MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY
What
Happens in One Minute Around the World?
The
following 10 things will happen around the world every 60 seconds of this new
year:
• Births: Approximately 250 babies are born worldwide
every minute. (Source: Worldometers)
• Deaths: Approximately 105 people die worldwide every
minute. (Source: Worldometers)
• Marriages: Around 116 people get married worldwide
every minute. (Source: The World Bank)
• YouTube Uploads: Approximately 500 hours of video
content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. (Source: YouTube)
• Packages Delivered: Amazon delivers approximately 1,200
packages per minute. (Source: Amazon)
• Emails Sent: Approximately 200 million emails are sent
worldwide every minute. (Source: Statista)
• Google Searches: Approximately 40,000 Google searches
are conducted every minute. (Source: Google)
• Social Media Posts: Approximately 1.5 million social
media posts are made every minute. (Source: Statista)
• Netflix Streams: Approximately 100 million minutes of
content are streamed on Netflix every minute. (Source: Netflix)
• Twitter Tweets: Approximately 500,000 tweets are sent
every minute. (Source: Twitter)
Note:
These statistics are approximate and can vary based on various factors.[1]
These statistics tell us how much
time people spend consuming social media posts and entertainment and acquiring
things. Do we become any wiser and our lives become better because of all that
consumption? One common commodity we all have is time. We all are given the
same amount of 24 hrs daily. How we use or
abuse our time indicates who we are as people.
How
are we going to spend those precious minutes and days of 2025? In Ephesians
5:15-20 the Apostle Paul urges the Ephesian believers to, Make the Most of
Every Opportunity.” As we begin 2025,
let us explore why we mustn’t waste time. Instead, we redeem the time. The
Apostle Paul gives several commands to the Ephesian believers out of God’s Love
for them—Eph 3:17-18, “Then Christ will make his home in
your hearts as you trust in him.
Your
roots will grow down into God’s Love and keep you strong. And may you have the
power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high,
and how deep his Love is.” Keeping God’s Love as the backdrop, let’s explore
these life-giving commands.
I. Don’t
live like Fools but like those who are Wise.
What would that be if you made only
one resolution in the New Year? Could we make this command not to live like
fools but like those who are wise as our New Year’s resolution? If that is your
resolve, you must first understand who a fool and a wise person is. The Bible has a
lot to say about fools. Biblically speaking, a fool is someone who disregards
God’s word. Ecc 10:2 says, “The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but
the heart of the fool to the left.”
A fool is one whose wayward heart turns continually toward
foolishness. “For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They
practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord.” Is 32:6. Here is what the wise King Solomon says about fools.
From the book of Proverbs: a fool
hates knowledge Pr 1:22, takes no pleasure in understanding Pr 18:2, enjoys wicked
schemes Pr 10:23, proclaims folly Pr 12:23, spurns a parent’s
discipline Pr 15:5, speaks
perversity Pr 19:1, is
quick-tempered Pr 12:16 gets himself in
trouble with his proud speech Pr 14:3, mocks at sin Pr 14:9, is deceitful Pr 14:8, and despises his
mother Pr
15:20
A foolish child brings grief to their parents Pr 17:25; 19:13. A foolish man
commits sexual immorality, Pr 6:32. A foolish woman
tears down her own house Pro 14:1
According to Jesus, a wise man hears
God’s Word and practices what it says, like the wise man who built His house
upon the Rock. Matt 7:24-27). In the New Year, we are given a fresh chance to
stop living foolishly and start living wisely. It is possible to live wisely if
you are resolute and intentional, like David, who said, “Oh, how I love your
law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make
me wiser than my enemies.” Psalm 119:97. The
more News you consume from the TV or social posts, without discretion, the more
foolish you become. But you become wiser if you read and meditate on God’s Word
daily. Therefore, at Hope Church, we encourage everyone to read through the
Bible.
II.
Make The Most Of Every Opportunity
Paul encourages the Ephesians
believers to “Make the Most of Every Opportunity, in these evil days.” (NLT).
In NIV, it says, “Making the Most of Every Opportunity because the days are
evil.” In KJV, it reads, “Redeeming the Time.” How much time were we given to
live in this world? Twenty, fifty, seventy, or a hundred like the 39th
President Jimmy Carter lived?
The Psalmist left the answer in God’s
hands, saying, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16. “Teach
us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
These scriptures remind us that we
don’t have unlimited time to live; we only have a brief time on this earth, and
soon, we will be gone. “Live Like You Were Dying” is a song recorded
by American country music singer Tim
McGraw. It tells the story of a man in his
early forties who learns that he has an unspecified, life-threatening illness
(most likely cancer).
The message is to live life to the
fullest by doing things such as skydiving, mountain
climbing, fishing, and bull riding. He also says that he became a
better husband and friend. He talks about how going fishing with his father
stopped being an imposition and how he finally, after reading the Bible,
took a long, hard look at his life and past, giving new consideration to what
he might have done differently had he had this perceptive earlier.”[2]
While it
focuses on pursuing earthly passions in the time we have left, the lyrics make
an essential point. They conclude with this thought: “Someday, I hope you get
the chance to live like you were dying.” Paul’s message to the Ephesian
believers was to make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. What
did Paul mean by evil days when he gave this command?
The evil days for believers were the uncertain days of afflictions,
significant troubles, and persecution. No one knew who would become a target of
persecution for their faith. Yet under such trying circumstances, they were to
make the most of every opportunity and live wisely.
III. What
does wise living Consist of?
For
the Ephesian believers, wise living consisted of the following: 1. They were to
stop getting drunk with wine and be filled with the Holy Spirit. A recent study
found that excessive alcohol consumption could lead to six types of cancer. If
you drink too much alcohol, it would be wise for you to stop or reduce it by
2025.
2. As it was mentioned in Hebrews 10:25, they were not to
neglect to assemble as they saw the Lord’s day was approaching. 3. When they
come together, they encourage one another by singing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs and making music to the Lord. 4. They lived with gratefulness.”
If Paul’s days were evil, how about the days we are living in today?
What does making the most of every opportunity mean for
us today in 2025? As Christians, we should live like we were dying, as Tim McGraw’s song suggested, and
pursue all God has given us to do while we have time. We may never know when our time will end, but as long
as there is still a day, let’s make the most of every opportunity so that we
can bear fruit.
We want to intentionally cultivate
consistent patterns of reading the Bible and praying, attending Church, Joining
Bible times, and Wednesday night prayer times. In the New Year, we want to give
up toxic habits and develop life-giving habits. We would be wise in how we
spend our day, prioritizing what would make us physically, emotionally,
spiritually, and socially strong. You may
have to cut down on social media and seek to develop healthy friendships. This
means starting our day by reading God’s word and spending time in Prayer. These
and more are part of living wisely by making the most of every opportunity
because of the evil days.
