Redeem the Time

5:00a.m. My alarm clock rings......ugh. I get up, turn the lights on and climb back up into my bed. In a perfect world I would immediately, without hesitation, open up my Bible and begin reading. But I'm still tired this morning and somehow I fall back asleep only to wake up 45 minutes later in frustration that I did it again. See, I'm not a morning person at all. I literally can easily stay up till 2-3 in the morning reading a good book. But I've noticed that my morning devotions are often slacking because of being too tired, so I am trying to go to bed early and get up early. You know, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. " Well, easier said than done. It takes 28 days to form a habit and I get the impression that I still have a rough couple of weeks to go. When I was finally awake enough to read my Bible, I read Colossians 4, and verse 5 jumped out at me. It says, "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." Then it cross references to Ephesians 5:16, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Now the whole point of getting up early was so that I could "redeem my time" and start forming habits that would give me more time to spend in the Word. This morning God gently reminded me of the importance of doing that in my own life, which starts with rising early. I'm not trying to say that since I get up at 5a.m. you should too. Not at all! That doesn't work for everyone, but I think it is important that we claim the time we are given and figure out the very best way to use that time to glorify the Lord. These moments here on earth are not our own. They are the Lord's. I am held accountable for how I use each and every moment. That is actually a rather frightening thought because, although I may not normally waste large amounts of time, I often waste a minute or two here and there. Those moments are time that I need to be redeeming.

Redeeming your time probably will not be a piece of cake. (Well, it wasn't for me. Y'all probably already have this one down.) But, Christ redeemed His time here on earth and He set the example for us all.

So, go redeem some time, eve if it means...*sniff* that you have to take a break from my blog. :-) (Just come back really soon!)