When it comes to living a balanced life, time and how I spend it is the most valuable and important lesson I’ve learned these past four years.
No matter what our station is in life, our location, vocation, or financial status, it doesn’t matter, we all have exactly the same amount of time allocated to us each day. 24 hours, no more and no less. We can steward it well or squander it. You can’t buy it, but you can redeem it! How you spend it matters.
It’s not just about managing the 168 hours that each of us are entrusted with each week. There are plenty of gurus out there who have time management techniques or systems to sell you. Managing our time is important, redeeming it is transformational!
In the New Testament there are two words used for time, Chronos and Kairos. Chronos time measures quantity – hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Kairos measures quality time. Kairos refers to the right or opportune moments in time. The right season or opportunity. Kairos time is associated with relationships. We often refer to them as God moments. In both Ephesians 5:15-17 and Colossians 4:5 the word used for redeeming the time is kairos.
“See then that you walk circumspectly or carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is. Colossians 4:5 says, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
I’ll never forget Christmas of 2018. One of my wife’s “bucket list” dreams was to one day attend the Rose Bowl parade on New Year’s Day. I spent all year planning the perfect trip, and on Christmas day presented her with a series of envelopes that contained airline tickets, hotel and rental car reservations, and grandstand tickets to the parade.
We flew to Pasadena California. It ended up being an amazing trip, but I almost blew it! As the parade began, I was so caught up in capturing the event on video with my tablet that I almost ruined it for Tammy. I was concerned about capturing the chronos time instead of being present in the moment and enjoying the parade and experiencing the joy of being with Tammy during this special kairos time. Fortunately, I recognized what I was doing after a while and put the tablet down and enjoyed my wife and the parade.
We can get so wrapped up in chronological time that we end up missing many enriching relationship moments in life. Do you spend more of your life living and looking through a screen than you do seeing, experiencing and appreciating the people and things of the real world? Too much screen time is squandered or stolen time! Be alert to things that steal your time.
Ben Franklin said this about time, “If you care for the minutes the years will take care of themselves.” The most important take away for me in living a balanced life is to take chronos hours and redeem them so they become kairos moments and opportunities with Our God and the people around us.
Scott Rodin, author of a wonderful devotional entitled Steward Leader Meditations writes, Kairos time is redeemed time. When we invest our chronos time in acts of service, love, stewardship, worship, and rest, we transform it into kairos time.
The Rest Stop 
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