Ephesians 5:16
Topic : EphesiansLost Opportunity
“Seize each opportunity to do righteous deeds, because the pull of the times is downward towards moral debauchery.” In 1979, while in seminary in Texas, I was painting for some men who invested in older apartment buildings and renovated them. One of them commented that Texas Instruments was about to unveil a new personal computer, and that if I had any extra cash, I should invest—their stock was certain to go up. I didn’t have extra money, but watched the stock reports, and sure enough, within a year T.I. stock had climbed substantially. But I’d lost the opportunity!
We Missed Him
We missed him. Our chance to change things came and passed and we did not know it was there. A dark-skinned little boy sat through Sunday School classes for three years at a great Baptist Church (First Church, San Antonio) but someone missed him. His name was Sirhan Sirhan, and at age 24 he shot and killed Senator Robert Kennedy. In a welter of words and the shudder of grief throughout our nation, the persistent thought keeps recurring—someone missed him.
School Discipline Problems in 1940
Our youth are in desperate trouble today. The top seven school discipline problems in 1940 were: talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of turn in line, wearing improper clothing and not putting paper in the trash can.
Today, the same questions were posed and these were the answers: drug abuse, alcohol, teen pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery and assault.
Kingdom Opportunities
The idea here is not clock time but what one writer calls “kingdom opportunities,” those openings for ministry that often come at inconvenient times; a friend who wants to talk, a child with a problem, the chance to lend a hand to someone in need.
Paul is encouraging us to keep our lives uncluttered so that we can respond when the need arises—because kingdom opportunities can get squeezed out of an overly tight schedule.
Resource
- Swindoll, The Quest for Character, Multnomah, p. 205
