📖 Biblical Definition
The discipline of redeeming time as God's entrusted resource. Ephesians 5:15-16: See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Colossians 4:5: Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. The Greek exagorazomenoi ton kairon (buying up the opportune time) pictures time as a commodity to be deliberately purchased — bought back from the distractions and frivolities that would otherwise consume it. Psalm 90:12: So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. The Christian who has learned to number his days is the Christian who has begun to take time stewardship seriously. The modern enemies are specific: the slow theft of screen-time, the busy-but-fruitless calendar of low-value commitments, the procrastination that postpones the important for the urgent. The disciplined Christian audits where his hours go and reorders them around what God has entrusted to his stewardship: family, work, prayer, Word, body, witness, rest.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
TIME: A measured portion of duration; the season or period during which one acts; in Scripture, the precious commodity numbered by God.
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1. A particular period or part of duration. 2. The measure of duration as marked by the succession of events. 3. Opportunity; convenient season. The Christian numbers his days because he believes they are numbered already — and he wishes to spend them well.
📖 Key Scripture
Ephesians 5:15 — "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise."
Ephesians 5:16 — "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
Psalm 90:12 — "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
James 4:14 — "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern life surrenders hours to algorithms designed to consume them. Scripture commands redemption of time — buying it back from the market of distraction.
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The average American gives years to scrolling, streaming, and second screens — hours that, summed, would have written books, raised children, planted churches. The thief is not loud; he comes through the home screen. We do not waste time anymore; we surrender it in installments.
Paul commands redemption of time — buying it back, like a captive in the market. The disciple who tracks where hours actually go, who deletes the app, who answers the screen with a no, who numbers his days — that disciple gains a heart of wisdom while the unaware grow old in a fog of forgotten minutes.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek kairos (opportune time) and exagorazo (to redeem, buy out of). Hebrew yom — day.
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G2540 — kairos — opportune time, season, fitting moment
G1805 — exagorazo — to buy out of the market, redeem
H3117 — yom — day, time, period
Usage
"You will not get the hour back; spend it like that is true."
"The algorithm is happy to spend your life for you."
"Number your days — or be numbered without wisdom."