Sermon of the week
Making the most of opportunities
Because opportunities to attend services may be limited for several weeks, the newspaper has invited local clergy to submit sermons for publication here.
Pastor,
First Baptist Church, Durham
I’m sure many of you have heard that Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes.
Actually there are 21,871. But my home state of Michigan puts Minnesota to shame with 62,798.
With that many lakes available, I naturally felt obligated to fish as many of them as I could. After all, God surely had that in mind when he arranged for me to be born there. Right?
I didn’t get very far on my quest to fish them all. Truth be told, I doubt I covered a tenth of those in my home county. But I did make a valid effort, fishing as often as I could, especially after I was old enough to drive. I always had my rod and tackle box in the trunk of my ’64 Dodge. When I traveled to a friend’s house or to a job site, I always found a route taking me past a lake of some kind. Strange, my car seemed to pull over on its own, right near the water, where I’d get at least a few casts in.
OK, so it wasn’t the car. It was me. I wanted to take advantage of the opportunities. I prepared for them by always having my fishing gear with me. I expected them to come because I knew they were all around me. I made opportunities happen by looking for them, planning for them, preparing for them.
I think that attitude is what the Holy Spirit had in mind when He inspired Paul to write these words to the church at Ephesus:
“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. …” (Ephesians 1:15,16)
Make the most of every opportunity to tell others about the Gospel, to express love to others, to encourage those who need a boost, to comfort those experiencing life’s pain, to represent the Lord well, in everything we do, at all times.
Go out of our way for them, prepare for them, deliberately seek them out, be aware that the opportunities to minister to others are always around us. That’s all part of “living wisely.”
Today, deliberately, sincerely make a conscious decision to make the most of every opportunity to draw others toward Jesus. Prepare for them. Ask the Lord to help you see them. They exist. They are around us every day. You will never regret making the most of them for God’s glory.