3/4 of a Second

Ephesians 5:15-16

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Saint Paul writes in Ephesians five, verses 15 and 16.

Look carefully, then, how you walk not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Three quarters of a second, three quarters of a second at best, is how fast it takes, studies suggests, to react to something in front of your car. Something runs out in front of your vehicle, an animal, maybe there’s an accident up ahead. It takes a half second for your brain to process 2/10 of a second for your foot to move. Now, in the course of our lives, three quarters of a second seems like nothing. But what a difference that can make. What a life can be changed in three quarters of a second in that situation depending on which way it goes.

This time of year we think about Jesus at Christmas, his birth, New Year, which coincides with his circumcision this first time when he’s really explicitly obeying the Law of Moses and shedding his blood as a human in the flesh. We think about his life as so small, so limited. Even the 33 years of his life is less than half of what many people live today. But we claim that this life has reconciled us to God. That there is an infinite treasure of righteousness to cover our lives of sin and make us acceptable to God. So we have to conclude that Jesus’ life, every moment of it, has this kind of compressed, overrated importance to redeem us. And that word redeem, remember, means to buy back, to pay a ransom for someone, to secure someone for yourself. And this is what Jesus has done, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.

Your sins of the past year, those three quarters of a second when a wrong word was spoken, a wrong, hateful glance was given. A decision was made that you came to regret. All of those moments have Jesus’ righteousness over them. Have his blood to buy you back from the domain of sin, and to purchase you for God. To call you righteous and forgiven, and now one of God’s children.

But the sense of redeem also can be to take something off of a bad path and claim it for a good path to change the direction of a life. And this is also what Jesus has done. You look at the next year, and without faith in Jesus it would be nothing but sin. It would be nothing but displeasing to God. Isaiah says, even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) Paul says, anything that does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23) But with faith in Christ and with His Spirit, this new year is given into our hands to redeem something that could be used for evil is now able to be used for good.

Paul says, look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Intentionally living in line with your faith to redeem the time and bend it towards God’s purposes. I mentioned how Jesus’ life, and the moments of it seem to have this compressed importance and power. I want you to consider how the moments of your life have more of a compressed importance and power than we would give them credit for. How maybe the momentary interactions you have have a much greater impact on the people you’re interacting with than you would think. Of course, the patterns and decisions of each of our days and moments ends up becoming the pattern and example of our entire lives. So sure, the days are evil, but dear friends, our risen Lord Jesus has overcome evil. And now he gives this year, with all of its seconds back into your hands to redeem for good.