Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Preciousness of Time (Ephesians 5:16) | Jonathan Edwards
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to The Deep Dive, a special segment here on reformed
- 0:03thinking. Today we are taking a close look
- 0:07at something fundamental, something that touches every
- 0:09part of our lives, the extraordinary worth of time.
- 0:13We're going to examine how every single moment that passes is,
- 0:16well, unbelievably precious, not just for life here on Earth, but
- 0:20with huge implications for eternity.
- 0:22That's right, and we're drawing heavily today from the insights
- 0:25of Jonathan Edwards, particularly his thoughts around
- 0:28Ephesians 5.16. You know, the verse about making
- 0:31the most of every opportunity, redeeming the time.
- 0:33Edwards lays out this incredibly compelling case for why time has
- 0:36such a high value. It's far more significant than
- 0:39we might typically think. Yeah, it really is.
- 0:41So our mission today in this deep dive is to unpack those
- 0:44arguments from Edwards. We want to help you really grasp
- 0:47the. Well, the view he has on time
- 0:50and crucially, understand what it might mean for your own life,
- 0:53your own walk, and your eternal prospects.
- 0:56We're aiming to pull out key insights to help you think
- 0:59carefully about how you spend your moments.
- 1:01OK, so let's jump right in. Edwards outlines basically 4
- 1:04main reasons why time is so exceptionally valuable.
- 1:08Let's start with the first one. It's probably the most.
- 1:12Yes, the connection between time and our eternal destiny.
- 1:15What's really powerful here is how direct Edwards is.
- 1:17He basically says time is priceless because our eternity,
- 1:20whether it's joyful or sorrowful, hinges entirely on
- 1:23how we use the time we're given now.
- 1:25For him, this is the number one reason for its immense value.
- 1:28He argues that things get their value based on how much they
- 1:31affect our well-being and time. Well, time is supremely valuable
- 1:35because it's the only opportunity we have to prepare
- 1:39for our eternal state. It's not just about feeling good
- 1:42now, it's about where we'll be forever.
- 1:44It's a pretty sobering thought when you frame it like that.
- 1:47We usually value things based on, you know what they do for us
- 1:50here? Comfort.
- 1:51Security. Edwards acknowledges that he
- 1:53knows using time well can bring worldly benefits.
- 1:56You know, avoiding poverty, having a more comfortable life.
- 2:00But he sees those as completely secondary.
- 2:02He actually says their value is insubordination to time's
- 2:06ultimate spiritual purpose. So he's not dismissing them, but
- 2:10he's putting them in their proper place, way below the main
- 2:13goal. So it's about perspective, the
- 2:16temporal versus the eternal. Precisely.
- 2:18Think about it in terms of infinite good or infinite evil,
- 2:21Edwards says time is what allows us to escape unending suffering
- 2:24and gain unending blessedness and glory.
- 2:27He uses an analogy. Gold or silver are valued for
- 2:30what they can buy or what trouble they can help us avoid
- 2:32in this life. OK, But time, he says, is beyond
- 2:35any comparison like that. Why?
- 2:37Because only time gives us the means to avoid an infinite bad
- 2:40outcome, eternal separation from God, and gain an infinite good,
- 2:44eternal life and joy with Him. The stakes from his perspective
- 2:47couldn't possibly be higher. Time is like the finite bridge
- 2:51to an infinite reality. Wow.
- 2:53OK, so that's the huge foundational reason.
- 2:57Then, building on that, Edwards points to something else that
- 3:00boosts time's value. Just how short life is?
- 3:04Yes, the brevity of life. Our time here is incredibly
- 3:07short, and that scarcity naturally increases its worth.
- 3:10It's like basic economics, almost supply and demand.
- 3:13Kind of, yeah. It ties into the scarcity
- 3:15principle. When something is absolutely
- 3:17necessary but also very rare, its value skyrockets.
- 3:22Edwards actually points to that story in 2 Kings during the
- 3:25Siege of Samaria. Remember, things got so bad
- 3:28people were paying outrageous prices for, well, a donkey's
- 3:32head. Or even doves.
- 3:33Dumb just because food was so scarce.
- 3:35Write a grim picture. His point is, time is like that.
- 3:38It's absolutely essential for our eternal future, but the
- 3:40supply is incredibly limited. So if something is both
- 3:43essential and rare, it's extraordinarily precious.
