bits from bob....

Buy Up the Time!

by Bob Young
©, 2020, Bob Young
[permission is given to reprint with credit noted]

As the end of the year approaches, we tend to think more about the passing of time. Another year has almost slipped away. A new year will soon appear on our calendars. We are especially aware of how rapidly time goes by. It is true, "We are swiftly turning the pages of life!"

As we "season," time becomes more precious.

I cannot get done all I map out to do. I seek daily to learn the lesson of Paul's simple admonition, "Redeem the time, because the days are evil." (Eph. 5:16). What does it mean to "redeem the time?" The word Paul uses has various shades of meaning -- ransom, rescue, improve. When we focus on a passing opportunity, we could accurately translate, "Do not lose the time," or "make the best use of the time." I like the concept reflected in the title above: "Buy up the time!"

With regard to time, the Greeks more precise than are we. They had two words for time. Western culture mostly thinks of time as duration. The Greeks would use the word "chronos." This word suggests time's length or brevity and may also refer to the date of an occurrence, whether past or future. The other Greek word, "kairos," does not stress length or duration but focuses on the features and opportunities of a certain season. The KJV often makes the distinction with the phrase, "times and seasons." In Acts 1:7, the Father has set within his authority both times and seasons, controlling both when and what. Sometimes chronos is said to refer to quantity, kairos to quality.

This distinction helps us understand Paul's instruction to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:2) to "be attentive in season and out of season...." Paul's word in Eph. 5:16 is kairos. Redeem the time. The days are evil. Seize the moment. You will not pass this way again. Do the good you can do.

Buy up the time. Today is all we have!


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Last updated December 31, 2020