Time and Productivity By The Book<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Don Carpenter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Redeeming Your Time \/ Ephesians 5:15\u201317<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Based on Raynor, Jordan. Redeeming Your Time (p. xix). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, we begin a 5-week series called Redeeming Your Time. What does this term\u2014 \u201credeeming your time\u201d \u2014even mean? Does God really care how we spend our time today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s look at scripture to find out. The term \u201credeeming your time\u201d comes from the book of Ephesians. After expounding upon the gospel of grace in Ephesians chapters 1-4, the apostle Paul reminds us of our status as \u201cdearly loved children\u201d of God in Ephesians 5:1. What is our response to our adoption as sons and daughters of God? Paul answers this question a few verses later saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ephesians 5:15\u201317<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul is saying, part of our response to the gospel is to redeem our time\u2014to manage our time as carefully and wisely as possible. The Greek word exagoraz\u00f3 which we translate to mean \u201credeeming\u201d here literally means to \u201cbuy up\u201d or \u201cransom.\u201d If you\u2019ve ever said, \u201cI wish I could buy more time,\u201d that\u2019s the idea here. As Christians, we are called to \u201cbuy up\u201d as much time as we can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Not so that we will have more time to spend on selfish pursuits. We are called to redeem our time because \u201cthe days are evil\u201d and we are running out of time to do the \u201cwill of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So how do we redeem our time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the next five weeks, we are going to look at how the author of time managed his time when he came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. As you read the gospels, you can\u2019t help but realize Jesus was the most productive person who ever lived. We\u2019re going to look at his life and how he managed his time (very counter culturally) and see how we can apply those principles to our own lives in the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m swamped.\u201d I\u2019ve said it, you\u2019ve said it\u2014we\u2019ve all said it at one point or another. Maybe you\u2019re in a season of feeling swamped right now. You roll out of bed each morning exhausted from not getting enough sleep. You pull open your phone to find a dozen text messages, from the ridiculous (another GIF of a dancing dog) to the exhausting (\u201cCan you bring Chloe home from church tonight?\u201d). If you manage to squeeze in a few minutes of \u201cquiet time,\u201d you\u2019re quickly interrupted by your calendar notifying you of today\u2019s meeting that you didn\u2019t have enough time to fully prepare for. At work, the struggle continues. Your to-do list seems to be getting longer, not shorter. Your day is filled with back-to-back meetings, with no time to think in between. When you are finally able to carve out some time to focus on some \u201creal work,\u201d that familiar ambient anxiety creeps in, leading you to question if the project you\u2019re working on is the \u201cright thing\u201d for you to be focused on at that moment. After work, you rush back home to have dinner with your family or friends. Sitting across from the people you care about the most, you\u2019re there but not really there, as your brain is trying to do the thinking you didn\u2019t have time to do during the day. After dinner, it\u2019s the mad rush of all rushes: clean up, help the kids with their homework, and pray that everyone finds time for a bath. After streaming your favorite show, studying for an exam, or cramming in a few minutes of reading, you check email one last time and go to bed, only to wake up and do it all over again the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sound familiar? Of course, this is an extreme picture of what it looks like to be swamped, but I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s closer to reality than most of us care to admit. Increasingly, it feels like time happens to us\u2014like we\u2019re running a race that\u2019s impossible to win. We feel beholden to our calendars, watches, and to-do lists rather than having dominion over these tools that promised to make our lives easier and more productive. We have too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it. In short, we\u2019re swamped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke 8:22\u201323<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This passage perfectly illustrates the core premise of this book\u2014namely, that the solution to the disciples\u2019 being swamped by the wind and waves is the exact same solution to our being swamped by our to-do lists and hurried schedules. The solution to our perennial struggle with time management is found in Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, Jesus offers you peace before you do anything. Nearly every time-management expert says that the path to peace and productivity is found in implementing his or her system. This is what we might call \u201cworks-based productivity,\u201d which claims that if you do exercises X, Y, and Z, then you will find peace. This book begins with the opposite premise, in what we might call \u201cgrace-based productivity,\u201d which says that through Jesus Christ, we already have peace, and we do time-management exercises X, Y, and Z as a response of worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raynor, Jordan. Redeeming Your Time (p. xix). