"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time."
"Redeeming the time" is also translated, "taking advantage of every opportunity." I don't think that we realize that God puts opportunities to serve Him in front of us all of the time. There is no telling how many opportunities to serve God through witness or ministry we miss because we are preoccupied with ourselves - our problems and needs. I'm not trying to make you feel bad about yourself, I am trying to wake you (and me) up to the fact that God can use us to serve Him, and other people, in our daily lives. We do not have to have special programs to live the Christian life daily. Do you realize that most people who accept Christ, accept Him because of the influence of some friend? That friend probably verbally witnessed to the person, but beyond that, he or she influenced him or her by showing the love of Jesus in their daily lives. We might not realize it, but people notice us. They notice how we treat them and others. They notice how we talk to cashiers and waiters and waitresses. They notice how we conduct ourselves in the heat of the moment. Therefore, our lives are filled with opportunities to serve the Lord through witness and ministry. We just need to be aware of it. We do not know how much a timely smile, or a kind word affects the people that we encounter on a daily basis. (By that, I do not mean that we have to "smile all the time." A kind lady asked me one day if I smiled all the time. My answer was, "Heck no. If I smiled all the time, I would be lying some of the time.") The opportunities to serve the Lord come to us daily. Look at how Jesus treated people. For example, this is why children loved Jesus, because they realized that He loved them. How do people perceive us? Do they pick up on our interest in them, or do they perceive that we could care less? You have probably already guessed that what I am getting at is that our attitudes make a difference in our opportunities to serve God. If people think that we don't care about them, they don't want to hear us tell about how much Jesus loves them. They need to have Jesus in their lives before they can realize that. You see, it is true that we are the only "Jesus" that some people will see until they know Him as their Savior. Let me urge you to go out today with a caring attitude. You don't know how many lonely, hurting people that you might influence to take a look at your Savior. Remember this, if Jesus is not making a difference in your life, you won't make a difference in the lives of others. At least give this some thought today. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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