“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:15-17)
As believers, we must not walk as fools, but as wise. Why? Because we are living in the evil days. The devil is bringing much evil and dissipation into the world like a flood (1 Pet. 4:4). The apostle John saw this in one of his visions on the island of Patmos. “So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood” (Rev. 12:15). The serpent is the devil and the woman is the church. If we are not really watchful, we will be carried away by the flood of evil and dissipation.
How can we walk as wise? We must redeem the time. What does it mean to redeem the time? The apostle Peter wrote, “that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles” (1 Pet. 4:2-3). Before we believe in the Lord Jesus, we spent our time like the people who do not know God, doing our own will for the lusts of men. After we believe in the Lord Jesus, we should spend all our time doing the will of God, not our own will any longer. Thus, we redeem the time by doing the will of God in our lives.