To Encourage You

Ephesians 5:15-16 “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

There are some things that non-Christians are typically much better at than Christians. The reason I know this is that Jesus told us so.  In Luke 16:8 He says this: “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” In the context of this statement He’s talking about how unbelievers are quite good at “working the system,” so to speak. In this account, Jesus is talking about a rich man who found out that the person whom he had hired to manage his affairs had failed miserably and was about to lose his job on account of it. The manager realizes that if he loses this job, he’s “not strong enough to dig, and . . . ashamed to beg.” In other words, he’s between a rock and a hard place.  He devises a scheme wherein he goes to all his boss’ debtors and drastically reduces their debt, thereby getting on their good side as he faces his boss’ wrath.  He does this so that when he loses his job, the people whose debts he had reduced would nevertheless befriend him and possibly help him. His boss (I assume cynically) commends him for his shrewdness. 

Interestingly, Jesus uses this example to teach His followers to “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”  By this He is teaching us that we should use our wealth to bless others as we have opportunity, for to love people in such ways may make them more open to hearing the gospel.  The result?  One day they may bless us in heaven because of what our life had meant to them and how God had used our life to reach them with the message of eternal life. Our money should not be a god to us. It is something God has blessed us with to, in turn, bless others. 

There’s a parallel thought I’ve recently had along these same lines.  In the verse above, we are told that it is wise for us to make the most of every opportunity (to do good).  I then thought about how so many unbelievers are so very good at taking every opportunity to do evil.  Past riots in the large cities of the United States are a prime example. It is amazing to me how quickly people will resort to looting and burning the moment a police presence has been removed.  It’s appalling to see people coming out of the woodwork to carry off every manner of merchandise through broken store windows at a moment’s notice.  These evil people are making the most of every opportunity to do their dirty deeds.  The question is, are we who know Christ as ready to make the most of the opportunities that come our way, not to do evil, but to do good? Is the gospel message on the tip of our tongue so that we are “always . . . prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks (us) for a reason for the hope that is in (us)” (1 Peter 3:15). Are our eyes open to the needs around us so that when the opportunity arises we respond right now, for that’s how God has commanded us to react, for in Proverbs 3:27-28 He tells us, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it’—when you have it with you.”  And are we taking opportunities to use our mouth in ways that bless and not curse.  Are we on a hair trigger to bless with our lips, or is a curse the more likely thing to sneak out at a moment’s notice?

May God give us the wisdom to make the most of the many opportunities He has given us to serve Him.  May we not be outdone by the “shrewdness” of the ungodly but worldly wise who are so ready to play the system to their own evil ends.