Time in Perspective

“But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God;’ my times are in Your hand.” –Psalm 31:14-15a (ESV). “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” – Ephesians 5:13-14 (ESV).

Twice per year under our Daylight Savings Time method of chronicling time, we must get used to “losing” an hour the second Sunday in March and “gaining” an hour the first Sunday in November each year. This twice-per year time change poses some problems for getting used to a new schedule for sleeping, waking and feeling adequately rested until we adjust again to the clock. We are just now in that “spring forward” period adjusting to setting our clocks ahead an hour. We “lost” an hour and its loss has left our bodies sleep-deprived and tired. We might be prone to complain of these adjustments to time, concerned about our inabilities to get used to the new schedule. We might even contend that those who make the rules about Daylight Savings Time have ignored God’s Word in Psalm 31:14: “My times are in Your hand.”

Two Greek words are used to denote time. Chronos registers chronological time, a “space of time”—whether short or long. Kairos denotes a season or an opportune time, or even a significant event in salvation history. The most significant of these which has already happened was in “the fullness of time” when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judaea. One yet to come, promised but unfulfilled, is the kairos—the time of the Second Coming of Christ for which we are to watch diligently and keep the faith until that significant event occurs: “to keep the commandment unstrained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time…” (I Timothy 6:14-15, ESV).

Paul had excellent advice for us on how to use our time. In Ephesians 5:13-14, he admonished Christians to “look carefully how you walk” and to ‘make the best use of time.” We who are familiar with the King James Version probably remember well that rendering of these familiar verses: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” In a devotional at an encampment for our youth at Epworth during the time my husband was pastor of First Baptist Church there, we were teaching on the very serious and probative subject of “Jesus Is Lord.” These verses came under the important point of “Jesus Is Lord of My Time.” Walk—your manner of life—circumspectly (with care and diligence, wisely)—redeeming the time (making every opportunity to use your time well). And the reason for “redeeming” the time? The days are evil. Even with all diligence to good use of our time, we will be tempted to pander and waste it for that which is not beneficial, holy and God-honoring. It may not be too late for us to “redeem the time,” and to remember with all diligence that “my times are in God's hands.”