risk and got burned, but his quick thinking may have averted a disaster.
Paul says we need to be prepared so we can DO something, so we can take action, so we can make the most of every opportunity. Seize the day...carpe diem.
Opportunities usually come disguised as problems or challenges.
Albert Einstein said: "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."
Thomas Edison said: "Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
Thomas Jefferson said: "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
Opportunities usually stem from times of trouble, difficult circumstances, and inconvenience.
Paul said we should make the most of every opportunity because the days are "evil."
The word "evil" didn't just refer to sinful or wicked things. The full definition of the Greek word poneros includes: "full of labours, annoyances, hardship, pressed and harassed by labour, bringing toils, annoyances, perils...causing pain and trouble..."
"These are desperate times" (MSG)—and it's the desperate times of peril, pain, and trouble that bring opportunities for us to do something good. That's why we have the chance to seize the day!
I don't have to tell you that the days are evil. I don't have to tell you that we live in troubling times. Just today I checked some of the headlines from the news...
Salvation Army Major Shot Dead on Christmas Eve
Pope Attacked at Start of Christmas Eve Service
al Qaeda-linked man tries to blow up plane on Christmas Day
Abducted Girl Found Dead on Christmas Day
Post Office Gunman Was Angry at Government
Homeless Families on the Rise
Mexico's Drug War Brings More Carnage To Border
Taliban Release Video of Captured U.S. Soldier
When times are tough, that's when we need to redouble our efforts. We must work all the harder in these days; God has placed us here for a reason. And that brings us to the next characteristic we'll have when we learn to trust in the Lord...
3. We'll understand God's will. (v 17)
"Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is" (NIV); "Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do" (NLT);
Believers need to be well-informed. We need God's wisdom; we need spiritual understanding.
Remember the sons of Issachar? They "understood the times and knew what Israel should do" (1 Chron 12:32). God wants his followers to understand the times and to know what should be done. God wants us to understand his will and his purpose. God wants us to be discerning.
Naive, gullible, uninformed, unthinking people will not make good disciples in difficult times.
We need to be well-informed (educated, biblically literate) and well-inspired (full of the Holy Spirit, full of his characteristics and attributes). Which leads us to the next verse and the next characteristic of those who learn to trust the Lord...
4. We'll be under the influence of God's Spirit. (v 18)
Some are DUI of alcohol or other chemical stimulants. But we are to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Phillips paraphrase: Don't get your stimulus from wine...but let the Spirit stimulate your souls. (PHILLIPS)
...be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. (AMP)
If we want to be vigilent and careful, if we want to stay on the alert in these evil days, then we need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
If we want to make the most of every opportunity in these difficult, troubling times, then we need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
If we want to understand God's will and purpose, then we need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, (NASB)
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (NIV)
Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, (NLT)
Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit. (ISV)
Do not over-indulge in wine—a thing in which excess is so easy—but drink deeply of God's Spirit (Weymouth)