Opportunity

by R. Darke, Victoria, B C, Canada | Category: General | Aug 1992

The ancients depicted opportunity as something we must be ready to grasp. They portrayed it as a man with a forelock which needed to he held tightly before he passed you by.

Reading Paul's epistles reveals him to be a person who spent his Christian life grasping the forelock, and so he is able to counsel us to buy up opportunities. Or, "make the very most of your time, for these are evil days", translates Moffatt (Eph. 5:16).

The number of opportunities we miss can be an embarrassing thought. The Lord knows this, and encourages us to redeem the time, which is the initial thought of buying up the opportunity. Here is an example. On a winter's night in pouring rain, a Christian handed out gospel leaflets to hurrying people at a street corner. Some accepted, others threw them to the ground. A lady hastening home to prepare a meal for her family, saw what was happening, and picked up a wet leaflet. At home she dried it, read it, and was saved. The giver did not know the outcome of his exercise. He could have used the weather as an excuse to remain at home, but eternity will reveal that he was buying up the opportunity.

The young servant girl in Naaman's palatial home could have remained silent when she heard of her master's dilemma, but she took the opportunity of conveying a message of hope. Naaman, obviously a desperate man, accepted her word in faith, and he was cleansed. We are not told of any reward for the Jewish servant girl, but what joy would fill her soul when seeing her Master, happy with renewed health. The lad with five loaves and two fish had no prior warning that his tiny parcel of food would be needed by the Master. Yet he took the opportunity to give it to Andrew for the Lord's mighty miracle of feeding the 5,000. He remains nameless, but a coming day will perhaps reveal his identity and reward for taking his opportunity.

A young Jewish girl, meeting me for the fff5t time, asked: "Do you know how I can prove I am a Jew?" She proceeded to show me a medal on a chain around her neck. On one side was the star of David; on the other was Psalm 137:5 in Hebrew: "If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning". She was not ashamed of her heritage and took the opportunity to convey this to me.

What better example of buying up the opportunity do we find than that of Andrew, who "findeth first his own brother" Simon Peter, and brought him to Jesus? Another one was Philip, who sought Nathanael. Again, the woman of Sychar sought her own people, inviting them to come to the Man who had solved her problems, and "many of the Samaritans believed on Him because of the word of the woman'. What A tribute! What if she had missed that opportunity? Dorcas is commended for her good works and generosity, which clearly indicate that she redeemed the time; tears of the saints confirmed her loving zeal.

"The days are evil", says Paul; "understand what the will of the Lord is". What is it? Enjoy the fulness of the Comforter; be happy communicating with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; give thanks always for all things; and subject yourselves one to another (Eph. 5:15-21). These are indeed stimuli for redeeming the time, for buying up the opportunities. Such a buying makes a good purchase which can yield encouragement here, but surely a good dividend in heaven.

"Lead me to some soul today,

Teach me Lord just what to say".

R. Darke, Victoria, B C, Canada | Aug 1992
General