Wednesday, September 24, 2008

HAVE YOU TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY LATELY?


Do we take advantage of every opportunity as soon as it is presented? If we wait too long the moment will pass along with the perfect present.
In John 9: 4 Jesus taught us, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” (NASB) and again Paul through the scriptures teaches, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10 NASB)
From the very sudden and early death of my daddy I learned and I continue to learn a little more all the time that we must never take anyone nor anything for granted, that we must always be aware and appreciative for everything whether it appears large or small in our own eyes or anyone else's.
A lesson on point was the morning I looked out our office window to see the yucca cactus that has grown so huge presently blossoming profusely. The sun was beginning to shine on portions of it and my thought was that it would make a really pretty picture so I immediately took my camera and went outside. I was bountifully rewarded.
You know, I have never liked that plant very much. Its sharp blades have poked deep into my flesh when I have tried working around it to get to the on/off nozzle of the only hose access in our front yard. Many times I have thought of asking for its removal and replacement with something less wieldy and not as likely to cause bodily harm, but just about the time I am ready to do so, out comes an additional stalk of blossoms and my resolve melts. When it was a new plant it had one attractive stalk that came out; a few months later, two appeared. Now the beauty of its flowers is winning me over with more stalks of glorious glamour every time it blooms!
This poking plant that I have wanted to banish from my yard has shown me a beautiful side that I need to remember when the blossoms have fallen. No, it won’t always be as pretty as it is today but I can choose to remember its beauty and look forward to the next time it blossoms. Maybe if I talk to it just right instead of threatening to rip it from its roots it will reward me with even more stalks of fluffy flowers in the future!
One of these days I may come up with a prize photo taken at just the right moment in time. I think I just did.
We must remember that the flowers in God’s Garden are human souls ~ far more beautiful than anything we find in the focus of the lenses of our cameras, yet also here today and gone tomorrow, so we must take advantage of every opportunity or the perfect moments will pass. And, like the times I have had with the yucca cactus, there will be times when we will want to banish these human souls from our lives because they will poke us with their sharpness and their forms of wielding will irritate us, but then out will come a stalk of beauty followed by another, and finally a whole photo will emerge that is a prize-winner. Let’s try to help this to be the prize of a soul won for the Lord! There is no greater picture.

© Marilyn Sue Moore 9-24-2008