It’s All God’s Redeeming the Time

Lessons in Stewardship Ephesians 5:14-17

As parents we want to teach our children that with every Making the best use of time – we are called to be stewards of time
privilege comes responsibility!

 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a Time is a gift from God.
thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
that moves in the field is mine. Psalm 50:11 the Father. James 1:17

 For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Do you think of time this way or take it for granted?
gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth; the
heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for
He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Psalm
95:3-5
Time is limited because of the uncertainty of
 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world life and the certainty of death.
and those who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1 You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you
are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James 4:14
“There‟s not one square inch of the entire creation about
which Jesus Christ does not cry out, „This is mine, this Prov. 11:27: The fear of the Lord prolongs life but the years of the
belongs to me!” wicked will be short.
The early Dutch church reformer Abram Kuyper, who was
prime minister of the Netherlands and who established the Free
University of Amsterdam, among other achievements.

 And God blessed them (man and woman). And God said
to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and
subdue it and have dominion over it.” Genesis 1:28
Time is resource that we should use for God’s
glory.
Stewardship – govern, care for in a way that brings the So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
greatest good to us and the greatest glory to God!

We need to see everything in life and creation as

belonging to God and that He gives us the privilege
to use them for our good and the responsibility to
govern then for His glory!
 What We Can Do with Our Time
 We can waste time.
Doing trivial things at the expense of that which is significant
Scripture rebukes slothfulness: Proverbs 6:6-11; 24:30-34
 We can spend time.
Trying to do everything that “needs” to be done at the expense of our
own families and welfare, our relationship with God.
The Rich Fool of Luke 12-17-21(He didn’t ask God how to use his time.)
More often than not, we are so busy preparing for the future that we
miss out on the moment at hand. Parrot
Over-commitment and exhaustion are the most insidious & pervasive
marriage killers you will ever encounter. James Dobson
And you run & you run to catch up with the sun, But it’s sinking racing
around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same, in a
relative way. But you’re older, shorter of breath & one day closer to
death. Pink Floyd’s Time
 We can redeem time.
Using our time to glorify God by prioritizing what we do and when we do
it by His standards – When you use time this way, you are making an
eternal impact.
Middle Voice – redeem for ourselves: for our good and God’s glory!
to redeem - payment of a price to recover from the power of another, to ransom,
1) active buy back, buy up; figuratively, of Jesus' liberating atonement deliver,
redeem (GA 3.13; 4:5); (2) middle, of making the most of an opportunity make
the best use of, take advantage of (EP 5.16)
to buy up for oneself, for one's use (Winer's Grammar, sec. 38, 2 b.; Buttmann,
192 (166f)): tropically, in the obscure phrase, evxagorazo,menoi to,n kairo,n, Eph.
5:16 and Col. 4:5, where the meaning seems to be to make a wise and sacred use
of every opportunity for doing good, so that zeal and well-doing are as it were
the purchase-money by which we make the time our own;
“Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most
profitable way I can. Jonathan Edwards
Guard well your spare moments. They are like diamonds. Discard
them & their value will never be known, Improve them & they will
become the brightest gems in a useful life. Emerson
How in 2010 will you Honor God the Lord with your time?
Quiet Time (Life is too busy not to spend time with Him! –
“Tomorrow I plan to work, work from early until late. In
fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three
hours in prayer.” Martin Luther
Spouse
Children
Church & Service
 Ways to Redeem Time 4. Surrender to the Spirit of God daily.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires
1. Scrutinize your life. of the flesh. . . If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts. Galatians 5:16, 25
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Illustration: Do flaws ever become so common that you no longer

notice them? 5. Serve others.
And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will
reap, if we do not give up. So then as we have opportunity, let us do
good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of
faith. Galatians 6:9-10

2. Stay wise with Godly wisdom.

There is a wisdom that is “earthly, unspiritual, and demonic… But the
wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere.” James 3:15, 17

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all
without reproach, and it will be given Him. James 1:5
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Prov. 9:10
6. Season your conversations with Jesus.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let
your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may
know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6

3. Seek God’s perfect will.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal
of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 7. Be certain of your salvation today!
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2
Corinthians 6:2