See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:15–16). These words of the Apostle Paul sound as a solemn warning for all ages. The deceptiveness of our life lies not in time itself, but in the evil that unfolds within it. The roots of this evil are human passions. The “evil of the days” is not a calendar concept but an ontological one. It is a demonic atmosphere that forces us to breathe the poisoned air of sin.
The deceptiveness of our days manifests itself in the fact that we are immersed in the fears of external life, forgetting the inner life; we lose sobriety and attentiveness to ourselves. Christians look not for God but for “those at fault.” We value human opinion more and more above God’s opinion, as though human approval could silence the voice of conscience. Even clergy, instead of proclaiming the Truth, at times speak “half-truths,” worrying “lest something happen.” Belief in lies and the absence of humility have become the spirit of the age. Resentment and fear have displaced prayer, and our hearts, instead of love, have become filled with bitterness.
No wonder that even in church disputes there is more and more politics and less and less grace, more slogans than the Spirit of Christ—the Only One Who is able to grant us peace.
We are living through severe upheavals—external pressure and internal divisions. But the frightening thing is not that the days are evil—it is that we ourselves begin to follow this evil, living “according to the fashion of this world”—repaying evil with evil, turning church life not into a path of salvation but into ideology. Christians cease to be Christians, even while formally remaining within the fold of the Church.
A sign of the deceptiveness of the times is when the interest in scandalous news outweighs the thirst for the Gospel, and the noise of passions is louder than the voice of God. Pastors, instead of tending the flock of Christ, sometimes chase after popularity, laying upon the laity “heavy burdens, grievous to be borne,” which they themselves will not touch with a finger. Laypeople seek holiness without repentance, truth without obedience, peace without labor over their own hearts. In this kingdom of distorted mirrors, weakness is called humility, and opportunism—meekness. Service to God is replaced by careerism; prayer gives way to activism. A person does much, yet does not draw nearer to God. Thus faith becomes a cause of division—and this is the most frightening symptom of the deceit that has penetrated the heart of church life.
But when we do good, according to Blessed Jerome, we redeem the time, changing its very quality; evil days become good days. Time is not a predator devouring us but an opportunity. It can be wasted in vain, or it can become a means of acquiring eternity. A person may run through life as an idle onlooker at a market, buying nothing, or he may acquire spiritual treasures, paying for them with prayer, repentance, and spiritual struggle. Days are evil when time works against us, and good when it brings spiritual profit. Therefore, each day we must take stock: Did I gain today—or lose?
We often postpone good deeds, prayer, and reconciliation for later. But “later” does not exist. There is only “now.” Everything you can do for your soul, you can do only in the present. Tomorrow does not belong to us, for we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
To “redeem the time” means to give to the world everything required of us—honestly fulfilling our duties as Christians and citizens—while preserving the one thing needful: faith. The faith that no one can take from us unless we ourselves give it away = by yielding to the spirit of the age. When God is at the center, everything else falls into place. Evil days are not a sentence, but a challenge and an opportunity to overcome evil. We do not choose the time in which we live, but we choose how to live. We cannot abolish global evil, but we can redeem our own time by changing our own heart.
Today’s reality is heavy and contradictory. But this is our “marketplace.” Our task is to make evil days good, sowing now the seeds that will sprout in eternity. As St. Symeon the New Theologian said:
“Let us redeem the time of our life… that we may be granted to enter the stormless haven of God.”
Let this become our desire, our labor, and our path.
