Redeeming Your Time

Cover Article

by Michael Jones · Week of September 6, 2026

There is a river that runs beneath every life, and its name is Time. It flows in one direction only, never pausing, never turning back. You cannot dam it. You cannot bottle a single drop of it. Every morning God sets before you a fresh allotment of hours, unmarked, unhurried, brimming with possibility, and by nightfall every one of them has been spent, whether wisely or wastefully. Money lost can be earned again; a fractured friendship may, by grace, be mended. But a squandered hour is gone forever, swallowed by the current without so much as a ripple. Paul understood this when he urged the Ephesian church, “Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–17). The original Greek for “making the most” is exagorazomenoi, literally “buying up” or “redeeming” the time, as a merchant snaps up a rare commodity before the market closes. Time is too precious to let drift past. We must seize it with purpose.

The Psalmist prayed a prayer that should hang on the wall of every heart: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Notice: he did not ask God for more days. He asked God to help him count the ones he already had. There is something transformative about honest arithmetic. If you are forty and live to be eighty, half the sand has already fallen through the glass. Your children will only be the age they are today for this one fleeting year. When we number our days, the fog of “someday” lifts, and we begin to see the people and moments right in front of us with startling clarity. That is wisdom, not merely knowing facts, but perceiving what truly matters while there is still time to act on it. Colossians 4:5 echoes the same urgency: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” Every encounter, every ordinary Tuesday carries divine potential, if only we have eyes to see it.

Yet here is where so many of us stumble. We treat our current season as a holding pattern, a layover on the way to “real life.” We tell ourselves that once we land the promotion, once the children are older, once the mortgage is paid, then we will slow down and invest in what matters. But the years we are postponing are the very years we have been given. Many spend their thirties and forties chasing advancement, promising themselves that someday they will be present for their families, someday they will open their Bible with unhurried attention. And then someday arrives, and they discover that the habit of striving has calcified into a way of life, and the people they meant to love have quietly moved on. James warns us plainly: “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). A mist, here for a breath and then gone. That image is not meant to discourage us; it is meant to wake us up.

Let me say this gently, because guilt is not the goal: redeeming your time does not mean maximizing productivity at every waking moment. Sometimes rest is the most redemptive thing you can do with an evening. God Himself rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired, but because rest is woven into the rhythm of a well-ordered life (Genesis 2:2–3). A quiet walk, an unhurried meal with your family, an evening on the porch watching the sky turn gold, these are not wasted moments. They are the very moments where the soul catches its breath and remembers who God is. What redeeming time truly means is living in alignment with God’s purposes rather than drifting through your days on autopilot. It means choosing the conversation with your neighbor over another half-hour of scrolling. It means being fully present in worship when the church gathers on the Lord’s Day, singing praises from the heart (Ephesians 5:19), breaking bread together (Acts 20:7), and letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16). Time is a gift placed in your hands by a generous God. He gives it so that you might know Him, love the people He has set around you, and be shaped day by day into the image of His Son. Do not wait for a better season. This is the season. Redeem it faithfully. - MJ

Other congregations are welcome to reprint this. It may be reproduced in another congregation’s bulletin or newsletter without asking permission. An acknowledgement of Orange View Church of Christ is appreciated but not required.

Bible Questions & Answers

Is it wrong for Christians to be in debt?

This question surfaces regularly, and it deserves a careful answer because a great deal of confusion surrounds it. Some Christians have been taught that all borrowing is sinful, that any form of debt places a believer in direct violation of Scripture. Others have heard more lenient teaching and are unsure what to believe. And then there are those who carry debt right now, perhaps a mortgage, student loans, or balances accumulated during a season of hardship, and they quietly wonder whether they are failing God. The short answer is that Scripture does not categorically forbid debt, but it treats it with unmistakable seriousness, and so should we. To arrive at that conclusion responsibly, we need to examine the key texts closely.

The passage most often cited is Proverbs 22:7: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” The Hebrew word translated “servant” here is ebed, which carries the weight of bondage and subjection. Solomon is not issuing a command; he is stating an observable reality about how debt reshapes the relationship between two parties. When you owe someone money, a measure of your freedom passes into their hands. That is a sober warning, but it is not the same as a prohibition. Proverbs, by their nature, are wisdom observations, general truths about how life operates under God’s order, not absolute commands on the level of “You shall not steal.”

The second frequently cited text is Romans 13:8: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” The Greek verb opheilete (“owe”) appears here in a context where Paul is discussing the Christian’s obligations to civil authority and to fellow believers. Additionally, if installment payments are being made as agreed, you don’t have outstanding debt in the sense that you are servicing your obligations and owe nothing more than your payment obligations. His point is not that taking out a loan is inherently sinful. Rather, Paul is urging believers not to allow financial obligations to linger unresolved or to crowd out their higher calling: the “debt” of love that is never fully discharged. The emphasis falls on faithfulness in meeting one’s commitments, not on avoiding all borrowing.

Jesus Himself addressed financial prudence in Luke 14:28–30: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you.” The Greek word psephizei, translated “estimate,” literally means to count with pebbles, to do precise, deliberate arithmetic before committing resources. Jesus is teaching that wisdom demands honest assessment before undertaking any financial obligation. This principle draws a clear line between responsible debt and reckless debt. A mortgage to shelter your family, secured after careful calculation, is a vastly different matter from credit card balances piled up through impulsive spending. A loan to fund education that equips you for meaningful work is not in the same category as borrowing to finance a lifestyle you cannot sustain. Scripture does not condemn the first kind; it warns sharply against the second. The key distinction is stewardship: whether we are managing God’s resources with wisdom and self-control, or squandering them through greed and impatience. As Paul told Timothy, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). The danger is not debt itself but the heart posture that drives our financial decisions.

If you are currently carrying debt, the biblical response is not shame but honest assessment and disciplined action. Start by constructing a realistic budget so you know where your money goes each month. Then develop a repayment plan, whether focusing on the highest-interest balances first or the smallest balances for momentum, and commit to it consistently. Direct any additional income toward repayment. Be patient; freedom from debt is a process, not an overnight event. Above all, remember that God calls us to be faithful stewards of what He provides (Matthew 25:21). If you have a mortgage, a car payment, or student loans, you are not a failure as a Christian. What matters is that you handle those obligations honestly, avoid unnecessary new debt, and work steadily toward greater financial freedom. The ultimate goal is not merely a zero balance. It is a life so unburdened by financial servitude that you are free to give generously, serve the Lord wholeheartedly, and “owe no one anything except to love one another” (Romans 13:8, NKJV). That is the freedom God intends for His people. - MJ