Making the Most of Our Time

Time is a funny thing. When we are young it seems to drag on forever. Summers appear to last for an eternity, and the gap between birthdays seems much more than 365 days. We make chains and charts to count down the days before anticipated events.

When we grow older though, time is a fleeting aberration. We strive hard to slow it down, to savor the moments, to complete our to-do list before another day expires. Birthdays come and go faster than we can keep track of them. We complete one event only to turn around and find the next staring at us in the face.

In the busyness of this frantic passing of time, it can be tempting to just get things done, as we mimic horses with the blinders on looking only straight ahead. The problem with that is that as time passes, people come in and out of our lives. Some of these individuals will be with us for the long haul. Others are there just for that particular moment, that specific slice of history. Either way, we know that unless they are believers, our time with them won’t be long. That’s why Colossians 4:5 tells us to make the most of it. Specifically it says:

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

There are two parts to this admonition.

First, we have to walk in wisdom towards those that don’t know Christ. This means that we have to be mindful and purposeful in our interactions. Our responses, the activities in which we participate, the manner in which we treat others can’t be casual or off-the-cuff. We should be wisely looking for opportunities to make a Kingdom difference in their lives – getting to know their particular situation and history in order to do this more effectively.

Coupled with that, we need to make the best use of the time. We need to not let an opportunity to minister to them pass us by. We don’t know how long our lives will intersect, and so we can’t put off until tomorrow what could be done today. When there seems to be a crack in proverbial door, we need to open it. When there is an opportunity to direct the conversation to things above, we need to take it. We can’t issue excuses for why now might not be the right time (although we can, and should, use wisdom, as indicated above, to manage the particular situation effectively); as far as we know this may be the only opportunity.

Colossians 4:5 is a seemingly simple verse; translated into English it is only 12 words. Yet doing this well, and consistently, can seem so difficult. However, we must remember we only have a limited time to put this command into practice. There won’t be any “outsiders” in Heaven.

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Common Confidence

When we are young, we learn all sorts of new things. Somewhere along the way we learn how to match – we learn how to see two objects and realize that they are the same. (Hopefully somewhere along the way we’ve also learned how to color-coordinate – but that’s another story.) In elementary school, they test for this. Can a child see two objects, identify that they share common characteristics and group them together? If so, it demonstrates an ability to observe and organize – skills that are valuable as the child learns increasingly new information.

Sometimes it can be difficult to apply these same skills to our relationships with other people. We know that we need “common ground” in order to relate to one another, but there doesn’t seem to be any foundation on which to build. There may be occasions where we strive to identify those shared characteristics, but most of the time, we don’t even work that hard. If they aren’t immediately apparent, we just assume that there is no natural affinity between us.

For Christians, however, we always share something in common, namely the confidence that we have in Christ.  Because we rely on Him, and Him alone, for our salvation as well as our sanctification and to sustain us, we are joined together in the most important ways.  And it’s important to encourage each other with reminders of this truth.

We can see this in Colossians 2:1-5. Paul is concerned with the churches he has yet to visit, because he wants to encourage and strengthen them; he wants those churches to mature (See The MacArthur Bible Commentary, John MacArthur, 2005). He knows that this depends on their recognition of and deepening of their “assurance” or their confidence in Christ.  As they are joined together in love for one another, he wants them to spur each other on to a deeper and greater understanding and reliance on the One that they serve. Even though he can’t visit, he knows that their hearts will be encouraged as their shared confidence in Christ and their love for one another, propels them to an even greater assurance of who they are in Him.

It can be a hard truth to remember. When another believer disappoints us, when we seem to disagree, it can be hard to see that we have anything common. Yet what we do share is the one thing that will remain after our disaapointment fades and our disagreement ends; it is what will last for eternity.

People can be joined together for all sorts of reasons. They like the same music, the same sports, or the same style of clothes. For Christians though, our affection for each other is rooted in our common confidence in Christ. May this be what we look to when we are tempted to let our affection wane, knowing that, with fellow believers, our “common ground” is the firm foundation of Christ.

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