Make The Most Of Every Opportunity

Meditations on the Book of Ephesians

June 4, 2020

Make The Most Of Every Opportunity

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20

Read: Ephesians 5:11-20

Chronos (or kronos) is a Greek word for time and refers to the time of day or the day of the week. Kairos is the Greek word for God’s time and refers to the right or opportune moment when the Word of God, like a seed planted in good soil, germinates, takes root, grows and begins to produce fruit. Recently, I read where some people had been praying for twenty years or more for a church to be established in their community. There may be a tendency to understand their struggle as a matter of chronos, wanting things to happen in their time-frame, versus kairos, things happening in God’s time-frame. I don’t think it is that simple. Paul seems to be suggesting that God does in fact want us to have a sense of urgency about His Kingdom’s business: “Make the most of every opportunity . . .” (Ephesians 5:16). How then are we to understand what appears to be significant lapses of time before we see God’s Word producing fruit?

As we mature in Christ, I believe God wants us to clearly see how our disobedience of God’s will in our lives, or our reluctance to be used by God to further His purposes, causes much harm to His Kingdom. Untold numbers of people may miss an opportunity to be reconciled to God, or for believers, may miss blessings or an opportunity to grow in their faith because we do not “Make the most of every opportunity . . .”

Paul offers good advice on how we can condition ourselves to make the most of every opportunity: “be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5:18b-19). In our house, we have an iPod with almost seven hundred Christian songs that we keep playing throughout the day. I also keep Christian music playing as I write my daily meditations. Cheryl and I believe that surrounding our spirits with praise and worship music helps us keep our hearts tuned to God and helps us to give “thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

My Takeaway: I believe the greatest deficiency in many churches today is our lack of urgency. So many churches seem to be program-driven as opposed to having an urgent mission to make disciples for Jesus Christ. As John Wesley sent missionaries to America, he charged them that they had no other business than saving souls and spreading scriptural holiness across the land. Please join me today in praying for our churches to have an urgent desire to “Make the most of every opportunity . . .” to win souls for Jesus.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.