- 3:46Time fits that bill perfectly in Edwards.
- 3:49He uses some pretty vivid language to describe this
- 3:51brevity, doesn't he? Not complicated, but stark.
- 3:54Very stark. He calls life a vapor, which
- 3:56appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
- 3:59That's straight from James four. He also says our whole life is
- 4:03has a moment to eternity. It really drives home how
- 4:07fleeting our existence here is compared to what comes after
- 4:10Blink and it's gone, almost. And when you put that brevity
- 4:14together with the eternal stakes you just mentioned, the urgency
- 4:17becomes really clear. Absolutely.
- 4:20Edwards emphasizes that preparing for eternity isn't
- 4:22easy. He calls it a task of great
- 4:24difficulty in labor. It's not something you just
- 4:27drift into. It requires serious effort,
- 4:29focus, diligence. And crucially, this work has to
- 4:33be finished in this short lifetime.
- 4:35It must be done now, or it can never be done.
- 4:37There's no second chance, no extension after death.
- 4:39Which means, logically, there's really no time to waste.
- 4:42Not a moment. The clock is always, always
- 4:44running down. That leads directly into his
- 4:46Third Point, doesn't it? Not only is time short, but we
- 4:48don't even know how short the uncertainty.
- 4:51Exactly the uncertainty of its continuance.
- 4:53This adds another layer to its preciousness.
- 4:55It's not just a short clock, it's a clock that could stop at
- 4:58any second without any warning. That really adds A psychological
- 5:01weight to it. It does.
- 5:02We have no idea if we have another year, another month,
- 5:05another week, not even another day, Edwards says.
- 5:08Every single day carries the uncertainty of being our last.
- 5:11And he argues that a wise person understanding this will value
- 5:15time even more highly because it's end is unknown.
- 5:18It's not just abstract philosophy.
- 5:20It's a practical reason for urgency in how we Live Today.
- 5:24We plan for tomorrow, sure, but we're never promised it.
- 5:27He makes it very concrete too. He doesn't just leave it as a
- 5:30concept. No, he brings it right down to
- 5:32earth, he reminds us. Look around.
- 5:35Many people who seem perfectly healthy today will be gone
- 5:37tomorrow, maybe even tonight, without any warning.
- 5:41This stark reality, he insists, should make us incredibly
- 5:45careful not to waste anytime. It's meant to shake us out of
- 5:48that common assumption that we've always got more time ahead
- 5:50of us. OK.
- 5:50So we have eternal stakes, brevity, uncertainty.
- 5:54What's the 4th pillar of Time's value for Edwards?
- 5:57It's absolute irrecoverability. Once a moment is gone, it's gone
- 6:00forever. You can't get it back.
- 6:02This makes time utterly unique. That really contrasts with other
- 6:05things we value, doesn't it? Completely think about money or
- 6:08possessions. If you lose them, sometimes with
- 6:11effort or cost, you can recover them or replace them.
- 6:13You can earn more money. You can buy anything but time.
- 6:16Once it's passed, it's gone forever, Edwards says.
- 6:20No amount of pains, no cost will recover it.
- 6:22It's a permanent loss. You simply cannot buy back
- 6:25yesterday. Even regret doesn't help.
- 6:27He addresses that directly. Even deep sorrow, deep
- 6:30repentance for wasting time won't bring it back.
- 6:33Repenting ever so much for letting it slip away is to no
- 6:36purpose in terms of actually recovering the lost moments.
- 6:39It just highlights the finality. He describes each moment as
- 6:42being offered to us successively, but adds that it
- 6:45will not wait. If you don't grab it and use it,
- 6:47it's immediately taken away and never offered more.
- 6:50That's why delaying putting things off is so perilous.
- 6:53In his view, The opportunity itself vanishes.
- 6:56So whether it's decades or just minutes, if it's past and
- 6:58unimproved, it's just gone. Eternally gone, as he puts it,
- 7:03and the ultimate implication is stark.
- 7:05When your time of life is gone, when death comes, then all
- 7:10opportunity of obtaining eternal welfare is utterly and
- 7:12everlastingly gone. The window for preparing for
- 7:16eternity slams shut permanently. OK, so Edwards has built this
- 7:20incredibly strong case for the immense value of time.
- 7:24But then he turns it around, doesn't he?
- 7:25He makes it personal. He asks us to look back.
- 7:28Yes, that's the next logical step.
- 7:30If time is this precious, what account can we give for the time
- 7:33that's already behind us? How have we used this treasure?
- 7:35It's uncomfortable but necessary.
- 7:37Fairy. He starts by reminding us we're
- 7:39not at the beginning anymore. For most listening, a
- 7:42significant chunk of our time is already gone, and, he
- 7:45emphasizes, no amount of human wit and power and treasure of
- 7:48the universe cannot recover it. He uses the image of the
- 7:51hourglass. For many, he says, more than
- 7:53half the sand has run through, maybe only few sands remaining.
- 7:58Our personal sun might be past its noon, heading towards
- 8:01sunset, maybe even towards an everlasting eclipse.
- 8:04It's a powerful picture of diminishing opportunity.
- 8:07And tied to that is this idea of accountability.
- 8:09Yes, time isn't just something that happens, it's a talent
- 8:13given to us by God. We've been entrusted with this
- 8:16valuable resource and like the Parable of the Talents, we will
- 8:19have to give an account for it. So it's not just about looking
- 8:22back, it's about preparing for a future reckoning.
- 8:25Exactly. The scrutiny is intense.
- 8:27Every day, every single moment, Edwards argues, has been
- 8:30precious. So the unavoidable question is,
- 8:33have these precious moments these days, these years, been
- 8:37squandered? He asks directly.
- 8:39What kind of reckoning could you give to God for your past time?
- 8:42And he connects it right to Matthew 12.36.
- 8:44If we're accountable for every idle word, surely, he says,
- 8:47we're accountable for all our idle, misspent time.
- 8:50It broadens that scope of judgment to include not just our
- 8:53actions and words, but our inaction, our wasted potential
- 8:56every second. So we're meant to sort of review
- 8:59our lives, take stock. That's the challenge.
- 9:02What good can you point to? What spiritual improvement have
- 9:05you made? What benefit have you gained for
- 9:06eternity that actually matches the amount of time you've lived?
- 9:09It's not just about being busy, but about purposeful, eternally
- 9:13minded activity. He seems concerned that many
- 9:15people wouldn't have much to show for it.
- 9:17He is. He suggests many lives, looking
- 9:19back might seem in a great measure empty, just not filled
- 9:22up with any good improvement. He's quite blunt.
- 9:26What have you actually done with all those days and years God
- 9:29gave you? And he specifically calls out
- 9:31those past their youth. Has that precious season, that
- 9:35prime time of life been barren? He even asks provocatively if it
- 9:39would have been better to have been asleep or in a state of non
- 9:42existence during that time if it wasn't used.
- 9:45Well, that's a harsh measure challenging us on how we used
- 9:48our most energetic years. Wow.
- 9:50And he doesn't just stop at our main activities, does he?
- 9:52Drills down into other types of time, right?
- 9:55He pushes us to consider leisure time, those moments of freedom
- 10:00from worldly business. We all have some How has that
- 10:03time been spent? It's easy to justify our work
- 10:05hours, but what about the downtime?
- 10:07And even more specifically, holy time.
- 10:09Yes, the great deal of holy time, all the Sabbath days, the
- 10:13time spent in public worship. These are especially valuable
- 10:17opportunities set apart specifically for focusing on God
- 10:20and our souls. He forces the question, what
- 10:24have you done with these specific sacred moments?
- 10:27It puts a spotlight on our responsibility for the time
- 10:29explicitly dedicated to the Lord.
- 10:32Have we truly used it to draw near to Him or let it slip away
- 10:35too? Now, if we connect all this,
- 10:38this immense value of time, this accountability.
- 10:41Edwards then identifies specific ways people misuse this gift.
- 10:45He starts with a general observation about how little
- 10:47people seem to care. It's a pretty sharp critique,
- 10:49isn't it? He doesn't mince words.
- 10:51Not at all, he says. Most people show very little
- 10:53sense of time is preciousness. They're wasteful, acting like
- 10:55it's cheap and abundant, like they have an endless supply.
- 10:58He makes that striking comparison.
- 11:00If people handled their money as carelessly as they handle their
- 11:02time, everyone would think they were irrational, completely
- 11:05foolish. Yet he declares time is 1000
- 11:08times more precious than money, partly because once lost, no
- 11:11amount of money can buy it back. He sees it as a fundamental
- 11:14blindness to reality. So from that general
- 11:17observation, he breaks it down into categories of misuse.
- 11:20Yes, three main groups he wants to reprove or strongly caution.
- 11:24The first are those who spend a great deal of their time and
- 11:27just idleness doing nothing that counts for anything good.
- 11:31These aren't necessarily bad people, just unproductive.
- 11:34Right. They aren't actively malicious,
- 11:36but they're wasting the gift. For these folks, time seems to
- 11:40lie heavy on their hands. They're bored.
- 11:42They actually contrive ways how to waste and consume it, as if
- 11:45time itself is a burden they need to get rid of.
- 11:48They do nothing virtuous for their souls, their bodies, their
- 11:50families, or society. Just killing time.
- 11:54And he sees real consequences to this.
- 11:56Definitely both temporal and spiritual.
- 11:59The refusal to labor can lead to poverty and suffering for
- 12:02themselves and their dependence. He quotes Proverbs.
- 12:06An idle soul shall suffer hunger and drowsiness, shall clothe a
- 12:09man with rags. He gives examples.
- 12:12Hanging out in Taverns, over their cups, just wandering about
- 12:15from house to house, engaging in idle and unprofitable talk that
- 12:19achieves nothing or worse, tends only to poverty.
- 12:22This is the opposite of the biblical instruction to labor,
- 12:25working with our hands, the thing that is good.
- 12:27In his view, an indolent man, a lazy person, is simply a great
- 12:31waster, wasting potential, wasting opportunity, wasting the
- 12:34precious gift of time. OK, so idleness is the first
- 12:37category. What's the second?
- 12:38The second group are those who spend their time in actual
- 12:41wickedness. These people go beyond just
- 12:43doing nothing. They actively use their time for
- 12:46harmful, sinful purposes. So this is much worse than
- 12:49idleness. Much worse, they use time for
- 12:51I'll purposes, hurting themselves and others.
- 12:54Edwards makes this devastating point.
- 12:56Instead of using time to escape eternal misery and gain eternal
- 12:59life, they use it for the exact opposite to increase their
- 13:03eternal misery to make their eventual damn nation even more
- 13:07heavy and intolerable. Their actions in time are
- 13:10actively storing up wrath for eternity.
- 13:13What kind of actions does he point to?
- 13:15He lists things like reveling, excessive partying, drunkenness,
- 13:18debauchery, also unclean talk and practices, immoral speech,
- 13:22impurity, vicious company keeping, surrounding yourself
- 13:24with people who drag you down spiritually, and significantly
- 13:27corrupting and ensnaring the minds of others by setting bad
- 13:30examples. He says this undoes not only
- 13:33their own souls, but the souls of others.
- 13:36Think about that, using your limited time to actively lead
- 13:38others towards destruction. That's a heavy thought.
- 13:41It is. He also mentions spending time
- 13:43in detraction and backbiting, gossip, slander or in
- 13:46contention, stirring up arguments and strife.
- 13:49He suggests that for some of these people, it might have been
- 13:51better if they had just been idled and nothing at all, rather
- 13:54than actively causing harm. The consequence?
- 13:58If they ever do turn back to God, they'll find they've made
- 14:00work for their remaining time to undo what they have done, a huge
- 14:04task of repentance and repair, and ultimately the time spent
- 14:08and wickedness leads to an eternity of more dreadful misery
- 14:12in hell. A truly stark warning.
- 14:14What about the third category he identifies?
- 14:17This one might hit closer to home.
- 14:18For many seemingly good people, it's those who spend their time
- 14:22only in worldly pursuits while completely neglecting their
- 14:25souls. So these aren't idle people.
- 14:27Maybe not even even overtly wicked.
- 14:29They might even be very hardworking and successful by
- 14:32worldly standards. Exactly.
- 14:34That's what helps this category, distinct and perhaps more
- 14:37insidious. Even if they are diligent in
- 14:40their jobs, their business, even if they're making money and
- 14:43getting ahead, Edward says, they still lose their time.
