I know many of us have had a little extra time. I hope that we are seizing this opportunity. I know many have been gardening and catching up on things around the house. I also hope that you are taking the time and catching up on Kingdom things. For example: have you read all the Bible, has it been 10 years since you read Zephaniah-maybe it’s time to reread it, have you prepared yourself to share your testimony, have you reached out to loved ones who need to hear the gospel.

To start, do you know what the answer to this riddle is?

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.

The above riddle is from a book that many of you may have read or a movie that you might have seen. I am not going to talk about the movie/book. I want to talk about the answer to the riddle. Have you figured it out yet? Well maybe you will after reading these verses of Scripture.

Ephesians 5: 15 & 16

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,

16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

I know that many of us would agree that the days we are in are evil. I know that many of us would say that we need to be careful how we walk. As I think of the filthy world and walking carefully, it reminds me of my childhood. I grew up in a small town in Florida. The town was kind of a cow town and it was not unusual for me as a kid to walk through cow pastures. If you have never had the pleasure of walking through a cow pasture, think of walking through a yard that has a lot of dogs. Whether we are walking through a cow pasture or a dog infested yard we know that we have to watch where we walk. I think we can visualize this pretty well. But I want you to see the punch line; making the most of our time, because the days are evil. We are not to walk as the unwise but as wise and the way we do that is by making the most of our, time. Right now we have a little extra time. The Lord has given us time and I wonder if we are walking in it as wise or as unwise? Paul tells us that the wise will make the most of their time. Reading passages like this may overwhelm those who are guilt driven perfectionists or make those who have a lazy streak say, why bother. However, Paul is writing to us to motivate us to have better use of our time and bring awareness to the many distractions that seem to satisfy but have no eternal gain. This passage is not telling us to work 24/7. This passage is telling us to avoid the landmines of life that are filthy and walk in the things that are heavenly. I hope and pray church that as the Lord has given you more time, you would make the most of it, that you will look where you walk and examine how you spend your time and maybe set new patterns in your life. Church I pray that we will walk worthy of the calling.