Q47. Opportunity

[pickledilly]

Paul says to make the very most of our time because the days are evil. It is too important to be light in the darkness to waste any opportunity. Why do we resist? Because the flesh resists the spirit. I know the carnal part of me is still selfish and greedy. I consistently fail at allowing the brilliant purity of Christ to expose and reprove my inner dark places so that His light can shine clearly through me to the dark world around me.

We must wake up from our self-satisfied apathetic slumber [vs.14]. We can't excuse personal sin, indulge in enterprises of darkness, or compromise with worldly views. We have to make the decision to live life on purpose, not just let life happen to us. Spending time with the Lord and being actively involved in His service will help us see the way He sees. We've got to be looking for opportunities and watching every step we make, with our path constantly lit by the Word of God [Psalm 119:105]. And we must seek the wisdom of Truth [Proverbs 2].

[edler]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

because it means to walk about watching on every hand to avoid danger and enemies live the gospel by watching your conduct. and buying up those moments which others throws away. improve every moment to make up for those lost in sin.(v.16).

[JanMary]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity?

Because the days are evil...time is short, in that we never know which day will be our last and we're out of opportunities. We are to be wise, and not behave as the unwise and witless who are oblivious to not only the urgency, but their own need for salvation...they are "asleep".

Why do we resist that?

It seems to be a human frailty that we try to put off till tomorrow what should be done today...procrastination, as well as our flesh wanting it's own way. It seems as if time will go on forever, "so what's the hurry", we may think, since we don't realize how late the hour is on God's time clock.

What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

I believe it's surrender to the Lord. Submitting ourselves totally unto His Lordship, and to have the desire to fulfill His will, more than our own. We also must be prepared to share, to have knowledge of scripture which is pertinent to leading others to salvation. We must be on the alert for the still small voice to move when He says to move in order to do the right thing, to give, to serve, to say what He desires us to say.

[hanks]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity?

Why do we resist that?

What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

We are to make the most of every opportunity for an opportunity missed is one that will never return. We are to reflect the power and glory of the gospel at every opportunity we may have. It could be doing good works, words of help, winning people for Christ, exposing evil, and all the deeds that we could do to glorify God. We sometimes become complacent and do not realise that time is short and that there is much work to be done. Once we recognise the enormity of the evil that is in the world today and that God will not always bother with us; and that the time of grace will soon end. It is then that we will be ready and look for opportunities to witness, worship, and serve.

[poetmom]

As many have mentioned, bodies at rest tend to stay at rest! We do not make the most of every opportunity because we do not intentionally do so. Sometimes I can't believe how hard it is to do the right thing: to keep my mouth shut, say hello to a lonely neighbor, give my kid a hug. These are very simple tasks, but sometimes I am so involved in my own world and my own thoughts I don't even take the time to make a simple decision to show love. Over and over we see Paul exhorting us to live with intentionality and purpose, and we are rarely brought up to do so. I think a good way to start off each day is to ask God to give us the wisdom to discern those opportunities.

[RLL]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

So we can leave a Christ like example for the next person to pass on. We resist because we are so caught up and focused on ourselves. We must pray constantly and allow Christ to lead, stay filled with His word therefore His spirit will dwell in us. Now its easy to say these things but hard to do it which is hard to understand sometimes!

[wifee]

a)As Christian believers we are set apart in the world,to be Jesus hands,feet, and voice, there are many temptations, and we must be careful how we live, making the most of every opportunity to shine for God, thinking how we speak,& things we do to show Jesus

[Jubilee]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Paul exhorts us to make nthe most of every opportunity because whatever we sow is what we will reap. If wqe sow in obedience we will reap blessings and if we sow disobedience we will reap curses.

We resist that because our present day cultural values vehemently oppose to righteous living. We are also under pressure to go contrarily to Biblical values.

It is only when we spend time studying meditating the Word of God that we can be ready for the opportunity.

[Jubilee]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Paul exhorts us to make the most of every opportunity because whatever we sow is what we will reap. If we sow in obedience we will reap blessings and if we sow in disobedience we will reap curses.

We resist that because our present day cultural values vehemently oppose to righteous living. We are also under pressure to go contrarily against Biblical values.

It is only when we spend time studying and meditating the Word of God that we can be ready for the opportunity.

[Old Jerry]

Paul exhorts us to make the most of very opportunity because we don’t get very many. If we let one slip away we may not get another chance for quite a while. We resist taking that opportunity because we don’t want to look like we are different. We don’t how that person is going to act when we talk to them about Jesus.

The thing that has to happen in our lives so that we can be ready for the opportunity is that we must stay glued to the bible and we have to looking for the opportunity to discuss Jesus with others.

[lighthouse2014]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Paul exhorts us to make the most of every opportunity, because the present days are evil. Living as the Light for the Lord when ever unrighteousness or evil are present we are to expose it as such. At the same time we are to be an example to society around us. We have a love for the Lord and wish to do the things that please Him. We should always be ready to witness for the Lord to our fellow neighbors, we never know when an opportunity will arise again.

We seem to resist being the light for the Lord because the culture of today does not like to be exposed as evil or unjust. Once we expose wrongs or evil we are slurred at, demeaned and called religious freaks.

