Day Twenty-One - Opportunity

Nothing lasts forever.

Christians understand that there are eternal realities, but we also recognize that our time on earth is fleeting. Someone once said, "The minutes go slowly but the years go so quickly." The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:6 that people who walk in wisdom redeem the time. I hope that you are making the most of every opportunity God gives you. I hope that this season of renewal that we have been on together becomes a spark of revival in your life that gives you whatever you need to keep going on in your journey of deeper intimacy with our Lord.

One of the most hypocritical things we say (pray) to God is "give me an opportunity." I believe deeply that the opportunity is already there in front of us. I did not plan it this way, I promise, but it is before 6:00 AM as a write this blog. I share that because it is a little unfair, don't you think, to apologize to God for not getting something done late in the day when time is wasted on other things, perhaps less critical.

We need time for sleep, food, exercise, entertainment, work, family, household chores, you name it. Most of us carve out the time for things we deem important. What is most important to you? Is it prayer, listening, fasting, studying, witnessing, serving, giving, and worshiping, or are they those things we hope to make time for and, when we do, we feel good, and when we don't, we feel guilty?

Stop the cycle.

Far too many Christians live with guilt and regret. Fix it! Stop saying things like "I just don't see how." Rather, ask yourself, "How can I?" Even better, why not ask God to give you the conviction to make it happen.

I am merely trying to leave this spiritual journey we have been on together on a note of encouragement. I encourage you to "get busy living, or get busy dying." (my favorite quote from the Shawshank Redemption). You can fast; I assure you, it will be odd at first, but I challenge you to skip one meal one day and take that time to pray and read. You will be amazed how liberating it will be, and soon you will get to twenty-four hours, and who knows what from there. You can get up earlier. You can stay up later. You can turn something off or put something down. Time and opportunities are there, we just have to seize them. We have to discipline ourselves.

If your daily devotional life was solid before this began, or is on solid ground now, awesome! Most are not quite there yet. Pray for one another; better yet, mentor someone that might be struggling. Just as critical as a good diet and staying hydrated is for our bodies, I assure you that daily time with God is just as crucial to your spiritual, mental, and emotional health. Through it, our vision is shaped, our perspective is changed and our faith is strengthened. I honestly believe that we constantly live on the verge of opportunities that are bursting with God-sized potential, but to experience them requires faith-filled action. God wants to speak to you, use you, bless you, guide you. He wants to be in your life. Will you continue on a path to allowing all those things and more to happen?

My intentions are to continue to write something at least weekly. I do so because I believe many Christians would have daily time with God if they had something to read, a plan, a program they were a part of, like this Twenty-One Day challenge. Any day I don't write, or if I do and it just doesn't speak to you, read a chapter in Proverbs. There are thirty-one of them. Tomorrow is the 8th, so read chapter eight, etc.. Read a Psalm. Read one until you find the one that is for you that day. Ask God to allow you to turn in that moment to the thought He has for you. You can never go wrong by reading the Gospels or the letters of Paul. It's all GOOD!!! Lol.

I submit, again and again and again, that you destroy apathy by developing intimacy. You can only develop intimacy when apathy has been destroyed. Intimacy takes time and effort with God, just as a marriage does. Show God how important He is to you by giving Him some of the most valuable things a person has - Time. Only then will you see the opportunities that God has laid out before you.

Psalm 27:8 states: "When you said, 'Seek My face' my heart said to you, Lord, Your face I will seek."


In Christ,
Pastor Todd