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In order to be today’s overcomers as God’s dispensational instrument who turn the age, we must redeem the time; Colossians 4:5 says, “Redeeming the time,” and Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time”:
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One could translate the word time in these passages as redeeming the “opportunity”; we who are learning to serve the Lord must not let the Head have a sense that we are dull to His direction and numb to His leading; we need to allow the Lord to train our spiritual sense and our spiritual sight to sense the opportunities whenever they come and make the most of them.
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Of the days that the Lord has ordained for us, perhaps yesterday should have been the greatest day of our life, but we may have lived yesterday in an ordinary way; this is what it means to miss the opportunity; there is never a day without God’s arrangement for us.
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Perhaps the Lord gave us a thought that we should seek out a certain person who could potentially be very useful to the Lord (cf. Acts 9:10- 19; 22:12-16), but on that day we did not go, because we were afraid the weather was too hot, and we were too lazy.
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One day we will face the Lord; perhaps we will regret the things in our life that now provide us with satisfaction; many times we have come short of God’s will and have acted foolishly; we have not been faithful to live Christ, to grow Christ, to express Christ, and to propagate Christ in every respect for the building up of His Body—2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:21-23, 25- 26, 30; Col. 1:9-10; Matt. 7:26; 25:2-3, 8.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 5:15-16 Look therefore carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.Col. 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are without, redeeming the time.
One could translate the word time in the passages from Colossians 4:5 and Ephesians 5:16 as redeeming the “opportunity.”…In many matters…we do not know how many opportunities we have missed. Many things which we can do are all too easily missed by us. Many people whom we can save are all too easily neglected by us. Many cities where we can start an assembly are all too easily overlooked by us. Many brothers whom we can gain are lost through us. We have lost so many opportunities! When we face the Lord in the future, we will truly have much regret to face! (CWWN, vol. 55, pp. 193-194)
Today's Reading
Of the days that the Lord has ordained for us, perhaps yesterday should have been the greatest day of our life, but we may have lived yesterday in an ordinary way. This is what it means to miss the opportunity. One who is learning to serve should not do the same thing today as he did yesterday. If he is the same today as yesterday, he has squandered his opportunities. If we do not know what the Lord is doing today or what is going to happen today, we are missing the opportunity.Perhaps the Lord gave me a thought that I should seek out a certain person who could have turned out to be a great vessel in the hand of the Lord in the next five years. Perhaps the Lord wanted to use such a person to save tens of thousands of souls, but on that day I did not go because I was afraid the weather was too hot, and I was too lazy. I lost an opportunity and neglected a person who was potentially very useful to the Lord. Day by day, the Lord gives us countless opportunities in our life, and we miss them all!
Why does the Bible translate time as “opportunity”? Because “opportunity” is something that is found in time. Every day the Lord gives us opportunities. Today we can only bow our heads and say to the Lord, “I do not know what opportunities You have given me today. There is never a day without Your arrangement. Every day You have ordained something to happen to me.” Those whom God can use never miss the opportunities He has provided….Things happen continually, and we do not know how great any one of them will be…. Who would have guessed that one day an illiterate cobbler could become a Moody? If someone had missed the opportunity to preach to him, the world would not have had a Moody. Who would have guessed that Philip would meet the eunuch the day he went into the wilderness (Acts 8:26-39)? The entire church in Africa owes its beginning to that day, and we know that the church in Africa began earlier than the church in Europe!
In order to not miss the opportunities, we need spiritual training. We also need spiritual sensitivity….With spiritual training, we can identify opportunities when they come our way. We cannot allow opportunities to go away. We must not be dull to any direction from the Head. We must not let the Head have a sense that we are numb to His leading. We have to be desperate for this. We should grasp whatever opportunity we have. If we do not have this kind of training and feeling, we will miss the opportunities the Lord has arranged.
One day we will face the Lord. Perhaps we will regret the things in our life that now provide us with satisfaction. We have come short of God’s will. We have not been faithful. We have acted foolishly. The Lord may have put ten opportunities before us, but we have not even touched one. Woe to us when we stand before the judgment seat!…Woe to us, for we have acted thoughtlessly and have missed many opportunities that God has given us!…We must bring God’s children into His ordained way. Day by day we must take the opportunity to go on and to do the work before us. (CWWN, vol. 55, pp. 194-198)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 55, pp. 193-202