- 14:47Why? Because time wasn't given
- 14:49primarily for earthly success. It was given for that
- 14:51everlasting duration which succeeds it.
- 14:54Their diligence is fundamentally misdirected.
- 14:57If eternity isn't the goal, it's like meticulously polishing the
- 15:00brass on the Titanic. Their focus is just entirely on
- 15:03the here and now. Completely.
- 15:05Their time is swallowed up by caring and labourings for the
- 15:08world. What they'll eat, drink, where,
- 15:10how they can build bigger barns, lay up for themselves, treasures
- 15:13upon earth. All their mental energy, their
- 15:15physical strength, their affections, it's all poured into
- 15:18these temporary things. There's little or no thought for
- 15:20their spiritual condition for God for eternity.
- 15:23And Edwards Challenge is the ultimate value of that.
- 15:26He does. He asks pointed questions.
- 15:29What real peace does all this bring your soul?
- 15:31What comfort does it offer when you face difficulties?
- 15:34What does it do for your prospects as you approach
- 15:36eternity? And the ultimate question, what
- 15:39will all that you've acquired avail you when time shall be no
- 15:43longer? When you stand before God?
- 15:45What goodwill your earthly portfolio or status to do if
- 15:48your soul is unprepared from an eternal viewpoint?
- 15:51That time, however busy, was ultimately lost.
- 15:55This is, well, it's a lot to take in the value, the
- 15:57accountability, the ways we misuse it.
- 16:00So where does Edwards go from here?
- 16:01It's not just diagnosis, right? He offers a way forward.
- 16:04Absolutely. This isn't just meant to condemn
- 16:06or induce despair. It's a call to action, a strong
- 16:09exhortation to change course, to start improving time, living
- 16:13with eternity in view. And that starts with remembering
- 16:15who gave us the time in the first place.
- 16:17Yes, it circles back to accountability, but now with a
- 16:20forward look. Time is a talent given us by
- 16:24God. He gave us our day, our lifespan
- 16:27for a specific work, a purpose tied to Him.
- 16:30And the unavoidable truth is, at the end of that day, God will
- 16:34call us to account for how we used all the time He gave.
- 16:37We're His servants, He's the master, and there will be a
- 16:40reckoning. He wants us to think about this
- 16:42daily doesn't he? Not just a some far off event.
- 16:45Yes, he really pushes for daily awareness.
- 16:48How would your choices change, he asked, if every morning you
- 16:50thought I have to account to God for this day and every evening,
- 16:53how did I spend the time God entrusted to me?
- 16:55Today He brings up Christ's warning about accounting for
- 16:59every idle word, again reinforcing that the scrutiny
- 17:02extends to all our idle, misspent time.
- 17:04It's about cultivating a constant awareness of
- 17:06stewardship. So what about the time already
- 17:08lost for someone hearing this who feels they've wasted years?
- 17:11What's the advice? Just feel guilty.
- 17:13No, not just guilt, He says. We ought to lament lost time.
- 17:18A godly sorrow is appropriate, but that sorrow absolutely must
- 17:22lead to greater diligence in improving the time that remains.
- 17:25The goal is to redeem lost time by being doubly careful and
- 17:29purposeful. Now, he acknowledges that for
- 17:31older people who've lived negligently, the thought of all
- 17:34that wasted time can be genuinely terrifying.
- 17:36A deep anguish. And he gives specific reasons
- 17:38why past waste demands future diligence.
- 17:41Three urgent consequences of having lost time that should
- 17:44spur us on. 1st. Simply, your remaining
- 17:47opportunity is shorter. The time you wasted is gone.
- 17:49It doesn't count as potential anymore.
- 17:51It's worse than if it never existed because it left you
- 17:53unprepared. The window is smaller.
- 17:55OK, less time. What else?
- 17:56Second, the main work. Preparing for eternity still
- 17:59needs to be done, but now you face vastly greater difficulties
- 18:02in opposition. Why?
- 18:04Because past neglect hasn't just shortened the time, it's
- 18:07actually made more work for you. Bad habits might be ingrained.
- 18:11Your heart might be harder, spiritual sensitivity dulled, so
- 18:15the task is bigger, the time shorter, and the obstacles
- 18:17within you are greater. This reality, Edwards says,
- 18:21should awaken you to apply yourself with all your might.
