I am not making this up. Here’s the scripture:
Pay careful attention, then to how you walk – not as unwise people but as wise – making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16
Even though Henry Blackaby’s devotional Experiencing God Day by Day is copyrighted in 2006, it is amazing how similar biblical “days” when Paul was writing to the Ephesians were to 2006 “days” and to 2025 “days”. Check it out:
+ During Paul’s time (biblical “days”), he recognized that the world was full of challenges, temptations and moral corruption. Believers faced persecution, false teachings, and societal pressures to conform (from Seedword Christian books).
+ Blackaby described “days” in 2006 saying people were bombarded with opportunities that entice them to invest their time and energy. He added that marriages were under tremendous pressure, families were disintegrating and multitudes die each year without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
+ Seedword describes current “days” as a world filled with distractions, ethical dilemmas and temptations.
Yes, the call of this scripture in Ephesians to live wisely and pay attention to how we walk through our days is as relevant today as it was in biblical times. The King James version says we are to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil”. Sources I checked say “redeeming the time” is related to wisdom in how we “walk”, that is, how we “live”.
I love how Got Questions.org talks about this passage. To redeem something, they said, is to regain possession of it. But the best point is that time is a gift from God, and none of us know how much of it we are allotted. So God wants us to live in constant awareness of that ticking clock and make the most of the time we have. They also made the point that “distractions” were as prevalent in biblical times as they are now! So we need to “listen up”!
As I have been teaching the Family History Bootcamp this week, it is getting reinforced in me the importance of helping people preserve and safeguard their family legacies. Others, as I have found in my own ancestors, have discovered life stories of faith and perseverance in hard times. These faith histories are inspirational and encouragement to those of us who come behind them.
As I have shared before, Deuteronomy 6:20-24 is my fuel for this work as it says “In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?’ tell him: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand…. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today….”
Blackaby talks about the act of investing your life wisely being a critical action not only for us but for those around us. And I would add, for those who come after us.
His wise observation is that often, it is not evil pursuits that rob our time. Rather, the temptation is to sacrifice what is best for what is good. The enemy knows that blatantly tempting us with evil will be obvious – interesting point. But I think he is right!
He says that instead the enemy tempts us to fill our schedules with good things that we have no time for God’s best. Accurately, he says that each day the voices of urgency cry out for every available moment with so many causes which promise that time spent on them will reap great rewards. And he poses a good question: “how can we recognize God’s voice among so many competing voices?”
I hear it from my students in the Family History Bootcamp – finding the time to create the structure to hold and organize the legacy items in their family treasure is hard. So often, pursuing genealogical documentation of our ancestors’ lives is seen as a nice “hobby” – but I put a much higher calling to it, as the passage in Deuteronomy reminds us.
I believe we are redeeming the time when we preserve and share ancestral life stories, and especially their faith stories. These can promote an impact with eternal significance in the lives of our descendants.
Blackaby’s call to us is that time is a precious commodity. Be sure to invest it wisely. Safeguarding the family legacy is a priority work, in my opinion.
