Redeem the time
Walking wisely with time
Paul ties wisdom directly to how a leader handles time: watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Time is the one resource a leader cannot make more of, and wisdom shows in whether it is spent or squandered.
Proverbs sends the sluggard to the ant, who stores in summer for the winter she knows is coming. The wise leader treats time as limited and precious — investing it deliberately in what matters, rather than letting it leak away on the urgent, the trivial, and the merely reactive.
“Watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time.”
— Paul, to the Ephesians — Ephesians 5:15-16 (WEB)
Lead your time wisely. The days are limited, so a wise leader redeems the time rather than drifting through it.
“Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise.”
Paul ties wisdom to redeeming limited, precious time. A leader formed here treats time as a resource to invest deliberately, not squander. He plans like the ant rather than drifting. The inner work is stewarding time as wisdom, not letting it leak away.
Invest your time deliberately in what matters most, guarding it from the urgent and trivial. Plan ahead like the ant rather than living reactively. Help your team steward time wisely, not just stay busy. Treat time as the limited resource it is, and redeem it.
Leaders let time leak away on the urgent and trivial while staying busy, mistaking activity for wise use of time. The blind spot is squandering the one resource you can't replace.
Audit where your time actually went this past week. This week, deliberately redirect a block of it from the urgent-and-trivial to what genuinely matters.
Time is the one thing a leader cannot get more of, and yet it is the resource most easily squandered — leaked away on the urgent and trivial. Wisdom redeems the time, investing it deliberately in what matters, because the days are limited.
Are you redeeming your time — investing it deliberately in what matters — or letting it leak away on the urgent and trivial?