Opportunity

Luke 21:13 ESV

“This will be your opportunity to bear witness”

One of the greatest challenge for the Christian is to see as God sees. Even as Isaiah says “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8) Christians are told by Paul that “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) and this is to give the Christian an advantage in understanding spiritually discernable truth. As the bible makes audacious and perplexing statements as well as demands upon them that are hard to grasp they are encouraged to continue to grasp at them knowing that he has given them the ability to grasp even as life sometimes has the feeling of the Lover in the Song of Solomon, as she seeks about the city in the middle of the night looking and longing for her lover. So too are Christians called to seek after their lover, the man Christ Jesus.

This single verse declares that Christians are going to be given opportunities to witness to what Christ has done, paid the price for sin and rose from the dead, what he will do, come again to judge the living and the dead, reigning over all, and what that requires of the hearer, complete submission to him as the one and only Lord of their life. Yet, how are we to prepare for this opportunity? What steps should be taken to make sure this opportunity is not squandered? The verse following this answers that question clearly, “Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer”. For those like myself this is a great challenge! Playing out how conversations will go is NOT how Christians prepare for witnessing! This is a great challenge! How many times do we visualize, “first I will say this…then they will say this…Then I will say….”  Yet, this is not to be the case with Christians, why?  Every person is different, every situation is different, and therefore every opportunity will be different!

Notice, also that in this text the opportunity looks different! Jesus starts this section by explaining what is going to happen to his disciples, “they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.” This, Jesus explains, is our “opportunity”! According to Jesus, the majority of Christians have it all wrong! The worst possible situation, or trial as we might prefer, is actually GOD opening up and OPPORTUNITY for us! More than that, in the midst of it, when so much is on the line, no thought is to be given to what to say! What then are we to meditate on? This is to be your focus CHRIST! We are to follow the Hymnists counsel, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace”.

This is why Christians love to read the bible so much. We see our risen savior, we find our love, looking longingly at his face in the words of scripture. We hear his voice calling to the depth of our souls out of its pages. Prepare to witness to his greatness by seeing his face in lines of scripture. Rejoice in the OPPORTUNITIES as his providence makes it possible.

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO