“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” – Colossians 4:5

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It can be difficult for little children to understand the concept of time—the difference between now, tomorrow, yesterday, last week, and wait. My son is no exception. Sometimes he gets a little confused when he is waiting for a particular event to take place. If my wife and I have promised him that we will do something “tomorrow,” or if we tell him that “tomorrow is the party,” he will come up to one of us and ask, “Is it tomorrow yet?”

God’s perspective on time can also be different from ours. He is not as interested in tomorrow as He is in today. With Him, putting off until tomorrow what we can do today is never a good thing, because it causes more to build up on our plate than we can handle. When God calls us to say a word here or there, it requires a quick response or the opportunity will pass, maybe never to come again.

Our focus verse refers to “redeeming the time.” That phrase means to “convert into something of value,” or “to make worthwhile.” Simply put, we are to make the best use of the moments we have available to us now at this current moment and not later. Yesterday is past and tomorrow may never come. We only have today.

We live as though there will be a tomorrow, but the truth is, for some of us there will not be. There may not even be the rest of today. Right now is the time we have available to use for God. Now is the time to say, “I’m sorry.” Now is the time to fulfill a promise we may have been putting off. Now is the time to do something kind for others, and to say thank you to those who have done something kind for you.

Time is a precious commodity, so let us spend our time in valuable efforts, realizing that everything we do and say is important. Let us make every moment count for eternity!