Redeeming Time from Distractions: Living Every Moment for the Master
I wouldn’t call myself lazy. I get things done. I meet deadlines. I even have moments of intense, focused work. However, laziness doesn’t always look like idleness. Sometimes it masquerades as productivity without purpose, focusing on side tasks while neglecting what truly matters. I’ve noticed something about me lately: a subtle laziness dressed up as rest, procrastination masquerading as preparation, a quiet yielding to distraction’s gentle pull.
I get to work, open my colour-coded calendar and see what’s waiting: emails that need replies, calls I should’ve returned, meetings to attend, project deliverables piling up. But instead of planning and diving in, I stall. ‘Like so many, I find myself reaching for my shiny pocket rectangle, that beloved window into distant realms’ (Endangered attention). ‘Maybe just a glance at social media to see what’s new. A ‘quick’ check at my statuses. ‘Trying to attend to the world as God does’. A little prep first,’ I tell myself. I’ll get in the right headspace before I begin.
Minutes vanish. Twenty here. Forty there. I make progress, but distracted progress. I have been the servant the parable of the talents never names (Matthew 25:14-30). Not the one who buries his talent, but the one who settles for less, distracted and half-hearted. The one who gives God something, but not everything. I stop short of what is possible, because I stay too long in distractions He never called me to.
At the end of the day, a strange tension lingers: I did something, but not what I could have. I was present, but not purposeful. And into that fog, The Spirit whispers the sharp edge of God’s Word:
“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15–16, NASB20)
It didn’t just confront me, it convicted me. I’ve squandered moments. I have not been making the most of my time. I have treated time as if it were mine to spend, as if it could be paused, refunded, or stretched.
“Just One More”
Our world disciples us to distraction. TikTok trains us to live in thirty-second doses. Netflix whispers, ‘Just one more episode.’ Instagram swipes the next reel without your permission. Notifications nudge like needy children tugging at our attention. I find myself opening statuses, not because I’m searching for anything meaningful, but simply to soothe that restless craving for something new.
Everything around us conspires to keep us scrolling, refreshing, checking. Never fully here, never fully satisfied. And somewhere in the middle of it all, is a harsh tyrant: “Just one more”. One more before I start. One more to take the edge off. One more to help me wind down. One more, and then I’ll get serious.
What once might have felt like indulgence now feels like a warm-up or cooling off. This lie, “just one more”, is no innocent phrase. It’s a thief. It doesn’t steal our whole day at once. Just a little here. A little there. Minutes become hours, hours amount to days.
“‘A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,’ Then your poverty will come in like a drifter, And your need like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10–11, NASB20)
Spiritual poverty doesn’t often come like a storm. It seeps in like a leak. A series of tiny delays. A distracted heart, slowly growing numb. It slowly becomes a pattern. And the pattern becomes a life. And I begin to realise what once felt like small compromises harden into habits. And I must ask: Am I living as though my time belongs to Christ or to my Comfort?
Walking Carefully, Not Carelessly
Paul’s call in Ephesians 5 is not random advice for better scheduling. It flows from the identity he laid out in the previous verses:
“for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8, NASB95)
Children of light should not stumble through life as if the dark still blinds us. We’re called to walk with awareness, to live eyes-open in a world where time is a contested territory. Why? “Because the days are evil”(v16). The world around us does not drift toward righteousness. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).
And the evil one doesn’t just tempt us to rebel, but to grow complacent. He wins not only through defiance, but through distraction. A thousand tiny detours can still lead to destruction.
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1, NASB95)
To float is to drift. If we are not actively redeeming our time for Christ, we are wasting it. Time itself has become a battleground for me. Every moment is either redeemed or squandered.
Let me be clear: this is not a call to fear, panic or godless productivity. The world worships speed, efficiency, and results. It equates worth with output. But God is not impressed with full colour-coded calendars and empty hearts. He is not glorified by activity divorced from adoration.