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Time management tactics will never be your most foundational source of peace. As Christians, our ultimate source of peace\u2014our ultimate solution to being swamped\u2014is found in the God-man sleeping through the storm. As the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:14: \u201c[Jesus] himself is our peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So now that we have established that our place in God\u2019s family is secure, we still want to be better stewards of our time, right? So what does scripture have to say about time and our role in it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, we\u2019re going to touch on five answers to that question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our Longing For Timelessness is Good and God Given.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis 2:15<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew word for \u201cdress\u201d here is the word avodah which is also translated to mean \u201cworship\u201d in our Bibles. Work existed pre-sin. Work was good. Work was more than good. Work was worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know some Christians believe that this longing for timelessness is rooted in pride. But the more I study scripture, the more I\u2019m convinced that this desire to live and be productive forever was designed by God himself. Ecclesiastes 3:11 makes this crystal clear saying that God has \u201cset the world in their heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something in our God-designed DNA tells us we were made for something more. To be human is to work with time that our minds tell us is finite, but that our souls assure us shouldn\u2019t be finite. So why is time finite? This leads me to the next truth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sin Has Ensured We Will Die With Unfinished Symphonies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis 3:17\u201319<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 15:21<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Human beings, who were created to be immortal, became mortal. Work, which was created to be good, became difficult. Time, which was created to be infinite, became finite. In short, sin has ensured that nobody will ever finish the work they envision completing in their lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karl Rahner, said it this way: \u201cIn the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we learn that ultimately in this world there is no finished symphony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whew, that\u2019s depressing. But it\u2019s true, isn\u2019t it? We will all die with unfinished symphonies. Our to-do lists will never be completed. There will always be a gap between what we can imagine accomplishing in this life and what we can actually get done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank goodness sin didn\u2019t get the final say. Moving on to Truth #3:<\/p>\n\n\n\n God Will Finish The Work We Leave Unfinished.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n OK, let\u2019s recap: God created us to live forever, but sin has broken creation and made us mortal, time-bound, and finite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where\u2019s the hope? Our hope is found in Jesus Christ. He walked out of the tomb that first Easter morning with a redeemed body that could not be destroyed again. The resurrection was Jesus\u2019s way of declaring that our longing for immortality has been right all along and that through him, we too can experience eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Easter wasn\u2019t just the beginning of eternal life. Easter marked the inauguration of God\u2019s eternal kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does this tie into time management and \u201credeeming our time\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To simplify the Christian story: God created us to live and work with him in a perfect garden. Sin messed everything up, but God promised to send a King to set everything right. With his defeat of death on Easter, Jesus proved emphatically that He is that promised King. And everything from that moment to the end of Revelation is about the building of God\u2019s kingdom until Jesus returns to finish what he inaugurated at the resurrection and make \u201call things new\u201d(Revelation 21:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does this mean for us in the present?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 15:58<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 3:9<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For we are labourers together with God: ye are God\u2019s husbandry, ye are God\u2019s building.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you catch that? We are God\u2019s co-workers. In Genesis, God created a lot in six days, but what\u2019s equally remarkable is what He did not create. The first few days of creation was God setting up a canvas. The sixth day is when He passed the baton of creation to us\u2014His image-bearers\u2014and called us to fill that canvas (literally, to \u201cfill the earth\u201d) with things that point to his glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same thing happened on Easter morning. Jesus inaugurated His kingdom with His resurrection, but He left the work of building for the kingdom to us until He returns to finish the work once and for all. As New Testament scholar N.T. Wright says, \u201cGod always wanted to work in His world through loyal human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But because God alone will finish that work and ultimately