May It Be Drastically Different...

For most of us, school starts this week. With the excitement of the new year comes a lot of rush, though. Last minute trips to your room for something you forgot, swallowing a quick breakfast, finding the fastest way possible to get to school, fast dashes down the hallways until you reach your destination and then quick runs here and there between classes depending on your schedule could all be a part of your routine. Quick chats with our friends take place and we mostly just go about our day in a way that pleases and benefits us most. Whatever's good for me is the way to go. However, oftentimes through it all, we'll forget to take hold of the moment.

There is something we lose when we're in such a frenzy all the time. What we lose, waste and misuse are opportunities. Everyday we're given new opportunities to choose to do right, or choose to do wrong. We can choose to spend time with Him or choose to put Him aside in our fast-paced mornings. We can choose to be a light or choose to go through school uncercover, not letting people know Who you represent.

Many times, I find myself wasting perfect opportunities to share Him with others. I avoid doing it, make excuses, and simply put myself into the "too shy" category (a category that's a lie and doesn't even exist). I know this is totally unacceptable. God has given me opportunities in my life so I could use them (and by the way, use them to make Him greater, not myself). As I think about my fast-approaching semester at college, I think about the many people I will be facing and becoming acquainted with. Whether for good or for bad, I will be giving a name for my God and representing Him wherever I go. I need to cease the moment and use my opportunities wisely.

Ephesians 5:15-16

"Be careful then how you live-not as unwise, but as wise making the most
out of every opportunity."

As I look back and examine the time I was at college last semester, I see so many wasted opportunities. I see so much wasted time; time that could've been used to advance His Kingdom. I don't want to waste my time or opportunities any longer. I don't want to waste my life in my own pleasures and whatever makes me happy. I'm determined to make this semester different and make it count for Him. I'm praying that God brings me opportunities and that when they come I would not waste them. I want to be one who shines His light on campus and one who brings favor and glory to His name.

Colossians 4:5 is very similar to the previous verse, yet has such a different meaning as well.

"Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most out of every opportunity."

We are being commanded to be wise in the way we act towards outsiders. Even if we never say a word to unbelievers, we should, at least, through our actions and interactions, show them who we belong to. Paul is clearly telling us that we are to be a light unto His name and act as nothing less than children of God.

Opportunities don't always come in verbal forms, though. We have many opportunities to shine a light for Christ and show people that we are different, even without talking. That's one of the most important ways to use our opportunities. Who'll believe us or even in God if we say one thing about Him, yet act in the way any other unbelieving person would? No one, really. Just by being an example and a testimony for Christ, we're creating for ourselves a clear path in the direction of the gospel. If we live by faith, it's easier to tell someone they should do it; and there's a better chance the person will believe you, too. If we set our path by visibly living a life for Him, God will bring us the opportunity to share Him with the people you meet.

I have decided to make the most out of every opportunity. May this semester be drastically different than the last...

~Sophie