- 18:25It demands intense effort now. That makes sense.
- 18:28More work, less time, more resistance.
- 18:30What's the third consequence? The third is that often the best
- 18:34time for this work has been lost youth.
- 18:36He argues that time after reason awakens but before life gets
- 18:39overly complicated is often the best of a man's time.
- 18:43It usually comes with more energy, fewer deep rooted bad
- 18:45habits, maybe a greater tenderness of heart.
- 18:48If you've wasted that period, the essential work store
- 18:50remains, but the most advantageous season for doing it
- 18:53is gone. That makes the remaining task
- 18:55even harder. It's like missing the ideal
- 18:58planting season. You can still try, but the yield
- 19:00might be less and the effort greater.
- 19:02But he doesn't want people to despair because of this.
- 19:05No, absolutely not. He explicitly warned against
- 19:07falling into the devil's trap Here.
- 19:09He says the devil deceives young people by whispering.
- 19:12There's plenty of time later. Then he deceives older people
- 19:15who've wasted time by whispering.
- 19:16It's too late now. The best time is gone.
- 19:18Don't even bother trying. Edwards calls this line of
- 19:21thinking madness. It's a recipe for never getting
- 19:25started. So the alternative to despair or
- 19:28delay is. Immediate action.
- 19:30He calls people to awake, out of sleep, to thoroughly rouse up
- 19:33themselves, and with genuine seriousness start seeking
- 19:36eternal life now. Regardless of past failures.
- 19:39He urges listeners to heed God's call to diligence and ignore the
- 19:43enemy's counsel to delay or despair.
- 19:45Choose whom you will listen to, God or the adversary.
- 19:49He uses some powerful imagery to drive this home, thinking about
- 19:52perspectives from the end of life or even beyond.
- 19:55Yes, he asked us to consider the perspective of someone on their
- 19:58deathbed. He says sometimes poor sinners
- 20:01nearing death gain this sudden, intense clarity about time's
- 20:04value. They might cry out, oh, 1000
- 20:07worlds for an inch of time. Edwards argues this isn't some
- 20:10delusion, It's their eyes are opened to the truth.
- 20:14If we don't feel that urgency now, he suggests, it's because
- 20:17we are the ones currently deceived and blind.
- 20:20That deathbed perspective is the true one.
- 20:22And then he takes it even further.
- 20:24The perspective from eternity from hell.
- 20:27It's a sobering thought exercise.
- 20:30What do those who have lost all opportunity think about time
- 20:32now? Those in hell who maybe were
- 20:34lavish with time during life, treating it cheaply now, he says
- 20:37they understand it's infinite preciousness.
- 20:40They would desperately value the opportunity which you have,
- 20:42wishing they could just have one moment back.
- 20:45What would they not give? He asks for one of your days
- 20:47under the means of grace. By means of grace, he means
- 20:50hearing the Word preached, opportunities for prayer,
- 20:53fellowship, the sacraments, all the ways God makes His grace
- 20:56available to us in time. Their desperate longing
- 20:58underscores the tragedy of their irreversible loss.
- 21:01So we'll all figure out how precious time is one way or
- 21:04another. That's his point.
- 21:05We will be convinced either now or at the last.
- 21:09He presents two ways. 1st through reason, by understanding
- 21:13why it's precious, It's linked to eternity.
- 21:15It's brevity, uncertainty, irrecoverability.
- 21:17That's the beneficial way, the way that leads to life.
- 21:20And the second way. Through painful experience,
- 21:23realizing it's worth only when facing death or judgement this
- 21:26way always convinces, he says grimly.
- 21:29But if that's the first time your eyes are truly open, it is
- 21:31always too late for salvation. The urgency is clear.
- 21:35Grasped the truth now through reason and faith before
- 21:39experience forces it upon you when nothing can be done.
- 21:42OK, so moving from the why to the how, Edwards gives very
- 21:46practical advice on actually improving time, living out this
- 21:49conviction day by day. What's the first step?
- 21:51He suggests. Act without delay.
- 21:52That seems paramount. Absolutely.
- 21:54Act immediately on the opportunities time presents.
- 21:57Don't wait for some more convenient season hereafter.
- 22:00He sees delay itself as a sign that you don't really get how
- 22:03valuable time is. If you truly felt it, it's
- 22:06preciousness, you'd seize the moment.
