Seize Your Blessings Before They Expire: Embracing God's Timely Gifts
Lev. 19:7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
Today, I want to write about the shelf life of blessings and opportunity. Simply put, there are some things in life that God places there, which come with expiration dates! This concept is very consistent with how Jesus taught us to pray in Matt. 6:11, “Give us THIS DAY [emphasis added] our daily bread.” God does not simply give us one blessing that lasts a lifetime, putting us on some sort of spiritual cruise control until He calls us home. Rather, He set us up to where blessings come as needed, uniquely tailor-cut for each situation, as it arrives. This keeps us humble, keeps us praying, and most importantly, gives God an unlimited amount of opportunities within our lifetime to make Himself known to us!
Please understand, then, that many blessings He puts in our lives are seasonal in nature, meaning, they have a beginning and they have an end. This also goes for divinely appointed opportunities that come our way; they come and they go, so we better seize them and use them while they are here. Sometimes I’m afraid we get so caught up in looking for tomorrow’s blessings or tomorrow’s opportunities that we fail to see the things that are right in front of us, right now, today!
As a matter of fact, it could be that each blessing or opportunity, if taken advantage of before its expiration date, can be exactly what leads to the next breakthrough you need in your life. Think of it this way; God puts a series of events, situations, provisions, etc., that, if responded to correctly, serve as stepping stones to your next place in life, ultimately leading you to your destined place of service. It kind of works like a chain reaction, or a link in a long chain of events that are designed to lead you to where you need to be, and any break in the chain, or any missed opportunity, or any squandered blessing, can dramatically slow your progress, or prohibit you from fulfilling God’s ultimate purpose for your life. As the old saying goes, you better strike while the iron is hot!
Now, that said, what do you do when you’ve already missed a lot of opportunities, or allowed the expiration date to creep up on you before you decided to take action? The answer is simple; redeem the time (Eph. 5:16)! In other words, make up your mind that from now on, you’re going to make up for lost time by committing yourself to NEVER wasting another opportunity or forfeiting another blessing, or burying another talent in the ground. Get engaged NOW, for the night cometh, when no man can work (John 9:4)!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Today, I want to write about the shelf life of blessings and opportunity. Simply put, there are some things in life that God places there, which come with expiration dates! This concept is very consistent with how Jesus taught us to pray in Matt. 6:11, “Give us THIS DAY [emphasis added] our daily bread.” God does not simply give us one blessing that lasts a lifetime, putting us on some sort of spiritual cruise control until He calls us home. Rather, He set us up to where blessings come as needed, uniquely tailor-cut for each situation, as it arrives. This keeps us humble, keeps us praying, and most importantly, gives God an unlimited amount of opportunities within our lifetime to make Himself known to us!
Please understand, then, that many blessings He puts in our lives are seasonal in nature, meaning, they have a beginning and they have an end. This also goes for divinely appointed opportunities that come our way; they come and they go, so we better seize them and use them while they are here. Sometimes I’m afraid we get so caught up in looking for tomorrow’s blessings or tomorrow’s opportunities that we fail to see the things that are right in front of us, right now, today!
As a matter of fact, it could be that each blessing or opportunity, if taken advantage of before its expiration date, can be exactly what leads to the next breakthrough you need in your life. Think of it this way; God puts a series of events, situations, provisions, etc., that, if responded to correctly, serve as stepping stones to your next place in life, ultimately leading you to your destined place of service. It kind of works like a chain reaction, or a link in a long chain of events that are designed to lead you to where you need to be, and any break in the chain, or any missed opportunity, or any squandered blessing, can dramatically slow your progress, or prohibit you from fulfilling God’s ultimate purpose for your life. As the old saying goes, you better strike while the iron is hot!
Now, that said, what do you do when you’ve already missed a lot of opportunities, or allowed the expiration date to creep up on you before you decided to take action? The answer is simple; redeem the time (Eph. 5:16)! In other words, make up your mind that from now on, you’re going to make up for lost time by committing yourself to NEVER wasting another opportunity or forfeiting another blessing, or burying another talent in the ground. Get engaged NOW, for the night cometh, when no man can work (John 9:4)!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill