Page:Sermons preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas', Philadelphia.djvu/178

perpetually exposed: when we thus reflect, time assumes an importance with which it would be well to have our minds at all times duly impressed. It was in this point of view, its relation to the eternal world, that caused the apostle so earnestly to exhort Christians; in the language of the text, to Redeem the time. He regards it as a most precious gem that should be, so to speak, bought up, and never suffered to be lost, thrown away, or wasted in idleness, sloth, vicious practices and pursuits; but to be redeemed out of their hands, and employed in that way which is consistent with the dictates of an enlightened conscience, and the revealed word of God. To redeem the time, therefore, is not to recall hours that are past and gone. This is impossible. But it is to employ the present in that manner that will promote our own true peace, the welfare of those around us, and thus secure the approbation of our Creator.