Saturday, December 3, 2016

Saturday, December 3rd: Philemon 1, Colossians 1-4 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Philemon 1, Colossians 1-4

I feel like we're flying through some of these NT passages and that there are so many verses that jumped out at me or made me want to dig a little deeper.

The one that hit me the most today was Colossians 4:5-6
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

"make the most of every opportunity"

This phrase in particular jumped out at me.  So often, we pray for God to give us opportunities to use us to spread the gospel to those around us.  But I think the reality is that He's giving us plenty of opportunities - we're just not making the most of them!

Do we really want those opportunities?  Because I think they're around us every day, we just don't really want to notice.

Maybe we're afraid to speak up.
Maybe we think we don't have enough Bible knowledge to be able to answer questions they might ask if we steer the conversation in a spiritual direction.
Maybe we don't want to be labelled a "Jesus freak".
Maybe we're too busy and don't have time.
Maybe we just don't feel like it.

Quite frankly, maybe we're making excuses instead of making the most of the opportunities God's putting right in front of us.

I think I need to change my prayer to.....
Lord, thank you for the opportunities you give me every day to bring glory to Your name and to share the Good News with those around me.  Give me the eyes to see those opportunities, Your heart for the lost around me, the courage and willingness to take the time to make the most of those opportunities, and the determination to live my life so that my walk matches my talk, relying on Your power to do so.  Amen.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Ephesians 1-3

1 comment:

Nathan said...

A good point about us needing to put the effort in, instead of waiting around for the perfect opportunity, to talk about Jesus.