Tonight something unusual happens. At 2:00 AM the clocks go back, and on the clock, Sunday gets 25 hours. It feels like being handed a whole extra hour.
Of course, the day is not really any longer. The earth turns at the same speed it always has, and sunrise to sunrise is still about 24 hours: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). All we do is turn the clock back and live the hour from 1:00 to 2:00 twice. And it is not really a gift either. It is the hour we lost last March, when the clocks sprang forward and that Sunday had only 23 hours. Tomorrow we simply get it back.
It is a good time to ask a bigger question. What am I doing with the time God has already given me?
“Redeeming the time”
Paul wrote:
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15–16
To redeem something is to buy it back, to rescue it before it is lost. Time is always slipping away. Paul is telling us to grab hold of it on purpose, before it slides into worry, scrolling and things that do not matter.
Most of us do not waste our lives in big ways. We lose them a few minutes at a time. Redeeming the time means taking those minutes back for the Lord.
Our days are numbered
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
“For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14
Moses asked God to help him count his days. That was not to make him anxious. It was to make him wise. When we remember that our time is short, we stop spending it on things that will not last.
Five ways to use your bonus hour wisely
1. Meet with the Lord first. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35. If Jesus made time to pray, so should we. Give the first part of your extra hour to God.
2. Open your Bible. Read a chapter you have been meaning to read. Go back over last week’s sermon. Let God speak before the day gets busy.
3. Pray for someone by name. Think of a friend, a neighbour, a missionary or someone who is sick, and bring them before the throne of grace.
4. Reach out. Send a text, make a call or write a note. Invite someone to church today. An hour is long enough to change someone’s week.
5. Rest and worship. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Rest is not wasted time when it is given to Him. Come to church rested, early and ready to worship.
The hour is not really “extra”
Every hour already belongs to God. Tomorrow we simply get one back that we had lost. Let us not sleep through it or scroll through it. Let us redeem it.
“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
See you Sunday, an hour early!
