Family: Fathers Redeem the time.

Ephesians 5: 14-16, Wherefore he saith, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil".




From the beginnning man has made instruments to measure time, but if one could possiblly brake everything that measures time, it would not stop it, time would continue to march on at the same pace it always has. All of us at sometime have wished that we could go back in time, so we could change the things that we've done, or we might even wish that we could save time, knowing that we will experience some wasted time, or feel we had run out of time, then the time we saved could be spent. The redemption of time is not the mere effort to rescue the fleeting hours of our life, but an effort to lay hold of lifes events, to make the most of them, to allow no distractions of life , or let life stand in the way of the right employment of them.

If we are to redeem the time, we must ask, what is time other than seconds, minutes, hours, days, month, and the such like, so that we can give an exact meaning to time in this instance. It would be best expressed by opportunity, so we should be ever watchful and wise to buy up lifes opportunities, so as to spend them on the best possible moments with each individual member of our family. Reeeming the time is the right management of the opportunities that are meted out to us. We are to buy up opportunities, the idea is that every moment gives an opportuity for some purpose under heaven, and whatever is done in that given space is your purchase.Like the merchant seeking goodly pearls, one need to be accustomed to dealing in pearls, and not just the everyday common run of the mill kind, but goodly pearls those of the best quality. For this merchant, traveled from place to place, finding pearls in every market place, but not all were of the goodly type, he had to carefully inspect each one to determine its quality.We all are accustomed to dealing with lifes opportunities, but much to often unlike the merchant seeking goodly pearls we fail to examine the quality of each opportunity, and settle for the inferior kind. Which brings us to the reasons why the days are evil.

1) The days are evil, because we do not evaluate lifes opportunities.

We are to rightly esteem every event, so we can purchase all the golden opportunities to produce a happy, rich, and fulfilling life in each member of our family.

2) The days are evil, becuase they are few. "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4: 14).

Our entire life is but a little time on the earth, with this as a comparison, let us consider the length of time we have with our children while they are growing up, for this is far shorter, and vanish away much more quickly, conclusion, we have very few golden opportunities with each family member, so we can not afford to lose them.

3) The days are evil, because many of the opportunities of life has already been lost.

Think about all the first things in your family history such as your childs first word, first step, first day of school, first broken heart, first performance ect. These golden opportunities along with many others that has passed, and can never be repeated, nor duplicated now that they are gone, they are forever lost. All of us could tell of some lost opportunity in our live, for we all have experienced them, so let this knowlege work as a powerful stimulus, to lay hold on all of our present, and future golden oportunities in regards to our wife and children.

4) The days are evil, because we are a sleep to the problem of our lost opportunities.

Sleep is an apt figure to describe such an individiual, for he lives in an unreal world, full of dreams, and fantasies, quite unconscious of the real world around him. He dream of more favorable times, and of circumstances that he can control. He is like a man walking in his sleep when he spends his portions of opportunities alotted to him. So he is insensible to the infinite importance of them, he is asleep to the dangers of lost opportunities, so he cares nothing about them.Therefore he needs to be startled from his slumber, and roused from his sleep walking. The cry, "Awake!" must go forth,which is the voice of love, and wisdom, for his house is being pilfered by night.

5) The days are evil, because we do not mourn over the lost oppotunities we have had with our wife or children.

You can redeem the time now by rejoicing in the time you spend with your wife and children, or mourn latter for the time you did not spend with them.

So which one will you choose?