A few evenings ago, I walked into Eden’s room to discover her piggybank was emptied and a dollar bill was lying on the floor in several pieces. I have been slowly teaching Eden about money and the stewardship of it, so obviously I still have some work to do. While we all know that ripping up dollar bills falls woefully short of “wise stewardship,” many people struggle with the stewardship of time. Perhaps wasting time does not feel as tangible as ripping up money, but it is equally unwise.
In Ephesians 5:15-16, the apostle Paul wrote, “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.” Paul had two words he could have chosen for “time” in this verse: chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to time in general. It is clock time and the root word for chronological. Kairos refers to a predetermined, specific amount of time. It is measured, allocated, and fixed. Paul used kairos here, and his word choice was huge. He was saying, in essence, you have a specific amount of time here in this world. That is it. It is already set. It is fixed. The clock is ticking. Your time is running out. Even now. So make the most of it. Don’t just spend it. Invest it. Be a wise manager of the predetermined time the Lord has given you.
What if we abhorred wasting time with the same intensity we despise wasting money? What if we were as frustrated with a squandered hour as we are with a torn up dollar?
