The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 23 July 2020 – TOPIC: MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY

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TOPIC: MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY

READ: ACTS 17:16-34 (NKJV)16. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.17. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the [Gentile] worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.18. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.19. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine [is] of which you speak?20. “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”21. For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.22. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;23. “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:24. “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.25. “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.26. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,27. “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;28. “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’29. “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.30. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,31. “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”32. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this [matter.”]33. So Paul departed from among them.34. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.THE MESSAGE:Every day in life, we each are given opportunities to accomplish things. The way we handle each opportunity is largely determined by the priorities we set. For Apostle Paul, his priority was to make Jesus Christ known and to bring the blessings of Christ to sinners. On this occasion in Athens, Paul was waiting for the arrival of Silas and Timothy together with whom they intended to proceed to Corinth on their missionary journey. While waiting, opportunity presented itself, or better said, God presented him with the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Paul was not one to miss a golden opportunity. He discerned that the city of Athens was highly idolatrous, and that was enough to distress him greatly (verse 16). Today, God is looking for such sensitive and concerned Christians. All around us daily (in our homes, offices, market place, public transport, in the Church, etc.), we see immorality, wickedness, robbery, witchcraft, theft, dishonesty, corruption, idolatry, drug abuse and prostitution, gaining ground. As a child of God, if you are not distressed by this situation, then something is fundamentally wrong with you spiritually! Will you take steps to bring the light of Christ – the Gospel of righteousness – into life’s situations today, or will you stand aloof as if it’s none of your business?Just as he counted on Paul, God is also counting on you and me today!PRAYER: Lord, open my eyes to see the darkness around me. Amen.