When I was young, my dad would say, “Turn off the lights when you leave the room. We are on an austerity program.” I thought of that in light of our time. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

In a sense we are on an austerity program with our thoughts. Dialoguing with negativity is a waste of time. So is rehearsing things from the past that cannot be changed. These are the enemy’s counterfeit to meditating on God’s word.

Paul quoted Isaiah 49:9 in 2 Corinthians 6:2. It says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

We are living in unprecedented times. Are we redeeming it by being about our Father’s business? 1 Peter 1:17 says, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves through the time of your stay here in fear.”