As light in the Lord, we should walk as children of light (Eph. 5:8). God is light, and when we are in Him, we are in light. As those in the light we become children of light. Verse 15 tells us to walk not as unwise but as wise. Foolishness is a kind of darkness. When we walk foolishly, we are walking in darkness. When we walk wisely, we are walking in light. The children of light should walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil (v. 16). To redeem the time is to live in the church by Christ, to live Christ in the church life. If we do not live the church life, we will waste our time. Before we came to the church life, we wasted many years. To live outside the church life is to waste our time by living in vanity. You may consider that you do not have the time to pray for half an hour, but if a telephone call comes, you may talk for forty minutes in the vanity of your mind. Why would you not spend this time to pray for a certain brother who has been backsliding for years and never comes to the meetings? To pray for such a brother is to redeem your time. To talk on the telephone in the vanity of the mind is to waste your time. Time flies; it never waits for you. You have to redeem it by behaving wisely. To avoid unnecessary talk on the telephone is to redeem the time. Shopping may also be a waste of time. To live Christ for the church life is the unique way to redeem the time.

Verse 17 says, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." The reason we might be foolish to waste our time by unnecessary shopping is that we do not know the will of the Lord. The will of the Lord is that we should visit the sinners. Why would we not use Saturday morning, afternoon, or evening to go to visit sinners? One brother among us told us about the practice of his grandfather, who was a baker in Germany working twelve hours a day starting from four in the morning. At four in the afternoon his grandfather would return home, wash and dress up, and go to visit people concerning Christ nearly every day. Wasn't that wise? Wasn't that the will of God? If we separated half of every Saturday to the Lord, forgetting about shopping, and went out to visit sinners, we could bring at least two or three to the Lord each year. Before going out, we should pray desperately, "Lord, I believe that in this city there are some dear ones chosen by You before the foundation of the world. Yet they still have not been called by You because there has been no one to sound Your call to them. Lord, send me to speak the gospel to them. Lord, be with me." If some of the saints did this, there would be an increase in the church.

In the past years, the poverty in fruitbearing has been among us in many places. After studying this matter for more than three years, I discovered that the best way to gain people is to go to them, to visit them by knocking on their doors. This practice has stirred up opposition in some places. This must be the attack of the enemy. Do you not believe that the Lord's will is for us to go out? The Lord Jesus charged us to go preach the gospel (Matt. 10:6-7; 28:19; Mark 16:15). He set up the pattern. He did not stay in the heavens, calling people to Himself. He came down to man and even became a man. He lowered Himself in position and status to go to Samaria to meet a sinful woman (John 4:1-42) and to go to Jericho to meet the sinner Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). He was always visiting people. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were also caught by the Lord's coming to visit them.