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.

You Are Light

The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians, “You Are Light In The Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). Our light is generated by the Sun but reflected by the moon. It does not originate with the moon, but the moon spreads the sun’s light. This is what happens to those who are in Christ. You come out of darkness and receive that light that comes from the Son. You begin to reflect Christ in your life to a dark world.

Paul instructs us, “Live as children of light  (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph 5:8-10).

Corrie ten Boom, a survivor of Auschwitz, shares an experience where her father’s character shared the light with a customer. It was during hard times when the family was in financial need. A wealthy customer came in and purchased a costly watch. However, as her father was closing the deal, the customer mentioned that he tried to get his old watch repaired by Mr. Ten Boom’s young competitor, but he couldn’t fix the fine old watch. Corrie’s father asked to see it, opened it, made a slight adjustment, and handed it back, saying, “There, that was a tiny mistake. It will be fine now. Contact me if you ever have a problem with one of his watches. Now I shall give you back your money, and you return my watch.” Corrie immediately asked her father how he could turn that purchase down when they were so needy. Her father responded, “Corrie, what do you think that young man would have thought when he heard that one of his customers had gone to Mr. Ten Boom? We must honor the name of the Lord at all times and in all ways. As for the money, we will trust the Lord, Corrie. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He will take care of us.”

If we want to shine for Christ, we must be with him just as Peter and John did.  When they were on trial before the Sanhedrin, they responded in such a way that the Sanhedrin had this reaction: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

A man brought his wife a matchbox that would glow in the dark. After giving it to her she turned out the light, but the matchbox could not be seen. Disappointed, she began looking at it to see if something was wrong. Then the wife noticed some tiny words on the box: “If you want me to shine in the night, keep me in the light.” So it is with us, “If you want to shine in the night, keep in the light of Christ.”