Making The Most of Every Opportunity

Time is a funny thing. When we are young, we think time is so long in coming. We give birthdays in half a year because we can’t wait to get older. As teenagers, we want to be a little older, drive, and have adult privileges. Then, as young adults, we step on the time conveyor, which always puts us in a hurry. We have to work a little harder to make more money. As time moves along, we can’t get enough time. We feel we are always stuck somewhere—in traffic, waiting for the light to turn green or waiting for the water to boil. Then, before we know it, we start to see the end of our time and wonder where it went.

We have become like the Queen, who informed the inhabitants of Wonderland to run very fast to get anywhere: “It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”

The Apostle Paul talks to us about our time. He exhorts us to be good stewards of our time and see that we spend it wisely, not foolishly wasting it away. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5: 15-17).

Not too long ago, I was in the drive-thru at McDonald’s when a lady cut in front of me. Then, I noticed a Christian sticker on her car. I think she felt bad about what she did, and maybe she remembered her sticker because she bought my order and waved. I wish I had bought more than coffee.

Charles Swindoll read a story about an 83-year-old man in the drive-thru waiting in line. A lady behind must have thought his order was taking too long because she started blowing her horn. “When I got to the window, I paid for her order, too.” After the cashier told her what I did, she started waving and mouthing, “Thank you!” When I got to the receiving window, I took both orders, making her start the queue all over again. Moral of the story: Be careful how you treat older people!

What Paul tells us literally means, buying up the time because the days are evil, and time is fleeting. As Christians, we must purposely engage in buying them back from the use of self if our lives are going to amount to anything. Becoming aware of how fragile our lives are and how short the time we have left is a powerful motivation to make our remaining days count. We can only do that if we allow God to give us the knowledge and wisdom needed to live life.