“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”
“redeeming the time”
“Redeeming” means seize the opportunity, buy up an opportunity. It comes from two words, “out” and “to buy,” and in this passage denotes to purchase for oneself (Eph. 5:16). A Christian functioning in wisdom seizes opportunities to share his faith. He takes the best advantage of the situation.
There are two Greek words for time: 1) time as a succession of events, and 2) time as kind of time. “Time” here is the latter and indicates opportunity. The Greek word here means a time in which something is seasonable. Evangelism is seasonable! We need to seize on the season! God wants us to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes along. We cannot capture the opportunity if we miss it.
Principle:
God wants us to make the best use of our witnessing opportunity.
Application:
Are we making the most of every opportunity that God affords us? There is a favorable time to share the gospel.
We can mark time, waste time, and kill time. Only a Christian who walks in wisdom can redeem the time. In sharing our faith, God wants us to “Strike while the iron is hot” or “Make hay while the sun is shining.”
We squander so many opportunities. God places opportunities at our disposal, but we waste the moment.
