“This is not a drill!” Those words are a wake up call to let the hearer know this is the real deal. Everything counts for real. There are no times for mistakes. This is no longer a rehearsal. Make everything count (get the point?). There are times when we get that call in life. Often it comes as a crisis event that causes us to realize how much we take this brief fragile life for granted. However, I am amazed at the number of people who still do not respond to their “This is not a drill!” call. Most continue poor health, social, emotional and spiritual habits and waste precious moments that we will never see again.
Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” This is an interesting choice of words. First we are told to make the most of every opportunity by being careful and wise. This is spiritual wisdom. One who is spiritually mature lives with care making wise choices to make the most of each moment for Godliness.
Don Whitney gives the following insight on the best use of time in his book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life: “To use time wisely "because the days are evil" is a curious phrase embedded in the inspired language of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:15-16: "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (NASB). Paul may have exhorted the Christians at Ephesus to make the most of their time because he and/or the Ephesians were experiencing persecution or opposition (such as in Acts 19:23-20:1). In any event, we need to use every moment with wisdom "because the days are evil" still.Even without the kind of persecution or opposition known by the Christians of Paul's day, the world we live in is not conducive to using time wisely, especially for purposes of spirituality and Godliness. In fact, our days are days of active evil. There are great thieves of time that are minions of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. They may range in form from high-tech, socially acceptable preoccupations to simple, idle talk or ungoverned thoughts. But the natural course of our minds, our bodies, our world, and our days leads us toward evil, not toward Christlikeness.
"Thoughts must be disciplined, otherwise, like water, they tend to flow downhill or stand stagnant. That's why in Colossians 3:2 we're commanded, "Set your mind on the things above." Without this conscious, active, disciplined setting of the direction of our thoughts, they will be unproductive at best, evil at worst. Our bodies are inclined to ease, pleasure, gluttony, and sloth. Unless we practice self-control, our bodies will tend to serve evil more than God. We must carefully discipline ourselves in how we "walk" in this world, else we will conform more to its ways rather than to the ways of Christ. Finally, our days are days of active evil because every temptation and evil force are active in them. The use of time is important because time is the stuff of which days are made. If we do not discipline our use of time for the purpose of Godliness in these evil days, these evil days will keep us from becoming Godly."
Most of us spend (or waste) so much time on things that do not matter in the end or improve the quality of life. James 4:14 reminds us how frail and brief life can be with the rhetorical question and answer, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” The older I get the more I realize this. I also realize the things that matter are those that will last beyond this life; love and relationships that we will carry into eternity. I love to have fun with my time, ask anyone who knows me and tries to follow or keep up with me, but like Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13 I have learned the secret. So friends, as you go about life today and each day, as time and the days go by give thought to all you do, enjoy, make the most of the time, live abundantly (John 10:10) and whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
