Ephesians 5:16: What Does it Mean to Make the Best Use of the Time?

It’s a call to spend your life wisely, by making the best use of the opportunities that come your way, in such a way that God is glorified by how you redeem your time.

I love time management. But I want my love and practice of time management to be shaped by biblical principles, not by personal selfishness. I need God’s Word to help me think about getting things done. The Bible verse that is probably quoted most often about biblical time management is Ephesians 5:16: “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” What does it mean?

To properly understand Ephesians 5:16, we cannot interpret it in isolation but need to interpret it in light of its literary context. 

Here’s Ephesians 5:16 in its context: 

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17).

It’s chapter five of the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians 5:1-20, Paul writes on, as the ESV Study Bible points out, “general instructions for holy living.” I appreciate that phrase. There might be some disagreement about explaining Ephesians 5:16, or how to apply it to our lives, but we need to see the relationship between time management and personal holiness. Anything we say about time management from a biblical perspective must be rooted in our desire to grow in holiness. 

In the New Testament's original language, “making the best use of” can be rendered as “redeem” or “purchase.” It can also be rendered as “buy” or “buy up” or “buy back.” Interestingly, Paul says something similar in Colossians 4:5: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.” It’s obvious Colossians 4:5 is about evangelistic opportunities, but what about Ephesians 5:16?

In Ephesians 5:15-17, Paul calls his original readers to a life of wisdom. He tells them to “look carefully” at how they “walk.” Walk is a metaphor for their conduct in life. It’s a call for careful, thoughtful, and deliberate examination of how they are living. There is a need for wisdom (v.15) to know how to spend your time (v.16) to know how to honor God when surrounded by evil (v.17). 

We can safely infer Paul is instructing his readers to make the most of an opportunity or the time. In the next verse, Paul says, “because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). This is not a mysterious kind of secret will that Christians are somehow to discover. It means living in a holy manner. When we are living holy lives, we are living according to the Lord’s will. And to live holy lives, we need to be wise about our use of time. 

Understanding Ephesians 5:16 in its context, then, we can imply the following: “making the best use of the time” means to live wisely and not foolishly and to structure your time in a way that aligns with holy living ― or the will of the Lord (v. 17).

But what about personal productivity? Can we say Ephesians 5:16 relates to personal productivity? Yes. 

S. M. Baugh, in his commentary on Ephesians, states: 

To "redeem the time" is a vivid metaphor for making the best use of one's time and efforts. 

Making the best use of time does relate to effective time management for your personal life. Practically, this means that seizing your commute, developing a morning routine, and being disciplined in your work are all good things to pursue. And yet, we must maintain the idea that our desire for growth in personal time management should not be exclusively restricted to personal accomplishments, but personal holiness and pleasing the Lord. It’s a call to spend your life wisely, by making the best use of the opportunities that come your way, in such a way that God is glorified by how you redeem your time.

At the very least, Paul calls his audience to personal diligence. Too many Christians go about life without proper self-examination and neglect to seize the opportunities right in front of them. Time is precious and must be treated with the utmost care for holy living. It must be redeemed. Or as Jonathan Edwards puts it in one of his resolutions: “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.”