Buy it up

Psalm 90:12 "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

 When we get an unusual product in our local grocery store, you would think we won the lottery.  “HEY MOM!  U-turn has Werther’s candies again!”  When something special hits the shelves, it doesn’t last long.  We know that if we don’t buy it up, it might not be there again any time soon (or ever!).  There is an ever-so-fine line between spotting it and getting some for later and being an absolute hoarder, uninterested in someone else’s desire to maybe have a little bit of it too. :)  

So it made perfect sense to me when I was reading in Ephesians 5:15-16 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time because the days are evil.”  Literally, “Look, hear, perceive how you are passing your life, not as foolish people (wasting their days) but as wise, skilled people who make the most of opportunities.  Buy up your moments, because the days are evil.”  Buy up, like at the market, like at U-turn.  These moments are flying off the shelves, never to be had again.  Hoard them!  Grab them and squeeze out all their worth, for you won’t get the chance again!  And then I saw something else.  Isn’t God’s Word a treasure, worth digging for?!  “…the days are evil.”  But the word evil also means “full of labors, annoyances, hardships” or the evil causing such things.  Wow, God.  I can’t really think of one person who doesn’t think that the days are filled with labors, annoyances and hardships.  This evil world overflows with frustrations every day.  No wonder it is so hard to buy back the time—I am too busy with my labors and annoyances to notice when the time I am meant to redeem 

is slipping right out from under me.  

We headed to the village with Kate and Ben to visit old friends.  We hadn’t seen this dear couple for about seven months.  We treasure their friendship and cultural wisdom.  We saw them coming toward us through the field by their house, welcoming us.  

They invited us into their house.  

They are simple, by the world’s standard extremely poor.  I noticed that day that I didn’t see them that way anymore.  They are rich in spirit.  They exude generosity and kindness.  Prepared before us on a simple, small wooden table was mandazi (local donuts) and chai.  Eagerly praying over our snack, mama hobbled to her chair and told us, “Eat, eat!”  Ben gulped his chai eagerly; he doesn’t usually drink super sweet tea at home. They thought it strange that Americans don’t usually give their children tea.  Even tiny children here drink it every day!  We shared life together, talked about their struggling health, how many pieces of tin they needed to finish their house.  “Buy back this time,” kept running through my mind.  How, God?  How do I make the most of this opportunity?  By being fully engaged, thankful, talking of You.  By learning.  By soaking in these sun-dried fields while we walk back to the car, a promise of a chicken from these dear people the next time we come around.  

We headed to greet another Mama whom we have known for a long time.  Coming up the path towards her, I could see through her thin dress and the sun shone on her very thin body, much thinner than the last time I visited with her.  “Mama Hannah!  I have had a baby!”  Just six weeks previous, and she looked like she was wasting away.  I held her beautiful girl, her fourth child, and she showed me that her baby had been “born with a problem.  No anus.”  So she just had a colostomy they had made in her abdomen that should have had a bag over it, but instead was just open and she wipes it constantly throughout the day as waste seeps out.  “It has been a trouble for me!”  Maybe a bit of an understatement…she is trying to carry water, cook food, get firewood, work, do laundry, nurse a baby, wipe the opening all day long.  My heart ached for her.  Having a child like that in America would be challenging.  Having a child like that in the village, almost impossible.  “Redeem this time.  Don’t leave her without giving hope.”  Yes, Mama, this is difficult but God has given you a blessing!  I will pray for you!  And I don’t tell her, but I will  go home and see what I can do for her.  God, help me to help her.  

Help her know that you are El Roi, the God who Sees and may she,

 like Hagar, see the one who has seen her.  

We end at our Bible study with a dear couple, Ben throwing corn cobs around that have been stripped of their yellowish glory, Katie helping to get all the kernels off into the massive pile that is food for the future.  We marvel through Ephesians 2—after the devastating state we were wallowing in, complete darkness, actually dead in our own sin, this astonishing clause, “But God…!”  But GOD, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive, by grace!  And prepared good works in advance.  Not so that we could get to heaven by them, or earn His blessings,  but so that (v.7) we might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus!   

It comes full circle!  We don’t buy back the time because we have to, to earn His favor.  We don’t even buy back the time because we don’t have much time left, which is true.  We buy back the time because we want to show the storehouse of His mercy and grace has enabled us to walk in these good works that He prepared for us.  The glory is not meant for us.  The glory of a life well lived only goes to Christ and His great mercy!  Oh Christ, have mercy!  My days are harried and sometimes feel frantic.  Give me eyes to see people, to take in this moment, not be so preoccupied that I miss it.  I want to get every opportunity and not miss a moment.  In the end, all of life is only made of many such moments!

II Cor. 5:15  “[and Christ] died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”