bring heaven to earth, we can embrace this freeing truth today: God doesn\u2019t need you or me to finish our to-do lists. If the things on our to-do lists are on God\u2019s to-do list, he will complete them with or without us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, there\u2019s no such thing as an unfinished symphony if God desires for that symphony to be a part of his eternal world. Whatever work God wants finished, He will finish, which leads to another liberating and hopeful truth: You and I have all the time we need. This is why Truth #4 is so powerful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gospel is Our Source of Rest and Ambition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019ve seen, God doesn\u2019t need us to be productive; but if we\u2019re honest, we often need ourselves to be productive in order to feel a sense of self-worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because we did nothing to earn God\u2019s grace, there is nothing we can do to lose it. No matter how productive you are in this life, your status as an adopted child of God will never ever change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ironically, it\u2019s that truth that leads us to be wildly productive. Why? Because working to earn someone\u2019s favor is exhausting. But working in response to unconditional favor is intoxicating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what is God\u2019s agenda? How can we \u201cwork for his Kingdom\u201d and \u201credeem our time\u201d? Let\u2019s look again at Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ephesians 2:10<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 5:16<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The phrase \u201cgood works\u201d has often been misinterpreted. We can think it only refers to charity or ministry work. But when we look at the Greek word used, ergon, we see it is translated to mean \u201cwork, task, [and] employment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, work was a part of God\u2019s perfect world prior to the Fall, and Jesus reaffirmed the goodness of what many would deem \u201csecular work\u201d by spending roughly eighty percent of His adult life working as a carpenter. As long as your work is not contrary to God\u2019s Word, it can be considered \u201cgood work!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So as we go about our lives and work advancing God\u2019s kingdom, where can we look for practical wisdom as to how to redeem our time? That question leads us to Truth #5:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We Can Know How God Would Manage His Time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When the author of time \u201cbecame flesh\u201d (John 1:14), He became fully human, meaning that He experienced the same day-to-day challenges other mortals faced. He had a business to run, a mother and father to care for, hunger to manage, and the need for sleep. Oh yeah, and He faced the same twenty-four-hour time constraint as every other human being. As a human being, Jesus was challenged to steward his limited time on earth much like we are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We see this illustrated throughout the gospels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n John 9:4<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 17:4<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But how could 1st century Jerusalem compare to what we deal with today? Jesus didn\u2019t have email or a smartphone. He didn\u2019t have the distractions that we have now. Surely it was easier to manage his time, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we see it time and time again – Jesus was constantly interrupted. He was constantly having to make choices about his priorities and say no to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hebrews 4:15 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the person of Jesus, the word became flesh, ensuring he could empathize with all of our weaknesses, including our efforts to redeem our time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the rest of this series, we are going to walk through seven principles the gospels show us for HOW Jesus redeemed his time. Today, I\u2019ll leave you with the first and, I believe, most imperative step to redeeming our time – start with the word. To redeem our time in the model of our Redeemer, we must first know the author of time, His purposes for the world, and what He has called us to do with the time He has given us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus frequently broke away from the crowds and His disciples to spend time alone with His Father. For us, this can look like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ? Reading scripture daily<\/p>\n\n\n\n ? Meditating on what you read<\/p>\n\n\n\n ? Praying throughout your day<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t have to be fancy. It doesn\u2019t have to take 3 hours. Just carve out time, dig into scripture, and see what God has to say about our time and how we should spend it. Don\u2019t take my word for it. Hear it from the source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exported from Logos Bible Software, 7:24 PM January 4, 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Time and Productivity By The Book Pastor Don Carpenter Redeeming Your Time \/ Ephesians 5:15\u201317 (Based on Raynor, Jordan. Redeeming Your Time (p. xix). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.) Today, we begin a 5-week series called Redeeming Your Time. What does this term\u2014 \u201credeeming your time\u201d \u2014even mean? Does God really care how we … Continue reading Time and Productivity By The Book<\/span>