In order to be ready for this opportunity to expose darkness we must live a life worthy of god and our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be His light to the world and we must do that which pleases Him. Being faithful He will strengthen us and fill us with His Spirit, to be a good witness for His Gospel.          

[JoanG]

Paul wants us to live a full and joyful life. We never know when we will be called to live with Christ in heaven. Most of us are to materialistic to really appreciate the small things in life. We worry too much about the things that we should faithfully give to God.

 

I feel that we need to slow down. We need to take the time to really live life. We need to enjoy the simple things on a daily basis. We need to show God that we are grateful for all that he does for us on a daily basis.

[Karen11]

On 9/4/2006 at 9:02 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Once that moment is gone it is gone forever, when the opportunity is there to share God's Word do so, listen to the holy spirit, you could be that person's only connection to God.

We resist because we think we always have more time, or that there will always be another opportunity..

We must grow in the Lord.

[hanks]

Q47. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity? 
We are to use our time wisely; remembering that wisdom is to be found in God’s will. We are to glorify Him by living a life in obedience to Him. Jesus Himself taught us to pray “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6:10b). His will is revealed in His Word. Here we will find general principles to guide us. We are to make the most of every opportunity for an opportunity missed is one that will never return. We are to reflect the power and glory of the gospel at every opportunity we may have. It could be doing good works, words of help, winning people for Christ, exposing evil, and all the deeds that we could do to glorify God. We sometimes become complacent and do not realise that time is short and that there is much work to be done. Once we recognise the enormity of the evil that is in the world today and that God will not always bother with us; and that the time of grace will soon end. It is then that we will be ready and look for opportunities to witness, worship, and serve.  
 

[haar]

Q47. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Paul’s advice on making the best opportunity is based on the fact that there is time for everything. For example, an opportunity to share  (or witness) a word to an individual may be lost if you do not have a second chance of doing so due to different reasons including departure (physical or death) of any of the parties.

Most of us especially myself, need to take this teaching more serious so as to able to serve the Lord through every opportunity that comes our way without missing the opportunity.  
 

[Krissi]

Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

This is how I reworded these verses: Be careful how you live (because the days are evil) … and use your time well (because time is short).

Paul seems to be drawing a rather obtuse connection between evilness of his era and how an Christian living at that time should respond to that evil. The clauses that have to do with time are explanatory – first, the reason why we should be careful in the way we live is because the time/circumstances are evil; second, the reason why we should use our time well is that our time on earth is limited by our mortality.

We could get rid of the explanations and look at the main clauses: Be careful how you live and use your time well. T

When we don’t feel our own mortality, we also look at the future (as I did when young) as if it were endless.  When we feel the shortness of our lives on earth, we are overwhelmed with a gnawing feeling of hurriedness, that there’s a lot to be done before death.

As Christians what we must do is for Him.

I admit that I am praying for a bigger life because I love to live life to the hilt. That’s just my personality. But God has grounded me. I don’t know why, but I’ve been imprisoned in a small life for three years. I feel as if my time is not being used, yet also know that, strangely, God has changed me within during this time. He’s caused me to lean on Him. To come to Him with needs. To learn to love Him, not just work for Him.

Some stages of life, then, seem as if they’re a waste of time, but they’re not. God redeems all that time for His purposes. He makes that time worthwhile ... if we let Him..

We have a co-worker role in this. We cannot resist His better use of our time – that’s sin! – but must submit to how He asks us to use it.

[Janzie]

On 9/4/2006 at 9:02 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q47. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

We should make the most of every opportunity to shine for God because the days are evil. 

We resist it because we fear man and worry what they will think of us.  We need to find out what pleases God and not what pleases man.

We need to be sold out for Christ and not be on the fence - half in the world and half out of it.

[Jonathan Edwards]

We must have Christain consistency.  We are salt and light to this forward generation.   We should seize every opportunity to reprove error, crush the wrong and to promote the right.  We need to emulate the sons of Issachar who knew the times that they were living in (1 Chronicles 12 32).  An in depth study of the tribe of Issachar could assist us greatly in our formation as Christains.

Our conduct must be consistent with our Christain creed.   Insulting the omniscient God and misrepresenting the Gospel of Christ are anathema for the Bible student.  Sentimental desires that the future will be bright, and regrets of the past, will not assist us In redeeming the time.  We aggressively turn all our circumstances of our lives to a right spiritual account; we have the MIND OF CHRIST.  We have learned from the past, and now we have determination to avoid the evils of the past.   1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles are tremendous testimonies !   The kings of Israel and Judah did not live in the New Covenant dispensation ; we have the Holy Spirit to assist us to walk circumspectly and use time prudently.  King Amaziah started well in his reign over Judah,   he wholehearted,  he imported the idols of Edom.

We still have the Adamic nature.   St Paul urges us to mortifying the flesh.  We cannot be in a state of inertia, the "noon day demon".   Having a well planned regula will keep us from this.   A disciplined Bible study daily period and prayer are all indispensable.

 

 

[Old Jerry]

Paul knew that are days are few and we usually only get one opportunity to speak to somebody about our savior. We resist because we don’t know how they are going react. We must keep up with our bible study so we are ready for the opportunity to bring somebody to Christ.