“Gerald Kennedy, a well-known Methodist minister, was once on a preaching mission Southeast Asia back in 1962. He was preaching in the South Sea Islands, New Zealand, and Australia. He was preaching two or three times a day, seven days a week. As such, every spare moment was spent preparing for the next sermon. The story is told that one morning the maid came in to clean his hotel room. Although an inconvenience, the team had discovered that if they did not take the maids when they came, the room would not be cleaned. So Kennedy went out to sit in the hall and wait for the room to be cleaned. What seemed to make it even worse, someone was in one of the nearby rooms playing a violin. Impatient to get back to his sermon preparation, he went back to his room to see if the maid was finished. She said she was and then asked a question, ‘Have you enjoyed listening to Yehudi Menuhin play his violin? He practices about this time every morning’. Kennedy went out to the hallway and sat down again outside the room where Menuhin was playing, content now to listen to one of the world’s great violinists.”
Life is full of new opportunities. Many times we get so busy we don’t recognize the opportunities that are before us. Here we are at Mt. Airy Baptist Church about to begin a new church year. There will be new people serving in positions of responsibility and as such will be looking at new opportunities to serve the Lord. Hopefully you won’t be so busy that you miss the new opportunities that await you.
Zig Ziglar in his book Over The Top points out an interesting fact. “Did you know it is easier to become a millionaire in America if you were born in a country other than the United States? Statistics reveal that legal immigrants are four times more likely to become millionaires than those of us who have lived here all along. Why? The American-born citizen is raised around vast affluence compared to most of the world. He tends to take for granted what is here and does not necessarily seize the opportunities that are readily available. The immigrant, however, sees a country fraught with incredible opportunities and tries to seize every conceivable possibility. Opportunities surround all of us but they only offer advantage to those who reach out and seize them.”
The Apostle Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 5:16 to “Redeem the time because the days are evil.” The word for time is better translated “opportunities”. God wants you to take advantage of the opportunities you have to serve Him! Consider the opportunities that are yours today.
Visit Mt. Airy Baptist Church online at www.MtAiryBaptistChurch.com
Beyond the Pulpit - Pastor Mike Trammell 