…making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

    Ephesians 5:16

Today’s verse is a continuation of Paul’s thought from last time. “Therefore be careful how you walk (live), not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” So the question is, “How can we know that we are making the most of our time?” 

Well, we only have a certain number of days on this earth and then we move into eternity. To make the most of our time would be to pursue the things of God and the things of heaven. We should be using our spiritual gifts and seizing every opportunity that we have in sharing the gospel with those around us, especially family and friends. When we begin the day with the Lord, asking Him what He would have us do that day, and then depending on His strength and power as we tackle that assignment, then we can say, with confidence, that we are making the most of our time. Consider the Psalm:

So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

        Psalm 90:12

There it is! The goal: to present to God, at the end of our life, “a heart of wisdom.” Paul just got through reminding us, in Ephesians, to live as wise, not unwise. And here it is again, having a heart for God, a heart of wisdom, and the salvation of our souls is truly the best outcome for a life lived on earth. Consider this passage from James:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 

James 4:13-14

We are truly arrogant when we make plans without even considering God’s desire, the brevity of our earthly life, and the eternal consequences of our decisions. The truth is, “we don’t know what our lives will be like tomorrow.” “We are just a vapor that appears for little while and then vanishes away.” That’s how brief our lives are on earth when compared to eternity. When we are young, its seems that we are just ready to move on to the next season in our lives…leave middle school and get to high school, graduate from high school and move on to college, military, or the workforce, begin to make some money, possibly get married and start a family, buy a house, build the portfolio, and move ever so close to the “good life.” Then we get older and look back at all of the achievements and missed opportunities, and we, hopefully, begin to properly assess our lives and determine what is really of importance, a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. But we can avoid some of the grief of missed opportunities and bad decisions if we would correctly assess our lives while we are still young. That way we can avoid many of the pitfalls that take so many people down. 

Just a quick aside: the James passage is not a reminder that life is brief and so we need to seize everyday and live it to the fullest…in partying, pleasure seeking, and making sure that we have stored up for ourselves as many temporal things as possible. Yes, life is brief, that’s why we should be surrendering our lives to Christ and then ordering our lives around Him and the life-giving power that His Spirit brings into the life of every born again believer in Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we miss the wisdom in this passage and simply descend into the same depravity as the world, forfeiting the abundant, eternal life offered to us through Christ.

Finally, if we need more reminding as to what a truly wise life looks like and living in a way in which we know that we are making the most of our time, consider the following:

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

          Romans 13:11-14

Paul reminds us to “awaken from sleep” (spiritually). Sounds a lot like Ephesians 5:14, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” It all ties together for those who have, “ears to hear.” The time is closer now, Paul says, than when we first believed. Think about when you were saved. Then consider how much time has passed since that day. What have you done with your new life in Christ? Are you making the most of your time? Truly, we are all closer to eternity today than we were yesterday, last year, or even decades ago. “The night is almost gone, and the day is near.” The day of the Lord is coming and what a great day it will be for those of us who belong to Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). But we should prepare. We should be living wisely. We should be making the most of our time by “putting aside the deeds of darkness” and “putting on the armor of light” (Ephesians 6:10-17). This is what the Christian life looks like and it’s how others will know that we truly belong to Christ. 

So how do we put away the deeds of darkness? By not participating in “carousing and drunkenness,” by not being a part of “sexual promiscuity and sensuality,” and by not exhibiting traits of “strife and jealously.” Rather, we should be putting on the armor of light by “behaving properly as in the day,” by “putting on the Lord Jesus Christ,” and by “making no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” 

This is what wise living looks like. This is what “making the most of our time” is all about. This is what will come out of a life that has truly been surrendered to Christ!

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

  Isaiah 40:8