Paul was looking at the world from Gods viewpoint when he said, The days are evil. From the standpoint of man they may have been days of trouble or distress. Or some may have considered them days of mighty accomplishments. Yet the Lord said, The days are evil. He sees the great wickedness in the heart of man and judges the days, not by the standard of discovery and invention, but by the spiritual climate of the times. How often we hear someone describing our century as days of great scientific advancement or educational achievement. Man is able to speak in glowing terms of what he has done while overlooking his own crimes against the Creator and his fellow man. The discerning eye, however, agrees with the apostle: The days are evil.

Other men, although they agree with Paul that the days are evil, see only the evil. They are completely ignorant of the work of God taking place in the midst of evil days. While Paul could honestly assess the wickedness of his generation, he was also convinced that the gospel of Christ could overcome that evil (Rom. 1:16). To hear some Christians talk, you would think that the church ought to retreat to a monastery and hide from this evil age. Paul was of the opposite opinion, and he proved the power of the gospel in his day.

Our Christ is seated at Gods right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power (Eph. 1:20-21). This is not the time for us to sound the retreat, but to move ahead by looking to Christ. For this reason Paul exhorts us to redeem the time. We are to seize the opportunities that lie before us and proclaim the gospel whose light can dispel the darkness of this age (Col. 4:5, 6).