He desires faithful stewardship. He desires a surrendered living (Romans 12:1). The wise, therefore, are not merely busy; they are purposeful. They work, but are mindful of who they are serving. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord their labour is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
In the Fullness of Time
But for those of us who feel the weight of wasted hours, there is good news: Jesus Christ not only came to save our souls. He also came to redeem our lives. That includes our time.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son…” (Galatians 4:4, NASB95)
Christ stepped into time. Every moment of his thirty-three years bent perfectly to his Father’s will (John 8:29). He never once wasted a second. Never delayed obedience. Every word, every step, every act aligned with God’s eternal purposes.
And on the cross, he bore the weight of every sin, every squandered hour we’ve ever wasted, every slothful attitude, every distracted day, every neglected duty. In rising again, he didn’t just forgive our past; he freed our present:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB95)
Now, grace doesn’t make time trivial; it makes it sacred. We redeem time because Christ has redeemed us.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NASB95)
Our time is not our own. Every hour belongs to Him because He bought it with His own blood, whether we’re resting or working, in hidden service or seen. Every task now becomes an opportunity for worship.
“Whatever you do… do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV)
Redeeming Time from Distraction
To redeem time is to remember who owns it. Time is not our enemy. It is a gift purchased by Christ. The gospel reminds us that every moment is wrapped in grace: our days are numbered by the Father (Psalm 90:12), secured by the Son (Ephesians 1:7), and guided by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). We are no longer slaves to distraction or fear of wasting life, because Jesus has already redeemed us from futility (1 Peter 1:18–19). This changes how we use our hours. In Christ, even ordinary moments can be to God’s glory:
Emails answered in faith, children cared for in love, meals cooked with gratitude, conversations seasoned with grace, work tasks completed with integrity, a prayer whispered between errands in trust, extra hours put in to finish that semester with perseverance, time taken to coach that coworker who just can’t get it yet, a text sent to encourage a struggling friend, patience shown to an impatient child, studying through that difficult passage you’d rather skip, choosing prayer over scrolling.
The gospel frees us from both frantic striving and lazy drifting. We don’t need to prove our worth with productivity, nor surrender it to distraction. Instead, because Christ has already secured our inheritance, we can spend time generously pouring out for others, knowing none of it is wasted in Christ. So how does the gospel reshape the way we spend our days?
- Begin with grace -We repent of our time wasted through distractions and start the day, reminding ourselves that we work as God’s beloved and place our hours in His hands through prayer (Lamentations 3:22-23).
- Anchor your day in Scripture - Even a brief, slow reading of God’s Word fixes your heart on what matters most and nourishes your soul (Psalm 119:105).
- Make Christ part of your ordinary work - Approach tasks, chores, and responsibilities as acts of worship (Colossians 3:23), asking Him to turn duty into delight.
- Trade scrolling for seeking - When distraction tugs, choose prayer, Scripture, or encouragement instead, remembering your joy is in Christ (John 4:14).
- Practice gospel interruptions - See unexpected needs and disruptions as opportunities to serve with the patience of Christ (Mark 10:45)
- Build Sabbath rhythms -Rest in faith, declaring with your pause that Christ holds the world together, not you (Psalm 127:2)
- End with thanksgiving - Close the day by naming God’s grace in your hours, trusting no moment given to Him was wasted (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
The night is far gone; the day is at hand (Romans 13:12). The end of all things is near (1 Peter 4:7). And the Master is coming. As we set our hope on the grace to be brought to us at His revelation, may he find us awake and sober-minded (1 Peter 1:13), not fearful. But faithful hearts, calendars, and to-do lists alike surrendered to him. Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes (Luke 12:43).
Our Master is not only Glorious, but also Good. For He is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name (Hebrews 6:10). And when He is revealed, and we stand before Him glorified, we will not regret a single moment spent for his glory. For He will say:
‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21, NASB20)