Our Lord Jesus has no time for lazy and idle followers. Scripture is replete with warnings against those who would be slothful. In the Old Testament, there are warnings such as Proverbs 24:33–34: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” In the New Testament, entire parables are devoted to warning those who are prone to wastefulness with God’s resources, as in the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14–30), wherein a man who failed to do anything with the resources his master had entrusted to his care is judged and punished by his master. Jesus explains, in Matthew 25:29–30, “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” The servant who lazily failed to do anything with what his master had entrusted to him is called worthless and cast into darkness and the one who fails to wisely use the time God has given them is an equally unprofitable and wicked servant of the Lord.
Time, then, is a gift from God and a resource to be utilized wisely to glorify the Lord and further His Kingdom on earth. Perhaps the greatest summary of this concept is offered in Ephesians 5:16. Here, we find a simple, yet instructive and instrumental commandment for God’s people: Redeem the time.
