USA Today consulted the advice of experts from various fields to chart how much time was needed for the daily necessities of life — if you did everything the experts said you were supposed to, for as long as they said you should. For example, the experts cited in the article stated:

You should sleep for 7.5 hours Exercise for 30 minutes Need 45 minutes for personal grooming Allow 1 hour for cooking and eating Spend 1-2 hours for housekeeping and chores Work – 7-10 hours Grocery shopping should require about 20 minutes.

The USA Today article also contained expert advice on how much time to spend with children, with your spouse, commuting, reading, and other daily activities. USA Today counted up all those minutes needed for our daily tasks, according to the experts, and it came to 42 hours! *

Obviously, no one has that much time in a day! According to these experts, there is just not enough time to accomplish everything that we need to accomplish!

What do we do? We have to prioritize to get done what needs to be done.

“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time (or ‘making the most of every opportunity’), because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

The word “redeem” means to buy up, i.e. ransom; figuratively, to rescue from loss. Therefore, we are instructed to make the most of our time by “buying up” opportunities to address those things that are most important.

THE most important matter in our lives is our relationship with God…

The problem is that our SIN separates us from God and condemns us (Isaiah 59:1-2; Matthew 7:13-14).

But God loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins (Ephesians 1:7). The precious blood of Jesus redeems us from our sins when we accept His offer of salvation on His terms (1 Peter 1:18-19).

God will redeem those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). The greatest way to redeem your time today is to be sure that you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!

Won’t YOU use your time wisely by responding with trusting obedience to the One who have given you time?

David A. Sargent davidsargent1@comcast.net

* From www.illustrationsforsermons.com citing “Just how much can you fit into a day?” USA Today (4/13/89), Life, 4D.David A. Sargent, Minister