A number of years ago I heard about a woman who went to prison at the age of 20. She was released when she was 32 years old. Upon her release, she decided she was going to spend the rest of her time in life making the right decisions.

abandoned ancient antique architecture
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She first began to live in a half-way house. As time went on, she eventually began working two jobs. She would enroll in college to further her education. She’s now able to speak three languages, has steady employment, owns a home and a car, and is mending relationships with her family.

This woman’s story was powerful when I heard it. But we can’t relate to her with respect to spending time in prison. But we can relate to her when it comes to what we will do with the rest of our time.  In 1 Peter 4:1-3 Peter says,

“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”

The apostle helps us to remember who we used to be and who we are now. We are Christians. We have made a decision to take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus.  We should spend the rest of our time serving our king! Peter gives us some detailed actions for us to think about when it comes to how we utilize our time.

  1. We should no longer spend our time satisfying the lusts of the flesh.
  2. We should spend our time doing the will of God.
  3. We should spend our time in prayer, 1 Peter 4:7.
  4. We should spend our time demonstrating love for one another, 1 Peter 4:8.
  5. We should spend our time serving one another, 1 Peter 4:10.
  6. We should spend our time rejoicing, even in the midst of suffering, 1 Peter 4:13.

It’s clear we don’t have time to go back to who we used to be. Our goal now is to do the will of God.

The question is, have we been spending our time the proper way? It was Jesus who delivered us from the shackles of sin. We’ve been redeemed by His blood! Are we making good use of our time?

All of the actions Peter mentioned in chapter four take a considerable amount of time.

Let’s be sure we are utilizing the time we have the right way:

This week, in the midst of holiday season, let’s be wise with our time. Let’s do the will of God! Let’s make the most of our time.

– Benjamin Lee