Daily Devotional | Discerning Opportunities

Doesn’t it seem like the older you get the faster time goes? When you are young, you want time to pass quickly, but the older you get the more you want it to slow down. I plan to celebrate my 54th birthday for the next ten years. Obviously, I am joking. It is impossible to control time, but the Bible does tell us how we can control our response to it.

Paul says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise” (v. 15). The phrase “be very careful” means that, as followers of Jesus, we should pay close attention to how we live. Paul is warning the Ephesian church about potential danger, a warning that also occurred earlier in the chapter. In verse 14, Paul quotes from Isaiah 26:16, urging the believers in Ephesus: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” Anyone who doesn’t listen to this warning is unwise!

The King James translates verse 16 as “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” In the Greek, we notice that Paul did not use the word chronos for time. Chronos is the ordinary term for time as humans measure it, in hours, minutes, and seconds. Instead, Paul uses the word kairos which refers to God’s appointed time. He reminds us that God is in control of every moment of our lives, and they will be fulfilled according to His will.

What, then, is our response? Paul speaks to the believers with a mindset of urgency. We are to use our time wisely by taking advantage of each God-given opportunity that occurs in our lives. This is how we make the most of time. These opportunities will soon pass because “the days are evil.” In other words, time is running out!