Redeem The Time

Do you have one of those friends who you can talk to about anything? Maybe it's your spouse or someone at work or church. We all need someone to talk with, especially these days.

This entire story is based off a single text from one of those special friends. The conversation went like this.

"Did you watch the latest Behold Israel?"

"No. What's it about?"

"Important movement by Iran."

That was enough to get me out of my recliner and open up YouTube. I watched the show (see link at bottom) which features Amir Tsarfati, a Jewish-born Christian. He reports on current events happening in the Middle East in addition to spreading the Gospel.

While our U.S. news coverage is all about the election and Coronavirus, Amir and Behold Israel brings a Middle-Eastern perspective to the news.

Amir is reporting that something is brewing in Iran and it's not good. I won't go into all the details but let me just say that Biblical end time events seem to be happening with increasing intensity these days.

At the end of Amir's talk he told his audience about a passage from Ephesians that kept going through his mind. Here it is.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

15See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16redeeming the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:8-16

We can all agree that the days we are living in are quite dark in nature. The west coast is on fire, the protests and riots, wars and rumors of wars. In the passage above the Apostle Paul describes a dark time such as the one we are going through right now.

You and I used to "walk in darkness" before we knew Jesus. Now, as Paul says, we are "children of the light." Fast forward to verse 16. What are we, the children of the light, supposed to be doing in this dark time?

"Walk circumspectly" (careful to consider all circumstances), "not as fools but as wise," and we should be "redeeming the time." What does redeeming the time mean for a Christian? Basically it means we only have so much time on this earth. We need to be about God's business, not ours. The time is short. Make the most of it for God's glory and not our own.

Are we doing that? Are we redeeming the time? Are we talking to others about Christ? We should be. We need to be found doing God's work when He returns. Which may be any time. So, let's get busy!

Behold Israel - Amir Tsarfati