So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. –Ephesians 5:15-16 (NCV)
How often do you save something for a “special occasion” or a “rainy day”? In a 1985 newspaper essay, Anne Wells shared her heart-wrenching story. “My brother-in-law opened my sister’s bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. It was an exquisite silk handmake slip; the price tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached. ‘Jan bought this the first time we went to New York…eight or nine years ago,’ [he said]. ‘She never wore it; she was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion.’ He put the slip on the bed with the other clothes we were taking — to the mortician. Then he turned to me, ‘Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you’re alive is a special occasion!’ I’m not saving anything anymore. Now we use our good china…for every special occasion — like losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the first camellia blossom. ‘Someday’ and ‘one of these days” are fighting a losing battle to stay in my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing, hearing, or doing, I want to see, hear, and do it now. I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes I tell myself this is a special occasion.” This verse from Ephesians encourages us to be careful how we live, live wisely, and make the most of every opportunity in these challenging times. What step do you know would make your life or someone else’s life significantly better, but you have been putting it off? What do you sense God “nudging” you to do? The word for you today is: Do it now!
-S.G.D.
