Dear Reader,
This past week the theme of living in the moment was constantly in front of my eyes. Whether it was through reading the Bible and other books or conversations with friends, how we live in the present moment was there. One of my favorite Scripture passages is found in Matthew 6 where Jesus is teaching about the necessity of not worrying. He ends with “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (verse 34).
As I am sitting at my desk, I think about the times we have throughout each day that we have not made the most of it and maybe missed something special. In a conversation with a friend this week, we talked about the book by Douglas McKelvey “Every Moment Holy” and we talked about no matter where we are in the day, that moment can be Holy. In another conversation with a friend, we talked about living in the present moment. Yes, we do prepare for the future and think about what’s next, but the conversation reminded us that there are things we may pass by if we are looking into the future before we look to the moment we are in right now.
You may be asking yourself, “Why the background?”
This background, to me, shows the Christian life journey.
Jesus taught about two roads or paths that we can take. The Broad or Wide road is easy and leads to destruction and many go that way. The Narrow road is hard and difficult and leads to life and only a few go that way (Matthew 7:13-14). If you have chosen to get on the Narrow Road that leads to life, I believe we must live like we are traveling on it. That is why I have “Make the Most of Every Opportunity” as the title of this blog post.
The Apostle Paul encouraged followers of Jesus to live differently in this world. He writes to the church at Ephesus, and I believe for us today, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16) and to the church at Colossae, and us today, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY” (Colossians 4:5).
“MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY” is my encouragement to you all today.
Peace to you all,
Keith Mitchell