Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 245 · September 2
Redeeming the Time
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
Picture a market near the end of the day. One stall is still open, and there is one thing on it that you want. You have coins in your hand, and the light is going.
That picture is inside the word Paul uses. "Redeeming the time" is a buying word. In Greek it is built on the word for a marketplace, and it means to buy something out of the market and take it home with you. Paul uses the same word when he writes to the church at Colossae: "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." Something is paid, and something is carried away.
The words that follow tell you what kind of market this is: "because the days are evil." The urgency in the verse comes from the hour, from the kind of days we live in. Many sermons have used this line to scold people about wasted mornings, but it was made to carry far more than that. Paul uses the same verb about Christ: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." The greatest buying back Paul knew cost Jesus everything, and He paid it for people who had used their days badly.
Now look at what Paul says to buy with the time, because the list follows straight away: "understanding what the will of the Lord is," and "be filled with the Spirit," and "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs," and "Giving thanks always for all things," and "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." None of that is a timetable. It is what Paul carries home from the stall.
So go back to the market. The days are evil and the light is going, and that is exactly why something good is still on the table in front of you. This verse tells you what time it is, and it shows you what is worth buying with the hours you have. The One who bought you back with His own life will help you spend yours well.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 245 is The Giver of All (Acts 17:25).