- 22:08Procrastination is spiritual negligence.
- 22:10He points to the Psalms for example.
- 22:11Yes, Psalm 119, verse 60. I made haste and delayed not to
- 22:16keep your commandments. That's the model, prompt,
- 22:19decisive obedience in action. Remember, he said, every moment
- 22:22is offered successively. If you don't use it, it's
- 22:25immediately taken away and never offered more.
- 22:28That specific chance is gone. OK, so act now.
- 22:31What's the second piece of practical advice?
- 22:34Prioritize the most valuable punts of your time.
- 22:36While all time is precious, some periods offer a greater
- 22:39advantage for your everlasting welfare.
- 22:41These need special attention. And he identifies specific times
- 22:44that are especially valuable. He does first, as mentioned
- 22:48before, holy time, Sabbath days, and especially the time set
- 22:51aside for public worship. These are most precious,
- 22:54offering great advantage for our souls.
- 22:56He strongly warns against wasting this time through sleep
- 23:00or in carelessness and attention or wandering imaginations.
- 23:04He calls it sadish, utterly foolish to squander these prime
- 23:07opportunities for spiritual growth given by God Himself.
- 23:11What other time does he highlight?
- 23:12The time of youth. Again, he stresses its value.
- 23:15From many accounts, it should be diligently used because
- 23:17neglecting it means losing the best part of 1's life for laying
- 23:20a good foundation. And there was a third special
- 23:22time. Yes, the time of God's Spirit
- 23:24strivings, those seasons when you feel God drawing near, when
- 23:28your conscience is bricked, when the Holy Spirit is particularly
- 23:31working on your heart. This is a uniquely precious time
- 23:34because God is near. He quotes Isaiah.
- 23:38Seek the Lord while he may be found.
- 23:41Call upon him while he is near. In Paul's words, now is the
- 23:44accepted time, the day of salvation.
- 23:47These are periods of special divine invitation and
- 23:49opportunity. Resisting God during these times
- 23:52is particularly dangerous. So prioritize holy time, youth,
- 23:57and times of spiritual sensitivity.
- 24:00What's the final piece of advice?
- 24:02It concerns the skillful use of leisure time.
- 24:04Everyone has some, he notes. Often quite a bit, and it can be
- 24:07used for great benefit if we choose to.
- 24:09It's an opportunity, not just downtime.
- 24:11Exactly this time free from work and cares for the body presents
- 24:16a happy opportunity for the soul.
- 24:18But we're still accountable for it.
- 24:19It shouldn't be spent unprofitably or in ways we can't
- 24:21give a good account there. Up to God.
- 24:24He specifically warns against wasting it wholly in
- 24:26unprofitable visits or useless diversions or amusement.
- 24:30The keyword might be holy or useless.
- 24:32So diversion or amusement isn't totally forbidden then?
- 24:35No, but he puts a condition on it.
- 24:37Diversion should only be used in subserviency to business.
- 24:40Meaning its purpose should be to refresh and equip you mind and
- 24:43body for the real work of your life, your callings both general
- 24:47as a Christian and particular your job, family duties.
- 24:50So recreation is OK if it genuinely helps you better serve
- 24:53God and fulfill your responsibilities.
- 24:56But diversion, just for diversion's sake or to excess,
- 24:59it becomes a waste of that precious, unrecoverable time.
- 25:02It's a tool, not the main event. So let's leave our listeners
- 25:05with this final thought. In the Book of Revelation, an
- 25:08Angel swears an oath that there should be time no longer.
- 25:12It's a powerful, definitive statement.
- 25:14Our opportunity, this period we call time, is finite.
- 25:18It will end. How does knowing that, knowing
- 25:20that time will cease to be for you personally and for the
- 25:23world, how does that shape how you look at today, at this very
- 25:26moment? What steps might you take right
- 25:28now, knowing that the clock is ticking down?
- 25:30What stands out most to you about times?
- 25:32Immense worth when you truly consider its end.
- 25:35It's something worth pondering deeply.
- 25:37Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into the extraordinary
- 25:39worth of time, drawing on the insights of Jonathan Edwards.
- 25:43We really hope this conversation is giving you valuable things to
- 25:46consider as you go about using your own precious moments.